Major Project- Research: Animation Style II

As I begin to understand my animation, I continued to research animations styles which I want to use reference when animating my short. This time around I have looked at principally 2 animations, one is the classic Beautifully crafter Disney animation, Fantasia, and secondly, a particular scene in the modern Disney Film Beauty and The Beast.

Fantasia- Nutcracker Suite

Fantasia

In these two scenes of Fantasia, It is visible a few things I want to incorporate in my short animation. 

My Observations: 

- A very bouncing animation, similar to rubber hose animation. It is visible a lot of squash and stretch, overlapping and dragging. 

- Music is used to direct the character actions. 

- It features one of the most wonderful spectacles in animation history. Use of a variety of colours and effects. 

- Flowing animation. 

- Animation repetition, it is visible that often the animation sequence is the same, but boiled. 

- Smooth transitions between sequences, As if they belonged to a longer sequence that interlace in a beautiful way. 

The other animation I would like to show, is for similar reasons. Although it is a huge year gap between the two animations, it is perceived that they share the same elements. 

Beauty and the Beast - Be Our Guest

This is a great example and huge reference source to my short animation, because it demonstrates a simple task, such as serving a guest, but it turns it in one of the most exuberant and spectacular show to impress. One of the key elements is that uses also kitchen utensils and ingredients which are animated and have a live of their own, this is crucial to understand as I may want to breathe life to some of my inanimate objects. 

As I am at the end of my initial research for the project and the designing stage is following, a few more posts will surface here about animation style and sequence transitions.

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Major Project: Props and Cake Assets Research

Being my animation revolving around the world of cakes and sweets, I have decided to research props that i will be using the most in my world. As I chose the patissier to decorate the most fabulous wedding cake, I focused this research on understanding what is used to decorate wedding cakes.

Indeed wedding cakes are available in many shapes and forms, and have numerous assets that can be put on to add flavour or merely decorate the cake. However to be more specific, I had to decide how my cook would look like, and what additions it would have. 

By having the base of the cake already cooked, which would consist in a simple vanilla or chocolate batter, I will add the following components: 

- Icing or butter cream to coat the cake base, plain and chocolate, this will allow the cake to lavished in white and brown cream as the preparation for the decoration.

- Fruits such as cherries or strawberries.

-Adding flavour with nuts and chocolate sprinkles.

- Icing sugar decorations such as petals or doves.

- The most iconic figures on the cake, the wedding toppers, the bride and the groom.

Alongside researching the components that are in the decoration of a wedding, i have also looked at the way of decorating it, I found a few videos, which showed a step-by- step how to decorate a wedding cake. this will help me to stage the animation, as well as understanding how each step is done. Although, I wont be showing an exact replica of each step on my animation, it will help me decide on which movements my character will want to convey. 

As you may see to decorate a cake, everybody follows the same steps in the same order:

- Apply icing or butter cream onto the cake.
- Add ribbons.
- Decorate with frosting around the cake.
- Apply fruits, nuts and chocolate sprinkles.
- Add icing sugar details (doves and petals).
- End by adding the wedding toppers.

Alongside these videos, I found slightly different one, which works as a gallery to showcase different wedding cakes.

Wedding Cake Gallery

After such a delicious research, I just feel like stuff myself with a lot of sweets, ohh.... the sacrifices of research!

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Major Project: Time Period and Environment Research

With the character initially researched, I decided to move onto understanding the world in which this character is living. As I want to set my animation in France in the beginning of the 20th century, I began researching how live was being lived back then and how a patisserie would look like, from the interior to the exterior. Although, the environment is not the most important thing on this animation, it still plays an important role in making the short film believable.

Here is a influence map I have created for the patisserie environment in France around 1900's:

To complete my research in understanding how people lived in this era, I have also found a couple of vey informative videos, they show the social live of  France in this period, and mainly the designs of the buildins, monuments and stores. 

As part of the animation is set in a fictional cake world, where our patissier is imaging the cake decoration.I have decided to research how this world would look like. For that purpose I found a few pictures. 

Research for the "Cake" World 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Al Dente

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Wizard of OZ

As I mentioned on a previous post, iwant the "cake" World to have a specific look, I want the objects of this world to be oversized and to have very vivid colours, very bold, to evoke the idea of sweetness.

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Refractive Index for 3D Modellers

Hi guys, It is just a quick post, to echo what Alan said to us in the beginning of our Maya Classes back in Unit 1.

I know most of you are on the texturing stage so I found this really helpful Refractive Index, which is really helpful when dealing with glass or any reflective surface that consists refraction.

It can be found Here!

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