Research and Development forLevel 5 Convergence/Divergence Unit

Arts University Bournemouth By Laura Huartson

CONVERGENCE/DIVERGENCEArts University Bournemouth, Level 5

by Laura Huartson 2015

Brief Learning Agreement Research; 1. UMBRA - Malcolm Sutherland 2. RED - Hynjoo Song 3. ZOOLOGIC - Nicole Mitchell 4. Lucinda Rogers 5. George Butler 6. Gary Embury Storyboard Observational Drawing and Sketchbook WorkAnimation Development 1. Photoshop 2. Adobe After Effects 3. Adobe Audition 4. iMovieEvaluation of Final Animation

CONTENTS

BRIEFCONVERGENCE / DIVERGENCE

In our fast-moving society, the need to provide accessible screen based communication is an important requirement within the profile of an illustrator. Increasingly, growth in this area of the illustration sphere can be evidenced in the range of new products brought out by manufacturers each year, which consequently, provides new platforms for illustration. This in turn, creates an exciting dialogue that emerges from the more traditional ideas of Illustration through to the newer emergence of challenging and exciting hybrid forms.

Screen based outcomes for example, can educate, inform, comment upon or provide light entertainment by combining sound, text, visual imagery, still and moving pictures.

As with all of our visual outcomes, whatever the approach/media, we need to be aware of the many different contexts and audiences, and so therefore, the intention of the work must be given due consideration prior to the commencement of the project.

Converge. v.i. - to tend towards or meet in one point or value: the opposite of diverge.Conver’gence – the act or point of converging.

Diverge. v.i. – to tend from a common point in different directions: to turn apart.Diverg’ence – proceeding from different directions from each other or from a common point.

Consider the title of this unit, ‘Convergence / Divergence’, and the dictionary definition above, and it is apparent that the two words, ‘convergence’ and ‘divergence’, are opposite in meaning.

In turn, you are required to produce a short film, animation or sequence of images, with an associated sound track, of a minimum of a one minute duration and no longer than a three minute duration.

The work can be created by any process and can take the form of abstract, representational, collage, hand-drawn, photographic, printmaking, 3-dimensional, film-based combinations.

LEARNING AGREEMENT ‘Each sketchbook is unique and belongs to a unique artist - that is, you, whoever you are, whatever your age, and whatever you do.’ Felicity Allen  Within this screen based project, I want to explore the sketchbook and reportage illustra-tion. Furthermore, from the previous narrative unit, I liked this idea of a story being told, which is an aspect I want to bring forward to this Convergence/Divergence unit. Inspired by the sketchbooks of J M Turner and Utagawa Hiroshige, I will go out on location to my local village of Hythe, to try to create a variety of imagery from different areas of the village. These will help inspire a selection of narratives that will make up the animation to promote the village to people visiting. I want to create a collection of sketchbooks that explore a range of observational drawings, a variety of interesting sequences of events that I can then further by animating. I would also like to explore the use of watercolour paint and coloured pencil, as well as simple lines to create a mixed media animation. My Intention for this unit is to explore the charm of the sketchbook, by creating an anima-tion that uses hand drawn techniques. I have been inspired by a book I brought called Your Sketchbook Your Self, by Felicity Allen, which explores thinking through drawing, and the importance of a sketchbook for stimulating creative thinking. I will visit Hythe, a local village with shops, a ferry service and a pier, to create observational drawings that will inspire my animation. I will use the images from my sketchbook to be the images that are animated, as the project is exploring the sketchbook. I will accompany the imagery with music such as the piano, or simply go out into the village and record sounds which will help bring it to life. Because I have not made an animation before, I will learn how you use Adobe After Affects from tutorials and workshops with the studio technician and visiting tutors, as well as through Lynda.com, which will allow me to assemble and animate my drawings. Throughout the project, I want to research existing animations out there that use reportage drawings, as well as exploring the variety of different animations that can be made, such as stop motion, hand drawn animation and roto-scoping. I also want to look at a variety of both

past and contemporary practitioners and their sketchbooks, as well as reportage practitioners, such as Gary Embury and Lucinda Rogers, to look at a variety of ways people document their observations, and how they think through drawing as they observe the world around them. I also want to research possible narratives through drawing on location, and trying to find narratives that will create an interesting animation.   My Final Outcome will be presented as an animation, with a collection of sketchbooks that document observational drawings, as well as a blog and a body of work that show the process I have gone through to make my animation

Aims:A1 To provide an awareness of how screen-based technologies are transforming the way that audiences are consuming information how Illustration can enhance a specific concept and effect a target audience.A2 To develop your creative solutions and skills in relation to the technology available to illustrators towards a screen based presentation.A3 To develop organisational skills which enable independent learning, critical evaluation and self- management.

Learning Outcomes:On completion of the unit you will be able to:LO1 Demonstrate your knowledge of new and evolving technologies for the illustrator in relation to your identified audience.LO2 Demonstrate your practical application of traditional and technology skills in the cre-ation of a screen-based presentation.LO3 Demonstrate the application of organisational skills and evidence of independent learning, critical evaluation and self-management through the development of your project.

Assessment components:Body of work to be identified through and in the negotiated Learning Agreement. (Tutor Assessed) 100%

UMBRA (2010)by Malcolm Sutherland

I discovered this animation by Malcolm Sutherland on YouTube. Its a narrative animation that follows an explorers adventure into an unknown world. However, you soon discover that it seems he has been there before.

Within this animation, I was inspired by the fact it was all hand drawn. This was an element that I wanted to incorportate as much as I could into my own animation. I also love the narrative of it, how it tells a story about this explorers venture into an unknown world. Furthermore, the way each section of the story links together is really interesting, as we see the ending then loops back to the begining again, when the animation implies that the cycle of the story repeats again.

Within this animation, the sountrack is just as important as the visuals for conveying the narrative of the story. The simple background sound which is consistent throughout ties each section together. The introduction of music then begins to create atmosphere to the imagery, creating suspense and building up tension. The sound effects also add another layer to the imagery, giving it context.

RED (2011)by Hyunjoo Song

This animation created by Hyunjoo Song is an alterniative version of Little Red Riding Hood.

I came across this animation when researching current and exsiting animations out there to widen my knowledge of an area I was very unfamiliar with. Before I deceided to complete a reportage animation, I was looking into the possibility of contiuing to look at narrative.

In terms of this animation, I liked how the style of the creator is evident within through the style of the images. I also like the way the backgrounds are very simple and consistant throughout to allow the characters to be the main focus. The soundtrack and sound effects then compliment the drawings to help build up the atmosphere of the animation, adding calmness suspense and humour.

ZOOLOGIC (2007)by Nicole Mitchell

This is another narrative animation, created by Nicole Mitchell. It takes place in a zoo, where a penguin and gorilla team up to lead the other animals in a revolution against a zoo keeper who will not leave them alone.

An aspect I like with this animation which is evident in the previous animation RED, is the fact that the drawing style of the illustrator is brought into the animation and used to great effect. The use of a limited colour palette, continued with the only use of the colour green and pink, keeps the drawings consistent throughout. It also allows us to focus on the narrative storyline, which is made easier to follow because the images are minimulist and simple. I therefore feel that the relationship between the storyline and drawing match well together, which is then enhanced by sound effects to help fufill the humourous aspect of the animation.

Lucinda Rogers

Lucinda Rogers is a reportage illustrator who works from life; drawing on location. She often documents London, to catch and record details of the changing city she lives in.

‘She immerses herself in an environment and records straight from eye to paper, which gives her drawings a particular spontaneity.’ http://www.lucindarogers.co.uk/about/biogra-phy.php

Within the works of Lucinda Rogers, I like how the strength of line is drawing the eye to parts of the image that are important. Fur-thermore, her skill to capture whats going on within the drawing makes them all successful in there own way.

Ben Freedman, Orchard Street (2002)

George Butler

Omar, Syria(2012)

Battle Scene, Syria(2012)

George Butler

George Butler is an artist and illustrator specialising in travel and current affairs. His drawings are created on location in pen, ink and w a t e r c o l o u r .

Gary Embury

Gary Embury is a reportage illustrator who is also the editor of the online journal www.reportager.org. His online journal promotes reportage and visual journalism, and he is especially interested in projects that are issue based or tell a story in pictures.

I came across the work of Gary Embury when he came to the Arts University Bournemouth to give a lecture about his work and subsequent online journal. He talked about how drawing does not have to always be athetically pleasing, or a good drawing, but as long at the image is conveying the intended message, then its a successful image.

STORYBOARD

This was my initial storyboard to help me show what I wanted to happen within my reportage animation. I wanted to look at places of interest to further and illustrate, which is why I decided in the end to get rid of the section exploring Hythe Library. I also wanted my animation to follow around in a loop, therefore I intended for it to both start and end at the Hythe Ferry. This meant that I want the Ferry to come into Hythe for the title page, and then go out as the credits rolled.

This storyboard really helped me when planning my animatic it allowed me to think about the places of interest that I specifically wanted to look at, as well as coming to the conclusion that I wanted to follow a specific figure around the village. The storyboard help me cut down to 3 shops; Jane Bidwells Flowers, Groves Fruit and Veg, and Tilleys Bakery. As well as the shops, I wanted to explore the area outside of them, to try and document the atmosphere of the vil-lage. From this I was able to create an animatic, which helped me with the timing of my final animation, and allowed me to incorporate a soundtrack.

Observational Drawing of Southamptonfrom Hythe Marina

Observational Drawing of houses inSouthampton from Hythe Marina

Observational Drawing of Southampton Docksfrom Hythe Marina

Observational Drawing of Hythe Pier

Jane Bidwell FlowersHythe

Grove Garden Fruit and Veg

‘Oranges and Apples’

Grove Garden Fruit and Veg

‘Plums and Pears’

Zebra Crossing, Hythe

The Marsh, Hythe

For my Final Animation, I used photoshop to deal with the hand drawn elements of my project, such as the walking sequences, depicting the movement of waves, and creating some moving seagulls. I also used photoshop to deal with Rotoscoping, drawing over multiple layers of a video, to create a digitally drawn and coloured seagull.

WALKING SEQUENCE

To create the walking sequence of the figure the animation is following around Hythe, as well as other pedestrians who are within the village, I created 10 hand drawn drawing depicting each section of the movement. I had to create for each leg 5 drawings, where I then scanned and edited in photoshop to get rid of the background. Once this was done, I then went about placing each seperate layer next to eachother so that each figure moved slightly to the right each time. I made sure that each figure overlapped slightly tocreate a smooth transition and movement when the layers were made into a Video Group.

Once I finished the first stage, I placed the layers into a Video Group.This allowed me to change the duration of time spent on the layers, to therefore decided how quickly I wanted my figure to walk. Once this was sorted, I could then Save it as a photoshop file or export as an Mp4, to then go on and edit further in After Effects.

During the early stages of the project, I completed a Rotoscoping test from a video of a seagull I had captured. I began by importing the video frame to layers, to allow me to draw and colour over each one digitally. After completing it, I was really happy with the way it turned out, and decided to somehow incorporate it into my Final Animation. However, I was not sure how this would work because my animation uses traditional materials such as watercolour paints and pencils, and hand drawn imagery, whereas this seagull is digitally coloured. Therefore, I decided to add a watercolour background in photoshop, using an image I created in my sketchbook. In the end, I think the digital aspect was complimented well with the hand drawn background, and created a successful section of my animation that explored both a traditional and digital material.

Screenshot of Final image

ROTOSCOPING ON PHOTOSHOP

Rotoscoping tester

Before starting this project, I had only used After Effects for a workshop about how to make a charachter move. Even then, I had found it extremely confusing and struggled to use it properly. However, following tutorials on Youtube, I have now become very confident with using the program. In the end, this software was the main source for animating my work, as well as for editing and putting my animation together.

For the section in my animation looking at The Marsh, an area within Hythe where shops and outdoor seating is located, After Effects was the main source for moving some of my characters. As well as my own hand drawn walking sequences, I used my observational drawings from my sketchbook, cut them out in photoshop, and used the position tool in After Effects to move the the figures across the screen, to create this idea of people going about there business.

Screen shots from After Effects showing change in sccale in right figure

Within this section of my animation, I also experimented with scale. Instead of all the figures just walking along the screen, I wanted to have a figure look as if it was coming closer to viewer. Therefore, I found out through a tutorial on Youtube, how to go about changing the scale of the figure. This means that as he moves across the screen, he increases in size, to make it seem like he is coming towards you.

CREATING THE SOUNDTRACK ON ADOBE AUDITION

Before this animation project, I had no idea how I even went about placing a soundtrack over my animation. It wasn’t untill a sound workshop with Chris Reed from The Paper Cinema, that I first discovered Adobe Audition. I found it extremely easy to use, and therefore used it to create my final soundtrack.

For my soundtrack, I chose to go on location back to Hythe, and record the sounds going on within each shop, as well as the bustling noise of people outside going about their business. I also recorded more specific sounds, such as that of the Hythe Pier Train and seagulls. I decided to use a background sound of seagulls and soft talking of people, to help create the atmosphere of a village next to Southampton shores. Once I had acquired all the sounds I needed, which I gathered in two visits to Hythe, it took me only a day to trim and edit all of my sounds to what I wanted. One aspect which is very helpful with Adobe Audition, is that you can see your animation playing, therefore can match up your sound to coincide with the specific scene or movement in your video.

Whilst creating my sounds, I tested out fading the sounds in and out, as well as playing with the levels, to increase how loud certain sounds were over the others. This meant that I could have the background noise at a consistant level, but increase the volume of the sounds that I wanted to be the main focus, like the conversations from within the shops. Overall I was really happy with how my soudtrack turned out, and feel it conveys the atmosphere of Hythe. It also brings my animation to life, and it helps give the imagery context.

Composing in iMovie

Whilst completing the sound workshop with Chris Reed, I was introduced to iMovie. In the end, I didn’t use iMovie to put together each individual rendered movies, but used it to combine the whole animation and sound together, giving me my final finished animation.

To do this, I imported the rendered and converted animation, as well as the soundtrack as an Mp4. I then dragged the two to the bottom area, when I then shared the file whichrendered the two together.

screenshot of how to render files together

FINAL ANIMATION EVALUATION‘HYTHE’Duration: 01.53

My animation is a reportage animation which follows a figure around Hythe, a village located on the shores of Southampton Waters. The village enjoys many attractions, and has shops, a marina, the oldest working pier train, and ferry links to and from Southampton. My animation intends to communicate the atmosphere of the village, with sounds and conversations of everyday life of people going about there day. It could also be used to help promote the village to those visiting the area and using the ferry.

Having finally finished my animation, I’m really pleased with the way it has turned out. To begin the project, I was really daunted about having to create an animation, something I’d never done before. I didn’t have a clue about how to even go about creating one and the processes involved. I knew from the start that I wanted to use traditional techniques, but ended up using a combination of After Effects and Photoshop, as well as the traditional methods. I had to learn After Effects from scratch, which I did using demonstrations from Youtube, and now feel confident in using it. I also learnt how to use Photoshop when creating a video for the hand drawn sections of my animation. Learning how to use Photoshop for animating was learnt when I took a workshop about rotoscoping, (another method of animation I used within my own). I also used adobe Audition to create my soundtrack, and learnt to then place this together in iMovie.

My sketchbook which I used to document the village was my main source of imagery, and provided all the backgrounds for the different scenes. I then created new drawing for aspects like the people walking, the waves in the opening and closing scenes, as well as the seagulls flying. This was because my project wasn’t just looking at reportage illustration, but at the sketchbook and how its used to stimulate creative thinking.

An important aspect with my animation was the intended audience it was to serve. The aim

of my project was to promote the village to people visiting, as well as those using the ferry links to and from Southampton. Therefore, there was no specific age range for my animation to adhere to. I feel that I have managed to achieve my aim. I have looked at iconic features of Hythe such as its Ferry links to and from Southampton, as well as shops and the outdoor areas. I have also created a positive impression of the village through the soundtrack, an important aspect in helping to promote the village. However, if I was to add to my animation, I would have looked further into the pier train, as this is an appealing feature of the village with it being the oldest working pier train in the world. I incorporated sounds recorded by myself of the train as its moving, but feel visual imagery would have been more engaging for the audience.

Looking further at the soundtrack, I feel that this really enhances my animation and brings my imagery to life, whether thats the sound of seagulls or of conversations within the shops. The sounds add context to the visual images, giving us another understanding of whats happening within the imagery.

In terms of my time management, I finshed my animation completely with 3 days to go. Within my Action Plan, I had said that I wanted the last week to be used for editing, which I managed to use it for to make small changes to animation, such as the font and some pacing issues. However, I did spend a lot longer on my animatic then intended, which caused me to be behind on my final animation. This was mainly because I spent a lot longer on the imagery then I thought I would, as well as the fact I wasn’t at that point completely confident with using Adobe After Effects or Adobe Audition, as well as how to place both the video and soundtrack together. Despite this, I still left plenty of time for creating my animation, which is how I finished on time with days to spare.

If I could change anything about my animation, I still don’t think that the font used for my opening and credits sections of the animation are as successful as the imagery. I definitely feel the colour blue works a lot better then black, but again fell that the font lets the animation down. If I was to return to this project, font and typography exploration would be an aspect I would look further into, and complete more extensively.

Overall, I’m very happy with my final animation. Having felt very daunted and

worried about what I was going to produce or how I was even supposed to go about making one, I feel very proud of what I have produced as my first ever animation. I feel the pacing of the animation is good, as the timings between it moving from one shop to another is enough to get a feel for what going on and the context of the imagery. Another successful aspect for me is the combination of a variety of different drawing materials and methods. Combining drawings from my sketchbook with digital methods creates an interesting variety within my animation. Furthermore, using a combination of traditional hand drawn methods to create animation, as well as using Adobe After Effects shows how I’ve demonstrated my knowledge of new and evolving technologies, one of the learning outcomes of my project.

Thoughtout this project, I have learnt so many new skills to add to those gained within the previous projects. I have learnt how to use After Effects and Photoshop to animate, how to create and put together sounds within Adobe Audition, and then how to render my animation with the soundtrack in iMovie. Despite being a very daunting project to begin with, I finished extremely happy with the outcome, and hope to contiune using my new found skills within further projects, as well as outside of University.