I finished David’s blocking last week and this week I’ll be tweaking it with more movement, i.e. polish and spline.
The main action is still focused on adjusting the speed of movement of the controller, the principle is the same as that of the ball bouncing, adjusting the inertia of the movement to be more linear or more in line with the physical relations. But as we have more character controllers, we have more curves to adjust, and yes, this time we will be working mainly on the curves of movement.
But the arm swing is not easy to compare and adjust, so this is where the motion trail comes into play, by comparing the front to back frames, adjusting the misalignment of the arm swing, moving the arm swing and hand swing to the effect we want to achieve, and then combining it with our curve controller so that our character is nicely dynamic and has the Stylized feel of this theme, so I’ve got the polish and spline right for this week, although it’s probably still far from perfect
Finally, although it wasn’t this week’s assignment, the lighting was put on anyway and I put in warm and cold light in the front and back and finally output and here is my finished work.
In class, Luke showed us examples of stylisation and the need to find references to make the stylised moves we wanted to do.
Stylised, it is also said that it can be personalised. Looking up a lot of walking references in YouTube, you can find that there are indeed a lot of differences in the way people walk, and this difference, or the difference in personality that arises with the person, leads to a very different style of walking for each person.I have selected 100 walking positions of teenagers walking in YouTube because this walk is more common in animation and has more dramatic tension.
In my character library, I chose David’s swinging pose, mainly because his controllers are less complicated, his hands and feet can be switched with ik Fk, and his face controller is easier to manipulate.
The stylised walk often reveals the state of each person, for example when angry, when sullen and when jumping for joy.
Whether it is realistic or non-anthropomorphic animation, the audience always needs visual resonance, and this resonance needs to be based on regular contact and easy to understand, so anthropomorphic style of movement is very important and indirectly an important indicator of an animation that is anthropomorphic or realistic. As we have seen a standard visual aesthetic established by a number of famous studios such as Disney Ghibli. So many novices’ practice work is often labelled as unpleasant. It is therefore very important to make the character movements as realistic as possible.
In fact, abstract characters and abstract movements can still be considered as a kind of art that resonates with people, but on closer dissection, we can still find that these works are still not separated from the movement of nature, the traces of movement that we perceive as anthropomorphic or anthropomorphic, but only a more exaggerated and dramatic approach by the author on top of these, to express it with an artistic vision, so the conclusion is that, whether or not Abstract or concrete, we still need to master and apply realistic dynamics at the beginning of our studies, so that in the future, our secondary works of art can stand up to more scrutiny and examination.
Regarding the principles of animation, the timing, arcs and posture to posture relationships that are considered when doing a normal walk should also be considered in a stylised walk. In my opinion, a basic stylised walk can be obtained by changing the amplitude of the posture, increasing the slow in and out and adjusting the timing during basic walking practice. Here is my stylised walk blocking
Today’s project is to do a Full Body Walk Cycle with props and a movement of ones own.I’m a fan of Spider-Man, and it’s no exaggeration to say that before I started my art career, I drew comics and Spider-Man all through my childhood.So for this full body I chose Spider-Man as the model for this task.
Then I thought of a scene where Spider-Man jumps down from a tall building and gets a phone call from Ken, probably from Aunt May, berating him for not coming home at a late hour. So this time the prop master a phone, in fact Spider-Man’s web can also act as a prop, but this time the subject is mainly walking, so it’s better to use a more common idea for an animation.
With the general idea in mind, the next step is to place the character in a rough position, which is equivalent to a breakdown of the action, and a small layout of sorts.
After the layout breakdown, the character’s movements were then adjusted and optimised. After the layout breakdown, the character’s movements were then tweaked and optimised. Of course, I’m sure I could have made the walk if I had just imagined it, but to give it a Spider-Man look, I thought I’d find some references, and I went on youtube to find some Spider-Man game references to try and make it look more like Spider-Man.
After that, the first difficulty is how to make Spider-Man’s pose after landing at high speed, how to make it more natural, I referred to the video, Spider-Man usually jumps on the ground, the arms will be up due to inertia, and the legs will be slightly straight when they touch the ground, so that Spider-Man has a better leg bending cushion when landing at high speed.
Then it was time to start the walking cycle. The previous ball walk was relatively easy because there were no hands, but this time I wanted to get the character’s walk right not only by paying attention to the swing of the cross, but also the swing of the head and the arms.
The latter is to constrain the phone to make a hand-held phone action that will complete a task condition for the character to take props during walking. One big reason why the phone is used for this animation is because only two steps need to be completed to easily achieve the hand-held prop effect, the first is to constrain the phone to the hand controller like I just said
However, to take the phone and put it back at the same time, the phone needs to do one thing and that is to appear at a fixed time and then disappear at the rest of the time, it is very simple, just k-frame the display switch in the right column so that it can appear at a fixed time.、
Finally, after adjusting all the movements, the mapping is displayed, with the lights visible in the preview window, so that palyblast can present a better picture.Here is my finished animation.
What is the relationship between politics and the media? Do they influence each other, do they exploit each other, or are they…
As students in the media field, I think it is important to analyse the media industry in order to better understand the relationship between politics and the media and its influence. Since the birth of the media, it has been changing into different forms to spread in our lives, for example, from the old way of spreading information through newspapers and television, to the mainstream media propaganda now becoming short videos, movies and online social media, etc. Although there are many changes in the propaganda methods, people’s spiritual culture cannot be separated from the media, which also leads to the media becoming the best way of political propaganda. This has led to the media becoming the best method of political propaganda.
•Games
Just Cause is a third-person shooter game released on 29 October 2006 by Eidos Interactive and is the first installment in the entire Just Cause series. The game itself has a political theme. In this game you take on the role of Rico Rodriguez, an American spy who has been ordered to go to a nuclear crisis in South America, where there are rumours that terrorists have deployed a large number of nuclear weapons on an island in an attempt to overthrow the local government and even target nuclear missiles at the United States in an attempt to create a crisis (like a remake of the Cuban missile crisis).
The Call of Duty series is a world-renowned IP, with each main generation set in a previous historical arena, bringing in the war between countries, and what makes this game great is not only the exquisite combat feel, but also the rich and exciting plot, from the patriotic game that promotes patriotism in the first generation, to the cruelty of war and human frailty that is also expressed in the core of the game. The game has been released in almost 16 versions. The game has been out for almost 16 editions, and from 12’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which takes place in a future world where many of society’s fears have become a reality: environmental changes and energy shortages leading to war in various countries, it is clear that Call of Duty has begun to design the future stage of history and to think about profound issues such as protecting the environment and human survival, allowing gamers to be brought into these political as well as philosophical reflections.
•Film
Politics can be hidden in the media for propaganda, and the media can also influence politics in turn. The famous Korean film ‘Silenced’ was released in September 2011 in South Korea and caused a huge response. Even President Lee Myung-bak saw the film. Based on the sexual violence that took place at a school for the deaf and deaf-blind in Gwangju between 2000 and 2004, Silenced depicts the tragedy that occurred during that time and the efforts of the school’s teachers and human rights campaigners to uncover the dark secrets behind it.
Silenced is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Korean author Kong Je-young, based on a real-life case that took place at Gwangju Inho Special Education School, a four-hour drive from Seoul.
The film triggered a series of legal amendments. Against a backdrop of strong public opinion, on 28 October 2011, the Korean National Assembly, with 208 members present, passed the Sexual Assault Prevention and Control Amendment Act (also known as the Silenced Act) with 207 votes in support and one abstention.
•TV
Yes, Prime Minister is a pungent and witty script based on current events, the European debt crisis, the economic downturn and Scottish independence. The story still stars Prime Minister Jim Hacker , Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley, the Prime Minister’s personal secretary, except that the three leads The story still stars Prime Minister Jim Hacker , Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley, the Prime Minister’s personal secretary, except that the three leads are replaced by three veteran actors who have appeared in the stage production of Yes, Prime Minister. It is a funny political drama with a lot of dark humour, which makes it very entertaining to watch.
There is also a very good TV series, House of Cards, which is definitely an excellent political drama that cannot be ignored, and even then President Barack Obama could not help but praise the show for its authenticity and brilliance.
House of Cards The show follows a cold-blooded and ruthless US Congressman and his equally ambitious wife as they work their way to power in the White House in Washington. The main character, Frank Underwood, is the Majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, a calculating career politician who, convinced that the newly elected US President and his staff have betrayed him, vows to oust this President from office and he unleashes a series of deployments by any means necessary.
The popularity of this Netflix home-produced series at the time set Netflix on the path to producing its own series in addition to licensing it for streaming, and this original series that Netflix tested the waters for was a successful first shot at introducing a new model of profitability for the company. The importance of House of Cards to Netflix cannot be overstated, as Netflix chose the “ta-dum” sound to accompany the animated opening credits, an idea that some sources say came from Frank’s knocking on the table in Netflix’s original hit House of Cards.
•Advertising
There are many different forms of advertising, from pop-ups on social media, to advertisements on bus stops, and most often, television commercials. As video can be created to convey many meanings, it is very common to see advertisements with political messages, such as those promoting human rights and LGBT groups.
We are not discussing whether such a phenomenon is wasteful and whether political advertising will lead people to make wrong judgments, but we are discussing advertising as a medium which is bound to become As long as there are interests, even extreme political advertisements can exist on TV and online platforms. I think in the future, the regulation of advertisements will definitely grow up again in all kinds of misjudgments.
•Online streaming
Online streaming comes in many forms, the earliest we used to be exposed to was live radio streaming, which in addition to being the fastest way to access news and information, also allowed us to listen to sports commentary and even major speeches by politicians, such as The King’s Speech, a film about Prince Albert, Duke of York, who suffered from a severe stammer after the death of King George V and the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936. Prince Albert, Duke of York, is appointed King of England at risk, and later, with the help of speech therapist Lenore Rogge, George VI overcomes his handicap to deliver an inspiring speech before World War II, a time when the nation was exposed to and informed about politics through radios.
Most live broadcasts nowadays are broadcast live on TV, and also live on online platforms, where presenters are able to often fight over different political views or the parties they support, but of course this is limited to individual special channels. Daily live coverage presenters usually do not report with an obvious political agenda, unless it involves core national interests and touches on the interests of certain groups, then it is inevitable that presenters are likely to be scripted by their leaders for conscious political coverage to guide people not to offend national interests or group interests.
Product placement in film
Nike shoe ad embedded in ‘Forrest Gump‘
The pinnacle of implant advertising is to embed the values and culture of a brand, and there is no doubt that Nike has done just that in Forrest Gump. “Run, Forrest, run!” As a teenager born with cerebral palsy with an IQ of 75, he is obsessed with running and faces his destiny by constantly running and keeps getting better and better at marathons, eventually running all over America in Nike shoes. As the main character in the film, the concept that Forrest Gump upholds is the same as the theme that Nike wants to express. Forrest Gump keeps running in the film, making it unforgettable for everyone, and as soon as Forrest Gump’s running shoes are mentioned, one immediately responds that they are a pair of Nike shoes, so much so that this film gives people the wrong impression – is this really not a Nike commercial? With Forrest Gump, Nike has achieved value penetration, tying its values to its cultural work and effectively communicating them to the hundreds of millions of viewers around the world who love the film, as well as integrating its products with its thematic core.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with a Tiffany jewellery ad
The pinnacle of implant advertising in cinema history is the divine manipulation of Tiffany jewellery in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and it is indescribably fabulous. In the dawn light, Audrey Hepburn steps out of a yellow taxi in an elegant black dress and strolls into a Manhattan Avenue window, gazing at Tiffany’s jewellery to the soundtrack of the film’s decades-long hit “Moon River”. This classic scene is still played on a loop around the world as Tiffany’s own classic advertisement.
FFedEx in ‘Cast Away’
Cast Away is a great film with the main character working for FedEx, which appears 51 times, plus the Wilson brand ball even becomes a character in the film. The advertisements in this film are very well integrated into the plot and become part of the film.
Canned spinach in Popeye the Sailor
As a classic cartoon that has become popular all over the world, you must have imagined eating a can of spinach like Popeye, and gaining unbeatable strength to punish the evil and defeat the good. In this cartoon, spinach is Popeye’s most important prop, so why do you need to eat spinach to gain divine strength? In fact, the plot was intentional, as many children in the US at the time were severely deficient in iron, and spinach was one of the best iron-supplementing vegetables, so it was heavily promoted by the US Department of Education, and then a Texas canning company, BOBO, sponsored the publication of Popeye, which sparked a global craze for spinach, almost pushing this otherwise common vegetable off the market. The combination of a great animated setting and global popularity took the spinach from ‘commoner’ to ‘internet sensation’ status, and that’s the power of an ad.
How I see the influence of the media
•Politics
We discussed earlier how politics can influence media communication, but in fact it is an interplay, as media coverage and communication can sometimes inadvertently create and manufacture views that are likely to be amplified by those who have an agenda to promote their political views. So I think that apart from politicians trying to guide people’s ideas through the media, people also use social media to oppose politicians’ ideas and form organisations, but there is no way of knowing whether this endless debate and discussion will lead to peaceful outcomes and acceptance. This is my personal opinion.
•Consumerism
We all know that with the development of industry and the rapid rise of manufacturing, countries around the world have become ‘manufacturing car factories’. To give a simple example, Apple has a large number of production plants in China, in India, etc. The supply chain has been perfected so that the cost of Apple’s products is spread across countless devices. We know that Apple’s products are very expensive, so why are electronic devices that do not cost so much able to sell so expensive and so well? Apart from employing excellent engineering designers, the most important thing is that the company spends money on advertising, social media, the launch of the iphone, its advertising is undoubtedly a model for the industry, an example of excellence, you can imagine how much Apple invests in PR and advertising, it is this investment that makes people want to buy, people watch YouTube mobile phone Reviews, year after year, people are prone to consumerism. The same applies to other electronic products, such as computer equipment, fast-moving clothing brands like ZARA, where clothes are made all over the world, so we can say that the biggest reason for the prevalence of consumerism nowadays is that it is easier than ever to promote in the media, because of the development of the internet, and secondly, because of the feedback from users, which makes products more perfect and gives people the desire to replace them. At the same time, costs are getting lower and people are able to buy better products at lower prices. In short, consumerism is a trend that will continue for a long time, unless there is an economic crisis or a war.
•Ideology
Does the media only bring us politics? Of course not, politics is only hidden in a small part of the media and life, unless there is a big change in society and politics jumps to second or even first place in life. So it is very important to maintain a peaceful society where people naturally don’t discuss more political topics but rather three meals a day or excursions. The role of the media is to bring different ideas to different people, process them and then spread them widely in society, so what are the good media communications? For example, the protection of the environment. Today our planet is getting hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, the melting of the ice in Antarctica is becoming more and more of a problem, leading to a rise in the global water table and the flooding that has escalated and affected mankind in recent years. I think the role of the media should be to promote these positive aspects of the common destiny of mankind, not to fill the headlines with violence and absurdity in exchange for clicks, which is against our conscience.
•Evil corporations
Speaking of corporations, we know that any corporation is like a small country with its own set of systems and values, and then corporations will often do things that people find mind-boggling or even EVIL for their own benefit. I still remember clearly when I was watching the TV series ‘Prison Break’, in which the corporations were able to manipulate presidents and even assassins to assassinate people who were in the way of the corporations and block all negative media information in order to keep their grey interest deals from being exposed, I believe it is still partly in line with reality, because when people’s power and wealth When a person reaches a certain level of power and wealth, he has the means to achieve whatever he wants through his connections, and the law and even morality are at this moment reduced to pieces of paper, easily torn apart by the consortium. In many cases, we do not see the true appearance of black events because the consortia control the media through their power, and those who want to spread the word are likely to be made to disappear by the consortia in some way, for example, in the case of the ‘comfort women’ in Japan, because the right-wingers do not allow these stains to stain their For example, in the case of the ‘comfort women’ incident in Japan, because the right-wingers did not allow these stains to stain their militaristic honour, even if they were true to the historical record, many Japanese scholars who did document and disseminate this were persecuted and threatened, resulting in the Japanese media now being reluctant to report on these matters, and this is where corporations EVIL.
•Current events
Nowadays the media propaganda is most often about the US elections, after all the US is still the world’s number one power and every move the US makes has to attract the attention of the world, especially in the last four years under Trump, a businessman who has never been in politics, which cannot be said to be very successful, he has torn up more treaties, built more walls, made what was a global market economy and globalisation slowly turn into He has torn up more treaties, built more walls and slowly turned what was once a global market economy and globalisation into unilateralism, adding to the tension between the US and the people of the world, so people don’t like Trump, they may even say they hate him. In addition to the election, there is of course the new global coronavirus, which has been the most talked about virus this year, and because of the seriousness of the virus, the media has an obligation and a need to inform people immediately and quickly, so that they can take precautions as soon as possible. However, the fact is that even when the media have communicated the danger of the virus, it has been used as a political excuse to avoid the reality of the epidemic, not to believe that it is a disaster for all mankind, but that it is no different from a normal flu, a government conspiracy, etc., and that many anti-mask groups have gathered. Nowadays, in the United States and in many areas, there is a lack of belief in the scientific method of wearing masks and not moving outside, which has led to this disaster continuing for a year. All the media is sometimes conscious of spreading the word, but it is still up to the people whether they want to believe it or not.
Summary
Today we have analysed the relationship between politics and the media, what kind of influence the media has on people and given an insight into what the media is all about. To sum up people cannot live without media communication and at the same time politics is invisibly present around us, the figuration of politics often needs to be expressed through the media, the light system between them can be said to co-exist with light-hee. As an animation student, in the media production industry, suppose I were to choose a political subject to animate, I think I would choose the future science fiction genre, set in a future country, where race is blurred and the destiny of mankind is linked to a world where the common enemy is ecological degradation and thus the search for a new place to live, I know that such a subject has been filmed in movies, but I would like to focus on portraying and studying the development of human civilisation, can I know there are films that have been made on this subject, but I wanted to focus on the development of human civilisation, and whether it was possible to put aside national and racial stereotypes and focus on the evolution and development of the human race, rather than always discussing stereotypes that have existed for hundreds or thousands of years. But after today’s academic discussion this script is one of the most important animations I would like to do at the moment, and I hope to see a film or TV production on this subject in the future.
In addition to the fox bouncing, this week’s tasks finally led to an important training in the principles of the laws of motion in animation, namely walking animation.I then looked on Google for references, drafts of the walk cycle animation and storyboards.
Note the change in height of the stride when walking.
Pay attention to the length and arc of the lift to the drop of the foot!
Ensure that the soles of the feet are planted on the ground and that the toes are bent.
After taking care of the above, we are ready for the K-animation, where we need to pay attention to the height of the span, the rotation, and then also the target ball pointing at the knee, as in the reference picture.
I looked for other references, closer to human movement, for example, how many frames it takes to walk and how long each walk pitch is.
Then the finished character will be curved and adjusted to make the inertia of doing it a little more fluid, as it will take about five steps, I need to make the alternation of the front and back feet into one loop so that I will have a reference or copy over to adjust the angle later on when I am doing the loop.
Finally, all the angles were adjusted, the lights were put on and the final render was done.
When it comes to the relevance of animation to cinema, one has to mention that in 1826, Joseph Plateau invented the rotary moving image mirror, which was a card with a picture loop painted on the edge with a crack. The viewer holds the card close to a mirror and looks in through the slit as the card rotates. The basic principle is the same as that of film and television, which is that of visual transience.
So it’s just the birth of the moving image you could say it’s animation as well as video, and it was in the Lumière Brothers’ The arrival of a train, although nowadays it looks like a documentary, was quite a sensation at the time, as it was the first time that people were able to see a real scene projected in a projection, a great innovation in human history. At the same time the dynamics of the train moving forward and people waiting for the train unintentionally gave rise to a preliminary lens language, which will be considered in the coming years for its role and appeal.
Animation as a medium therefore has the same communicative nature as film and the language of shots is also common.
In the classroom, the video content mentions the use of lenses, including the choice of scene, how to move the camera, what a long shot is, how to shoot off-axis etc.
Although I have read books on film and television and watched a lot of youtube tutorial videos in the past, reviewing them again still allows me to recognise points that I hadn’t noticed before and where I had been rather neglectful.
Reflections on the future of animation
HISTORY
From Snow White in 1937, Disney’s first feature-length colour animation in the history of animation, to the first three-dimensional animated feature film in 1995, Toy Story by Pixar, these two productions have clearly left one of the most important and indelible marks in the history of animation.
Snow White & Seven Dwarfs and Toy Story cover
We find that today, whether it is the two-dimensional animation of Ghibli as the representative of Japan or the three-dimensional animation of Pixar, which we have all become so accustomed to, it is hard to imagine that the release of feature-length animation in colour was such a shock at the time that it showed us how much more exciting life can be given to animation.
TODAY
As an example, the Unreal Engine has caused quite a stir this year with Unreal 5, as the engine’s algorithms are now infinitely close to CG levels!
Unreal Engine 5 gaming demo render
In the future, it is foreseeable that the production of animation may no longer be limited to hand-drawn or computer-generated animation, which can be captured dynamically in the game through VR and can also obtain realistic visual effects. Comparative green screen special effects animation has been around for years, but just because the technology offers more possibilities and convenience doesn’t mean it will necessarily become mainstream.
So back to the main point – how will creators create and apply new technologies, will they still use traditional camera language, or will they use open interactive storytelling (Netflix has made interactive movies), or will they directly experience VR’s point of view in the first persodirected person, etc. These are all challenges and opportunities presented by technology and innovation.
I cannot help but think of the future of the animation industry in a wonderful way!
In today’s bolg, we are going to be advancing to a small animated character, the fox, which is said to be a small animated character, but is actually a ball bouncing, with the difference that we will be adjusting the fox’s tail as it bounces.
So by the same logic, since the fox body is still a ball and the model is pre-bound to bounce deformation, which is what I was trying to say in last week’s ball, we do not need to make bindings here and just focus on the character dynamics.
I looked for references to the storybroad of fox bouncing and drafts of trajectories, and found that to adjust the fox’s tail properly you need to get the tailbone swaying in the right position for horizontal jumping.
So when I made the adjustments, apart from the deformation and orientation of the fox’s head, which is also the spherical body, the tail also conformed as much as possible to the laws of motion, so as not to violate Newton’s laws of motion.
Below is the graph eidtor of my tail node.
I know that this line is still not regular enough, and when I finished uploading the video I noticed that the movement of the tail was quite chaotic, and that the rules of the swing were different for each bounce, but of course in real life the fox’s tail will still be a bit different for each horizontal jump, because of the length and distance, but not this huge difference that I saw, but the difference of the regular swing and then some adjustments will make the whole process more natural and more comfortable to look at.
Next I did a couple of jumping piles in succession, at different heights as well as at different distances, bouncing the fox completely and adjusting the X-axis nodes in the graph editor as we did in the first week to break the nodes and make the arcs more natural.
Side view of the dynamics of the side I have adjusted.
This is my fox bouncing animation below.
Final thoughts: The right rate of bounce and tail swing with the right posture and speed is the key to a good animation. Therefore I find that I still need more practice in rhythm and node control.
