Illustration & Visual Narrative | Project 2

23/9/2020 - 18/10/2020 (Week 5 - Week 8)
Naim Zuki, (0346615) | Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Illustration and Visual Narrative 
Project 2
LECTURES
    Lecture 5 | Introduction to Decisive Moment

    Ms Anis started the lecture by introducing to us our first project of the semester, titled Decisive Moment. Our task is to develop an animated gif to represent a chosen quote. We are to interpret the chosen narrative's decisive moment.

INSTRUCTIONS

Module Information Booklet Illustration and Visual Narrative
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PROJECT 1 | DECISIVE MOMENT

    First Idea
It is said that everyone lives in their own world. Their views and perspective on this life are unique in their own way and each life is as precious as the next. Stories from one lifetime can have the depth of the oceans and more. Painted with adventures, romance, tragedies, and legends that cross the boundaries between fiction and reality. A biography in the shape of a soul. A memoir that depicts the plethora of judgments, thoughts, philosophies, pride, and regrets. A narrative filled with... decisive moments. 

When Ms Anis first introduced this project within Week 1 of the course, the little voice in the back of my mind knew exactly what I wanted to work on. A moment that truly captivated me and shook me down to the core. From hands down one of the best games and storytelling, I've ever experienced in my short lifetime on this Earth. What more would be a fitting scene to work on as a fresh University student than scenes from Life is Strange?

the below passages contain spoilers

My initial idea was to of course illustrate the final scene of the game, where (in my playthrough) Chloe heroically pleaded Max to sacrifice her for the sake of Arcadia Bay. Classic! However, through a (very emotional) review, I've realised that there were a number of decisive moments that gave enough (if not as much) emotional depth than the ending itself. The following are scenes that I find to be the most captivating.

Fig. 1.0 - Fig. 1.3, Inspo from Life is Strange, (Image Courtesy of DONTNOD Entertainment)

    Second Idea

Though the playthrough of Life is Strange was fresh in my mind, there's another narrative that I've been in love with ever since I was a kid. Every time this series is brought up I know I cannot shut up about it and I'd say one of the most perfect series ever created is Avatar: The  Last Airbender (ATLA). As much as I hate the internet bandwagoning on pre-existing fandoms, the ATLA bandwagon was something that I've come to appreciate due to the new fan art that has been birthed by the growing fandom.

ATLA is a story that relies heavily on the balance between the characters and the environment. The creators utilise them to mirror the characters' mood and make the viewers feel attached to the ATLA universe. With this in mind, I began thinking about which scenes that fully show the development of the characters throughout the three seasons. I decided to settle on the final Agni Kai between Azula & Zuko.

the below passages contain spoilers


Fig. 1.4 - 1.9, Inspo from Avatar: The Last Air Bender, (Images Courtesies from Bryan Konietzko and Viria)

This scene is one of the best examples of the use of the environment to reflect who the characters are and their emotions. On top of that, the visuals in this one singular scene took my breath away. The animators at this point of the development stopped making fires realistic and focused on making them expressional. Azula's fire is big and angry, reckless, and filled with emotional stress; while Zuko's fire is well composed, defensive, and calculated. I love this fight scene with the whole of my heart. So, therefore, I've chosen this scene to animate.

SKETCHES
Knowing that I'm not well versed in drawing dynamic figures nor expressionistic fires, I began to recreate the scenes as sketches to study Zuko's and Azula's body language. After that, I began sketching the fires from the scene itself to reverse engineer how the creators differentiate between Zuko and Azula.


Fig. 1.10, Experimental Sketch, 15/10/2020


Fig. 1.11, Experimental Sketch, 15/10/2020


Fig. 1.12, Experimental Sketch, 17/10/2020


Fig. 1.13, Experimental Sketch, 17/10/2020


Fig. 1.14, Experimental Sketch, 15/10/2020


Fig. 1.15, Experimental Sketch, 15/10/2020

ANIMATING

Before starting to animate, I did some research on some animation basics and what concepts I should use to approach animation. I learned that I should take some time into considering what comes in between the frames. Like how does the subject move and how do I want the viewer to perceive the movement of the subject. 

Then I did some research on how I should approach animating fire. This part was tricky. Since fire has no definite shape, I had some trouble trying to understand what constitutes as a shape that can be perceived as fire and not just random and incomprehensible shape. Here are some of my early progress.


Fig. 1.16, First Animation Process, 17/10/2020


Fig. 1.17, First Animation Process, 17/10/2020


Fig. 1.18, First Animation Progress, 17/10/2020


Fig. 1.19, First Animation, 17/10/2020

Fig. 1.20, First Animation Revised (Second try), 17/10/2020


Fig. 1.21, First Animation Revised (Third try), 17/10/2020

At this point, I've been sitting on my chair watching youtube videos after youtube videos trying to grasp this idea while my ass was starting to numb. So in desperation, I turned to watch some documentaries on the process of creating ATLA (link down below). From that video, I realised that the animators didn't focus as much on making the fires realistic, and instead focused more on the expression of the fire to make it look convincing. I watched through clips of the fight scene over and over and realised that the animators played a lot with lighting, especially highlights. So I tried it out.

Fig. 1.22 Experimental Sketch, 17/10/2020

Trying out a broader range of hues and more dynamic shapes was definitely worth the effort and I think this has a more dramatic look than the first animation. So I continued to develop another animation using this sketch as its base. The following is a progress picture.


Fig. 1.23, Second Animation Progress, 17/10/2020

I first started with the fire moving away from Zuko using the warp tool, but it didn't look convincing and turned out horrible.


Fig. 1.24, Second Animation Process, 17/10/2020

Upon closer inspection of the original scene, the fire didn't move away from Zuko right after the fire was conjured. Instead, it stayed around him so it would provide the necessary protection Zuko needed to deflect Azula's attack. So I drew out the fires in every frame from the bottom top, with trials and errors trying to understand how I want the fire to flow. I tried blending the colours seamlessly but realised that I prefer the stylised look of rough highlight edges. 


Fig. 1.25, Second Animation Process, 17/10/2020

I sought out some feedback from my friends as well as Ms Anis to see where I could improve from here. I had some ideas on how I wanted to improve but due to the time constraint I decided to do some minor changes (adding vignetting, making Azula more visible, and adding the log line) and finalised my submission.


Fig. 1.26, Second Animation Submission; 18/10/2020

Though I'm not all too proud of this piece, I am happy with the effort I've spent into this project. If you ask me what I would change, I'd work more on Zuko's clothing and the shadows to make him feel more alive, add more frames so the fire would appear more convincing, and I would add more details around the fires to make the composition more interesting. Otherwise, with no prior experience in animation, the outcome surely is a good starting point to my animating journey.
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FEEDBACK

I showed one of the animation drafts to Ms Anis (refer to fig. 1.25) and she noted that the animation was fine, although I had to make Azula a bit more visible and add a tagline as per the requirement of the project.

Outside of our class, I sought out opinions from my friends and family to see where I could improve. I received generally positive feedback and people liked the work. Some of the suggestions I've gotten is to make the fire more expressive, adding more frames to Zuko, and adding more details on the fires.    
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REFLECTION

Experience

I think I didn't handle this project with the best of my abilities. I went through this with low mental and emotional energy and battled a small episode while pitching the ideas and sketching out the scenes. In terms of experience, this was one of the harder projects I've had in this semester, it might have something to do with my lack of skills or my lack of motivation, but I did learn quite a lot about illustration and animation from this.

Observation

As I did more research on animation, practised digital painting, and learned about what styles to use, my work became progressively more complex and had more layers of detail. Mayhaps I was using Ps CS6 instead of Ps CC which made the animation process harder (because cs6 doesn't have the video timeline window), but the flow was there and the people who looked through my animation understood my intention and narrative.

Findings

I find that throughout my sketches and animation, I worked better with drawing things in shapes rather than lines. I worked faster and get to put my ideas onto paper faster when I apply Sinix's paint and see the world in shapes idea rather than sketching in lines. But it cannot be avoided that animation is a long process of trials and errors and knowing how to create a proper flow between frames takes practise and research. Upon completion, my respect for animators have increased substantially and I began to appreciate animations more.

Aside from the work itself, I find that my time management has gotten increasingly worse and that has heavily affected the quality of the work I produce. I regret not planning ahead and making sure I utilise the time given to produce better artwork. Though I suppose my awful time management was birthed from that episode I was having. However, now I'm feeling that I'm getting better, I hope that I could create better outcomes.
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FURTHER READING
Animation Basics; The Art of Timing and Spacing by Ted-Ed

I learned that aside from the frames itself, animators need to place close attention in between the frames and plan how to time the frames properly to manipulate how the viewer perceives motion. Different objects behave differently and each object behaves differently with the surrounding environment. Therefore, some research has to be done to ensure that the animations can be as convincing as possible.

Quick Fire Animation by Ben Marriott
Learn This Trick Before You Animate Fire by Howard Wimshurst

Fire is very expressive. How lights and shadows work with each other can influence if the fire is strong or weak. Different shapes also affect the dynamics of the fire, sharp jagged lines suggest dangerous and wild spreading fire, while wavy curved lines suggest a warm and calming fire. All of these need to be taken into account when animating fire. Howard also explained how the direction of wind and the base of the fire affects the movement of the flame. 

How to Animate in Photoshop CC for Beginners by Shane Dering

This video explains more about the technicalities of animating in Photoshop. He explained about Photoshop's timeline window and how to use them. He also briefly explained how to use the onion skin tool to make the animation move smoother. Seeing him work gave me an idea of how to work with frames, how to connect between point A and point B, and adding small details to make the animation flow smoothly.

Documentaries:

Breaking Down Avatar: The Last Airbender's Incredible Animation by The Canipa Effect
https://youtu.be/DZB1lQRdTrI
The Perfect Musical Symmetry of Avatar The Last Air Bender by Sideways

These were definitely interesting documentaries. These not only touched on how music is important in making a powerful narrative, but they also explained the processes that are often overlooked in the animation industry. The mistreatment, the exploitation of artists, and the greedy big shot companies that care more about the profit than ethical treatment of the animators. In particular, they touch on how the creators of ATLA gave the freedom, resources, and ethical treatment to the animators that they hired and the results from that freedom. Corruption exists everywhere, but when we look into ATLA's creation process, we can begin to appreciate the amount of time and effort the creators and animators put into breaking the status quo and giving artists the respect that they deserve.

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