mix mix render

working today on final changes to the film. The section with Leila is  in response to McLaren's letter from America about fireflies. It makes a really good combination with the skating animation sequence. Great to nearly be there!! .

I also feel this particular piece of the final film sits very well with many dance films I have seen.

I looked at a film yesterday which uses motion graphic really well. Its the first I have seen which I feel uses the technology in a great way and something to think about collaborating on in the future. Masters peer Link has expressed an interest in my future project on McLaren and it would be great to work with him on developing the ideas we started on...

EMBRACE from Ashley Rae Pearsall on Vimeo.

Focus

Today I wake up exhausted and wondering how I am going to get to the end of the week! I also have a lunch to prepare for 40 people for Sunday! and visitors arriving tomorrow and the next day to stay for a week. It is hard to get out in the morning without being rude and I am later in than I would want to be. It is a beautiful day and I decide to step back from it all and stop for lunch across from college. I have not been eating very much but sitting at a computer all day I guess I do not need it.


I sit in the sun for about 20 minutes to eat then in to edit.
I work on Zoe's section again tidying up and fixing it till I am happy with it. This section is devoted to feathers swans and transformation. I end up really focussed and complete the whole section and render it...it feels good. So stopping can be a good tactic! This time I also listen to music which I brought in. As usual the janitor comes to check on me and I leave at 8 15. I have got to know all the janitors and they have been great ...only one grump!! I realise to that I should always aim to finish early and leave the render overnight.

Some things have not made it into the film which is a shame..the face...the still of sherrifmuir just got forgotten. and I am still trying to solve the swan!! I ask Nuria about it and she kindly makes some great suggestions. We all have our favourite work modes but she now is realising  the style of my film. and also that I am not here to make a perfect animated film...that would take another degree!!

progress and reflection

I have had a last tutorial with Sharon, this time in the edit rooms, and we are both happy with where things have got to. It was good to be able to demonstrate to her the learning I have achieved on the equipment ( I have surprised myself too)

Today I went on to bring the still image I created for the website together with the film it came from to make a closing seqence for my film. When I was trying to add the skating animation I realised it was not the right size when it would not render so I had to go back to the file and re size it then import it all over again as a movie! Once I had this done I then discovered how to change the aspect ratio and a good way to add something to half the screen e.g. text or animation. I also worked out how to change the colour of it tho in the end I am not sure it really works here with the skating feet....will decide at the end!!


Technical problems still...my own computer is not recognising files I have imported as movies. So not only can I not edit at home I can now not look at films either! And when I took my most recent animation to line test it the pc had switched off and no one knew the code to get into it ( the cable had dropped out) so I had to go search for Sean or somone who knew the code!

I have done one more piece of film for the opening sequence with Anya, the last dancer I had agreed to work with.

The studio has been great and I will be sad to give it up...I realise that my work probably sits mid way between film and fine art. This means different needs and I feel I have managed those well. I certainly found this an inspiring place and a better place to focus. The photo was mid way through light tests on the costume.

a busy week!

This week has been a bit crazy...the first of many such weeks to come is my guess! On the 16th July I had to search for clips I could not find of Zoe...found in capture scratch...under alicia!!! Then I continued editing and the drawing for the short dance sequence I am adding as an animation. I made them into a short movie to test them.I am spending so long in edit I am frozen by the time I get home at 9.00 pm. On the 17th I drew in the studio I am using...on the wall...and at home. On the 18th I had a job interview...huge!!!...but did not get the job On the 19th I started adding the animation to the live action to test. On the 20th I did one more film sequence in the studio...the last...which went really well.That was after a tutorial in the morning...which also went well. On the basis of the work done this week it is obvious that the film is now a response to a few of McLaren's letters but in particular the ones which signify his leaving Britain for America aboard a ship I now know througjh research was commissioned to take passengers on that journey during the war.(SS Caledonia). I am really excited about having made this journey in creative process and about this new focus. This trip was huge in terms of McLaren's future as it led to his going to join NFB of Canada eventually.The letter he wrote aboard the ship ...many pages...were beautiful in the way they express his feelings. It was a parting but an arrival I believe, to himself. And after all that I had to assist my husband in the running of Big Tent!! cooking for 30 and car park duty!!

animation

The first small piece of animation for the dance sequence I am working on. I am going to include about 3 times this much and know where it is going. I have already done some work on adding it with the live action but have had some trouble getting this to be recognised on my pc. some glitch between edit and exporting to quick time. My pc has also suddenly decided it does not want to recognise all elements of quick time...Is it trying to persuade me to upgrade or have I done it wrong...Let's see!! Thankfully I managed to try it out in an animatic...

stop.... rewind

I have made another animatic which I plan to show Sharon at tutorial tomorrow. I have rendered it and looked at it and before I even show it I can see things to improve on.The music is slightly out and the first letter needs to appear later. I need a picture of an addressed envelope and to add clips from letters. After Sharon sees it we also agree that the swan animation needs to be clearer so I have to find a solution for this...I would like to have re drawn the whole swan sequence...and I will now revisit the story board for timing. I also need a second piece of sound to add at the beginning so will go source this! I have a really lovely piece of animation to add too but still looking at how best to show this. I have a list to work on...mainly looking at all the dance footage again and making sure I have made the right choices about animation additions.

feathers

Progressing slowly with all the elements of this film!! Thinking now of a new title...The Letter...as the film is rapidly becoming about more than skating and ice! I am also trying to wrap up the feather section. I have to date drawn feathers and watched them fall and of course watched swans. It seems that everywhere I go there is a feather on the ground...I am looking at falling feathers in a variety of ways. Filming them...animating them ( one at a time for my animatic)and looking at others films of them. Mark Haldane just suggested looking at a link. It is lovely. Is it what I want? It seems really close to what I imagined for my feathers falling...and maybe I now have to delegate this task. I would love to spend time working with a team on a project.

animation continues

I have been continuing to draw stills to attempt to capture a whole sequence of dance. In some ways it seems a very late stage to be adding anything ...I had a short sequence already...but in other ways it is the most obvious step to take. I need to understand fully how it works and why and when it looks right...or doesn't.... It is a skill I want to take with me when I leave... so very soon. I have also always known about myself  that the more mistakes I make the more I learn. John McGhee's words ring in my ears...Do not be afraid to make mistakes!!! I have tried so many different methods of animating movement and dance in particular and I look forward to the luxury of time next year to take these ideas forward but right now there are some things this film shouts out for. I begin by adding really too much detail and realise quite fast that It risks looking messy.  I also begin to understand the work process as I pare back on detail. So it looks like a bit like this ( this was a slightly rougher first sketch)........for about 50 frames.....

And after I have done 50 or so I begin to really focus on minimal lines to convey the movement. I also feel I want to have something that looks cleaner and can work as an invertion. I would love to have the time to paint them all I decide...colour in my next film!!!

So I cut back to the minimum ...and highlight the lines I want to emphasise...and feel it is loooking better.

Again I find capturing the sense of movement comes naturally...Though I still like the sketchy feel I have in my earliest drawings and plan to do a future animation in this style. Right now I resolve to finish the film in the best way possible in the time scale and not be distracted by drawing styles...

edit reflect continue

The learning curve over the last weeks has steepened! I found myself feeling I ma at the top of the cliff but only two thirds of me are actually on top and gravity is fighting with me while I try to pull the rest of me up!!!
I have bee sortinmg through my edit files to make  sure I do not miss anything and to make it easier to find material. The drawback is of course that things go off line when I change their location but since I am also clearer about the location of things that is not as big a problem as I thought!

After testing a dance animation in the edit I went home and continued to draw more to make a decent length of piece...I find I am also progressively clearer about my choices as the final stretch approaches. I have added a few little sequences which I want to add...for example ripples...and I can see that I am going to be using this skill lots in future!!!

I am beginning to use effects more and find I am now much faster too at sorting what needs to be added and then accomplishing it. I am adding colour to norman's letters...and frustratingly I would like to have a whole lot more time to work on the whole thing. But I guess this is the whole point...to learn something which may change your path and which will provide skills to enhance your creative practice. I certainly am doing that!

A couple of days ago I had a problem with the timeline on edit...some recognition error. This is hard ...as I have no idea yet how to solve such things...but other problems are easier to fix, e.g. Have you pressed the button that says 'NOW'? (Andrew...bless him!) But mostly now it is about testing and rendering and waiting to see the result. During the wait I reflect...and write up the blog of course...and I am rewriting all my notes on editing so that I can cement the learning. I am told however that if I do not use Final Cut for a while I will forget it all...