Rules by Emma Coates

I came across something on the internet that I found extremely interesting by Emma Coates, Pixar's Story Artist.

I will post it here to help and inspire myself and others:

These rules were originally tweeted by Emma Coates, Pixar’s Story Artist. Number 9 on the list - When you’re stuck, make a list of what wouldn’t happen next – is a great one and can apply to writers in all genres.

1.You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

2.You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.

3.Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

4.Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

5.Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

6.What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

7.Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

8.Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

9.When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

10.Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

11.Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

12.Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

13.Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

14.Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

15.If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

16.What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

17.No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.

18.You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

19.Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

20.Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

21.You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

22.What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

New Projects

It's about time I update this blog.

I have had several new projects and modules:
Module - Applied Timing and Movement

Virtual Marionette - Maya

The main focus of this component is the creation of character through performance.

Using the character rig(s) provided you will build upon the skills learnt in Semester 1 to create believable and convincing movement with characteristics of weight, gesture and motivation as well as exploring the controls curves and use of the 3D Computer interface to direct your animation.

Once these functions have been learned you will do the following 3 exercises:

Create 10 static poses to facilitate your control of the rigs control curves, which demonstrates you have understood the basic method of using CGi characters.

Create 5 short key‐framed sequences between poses of about 24 frames demonstrating pose to pose capabilities in animating the model rig.

Finally complete a 30 second sequence with a set of geometric shapes as props with the following theme:

“..Noise,_look_walk_stop_look again,_look closer_ Shock_ jump_ run” You will then work on a short CGI animation called the “Match and the Box”.

Using the rigs provided you will develop an idea for a short scenario through the production stages of storyboard into CGI animation.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

CGi character rig animation will be assessed against the following criteria: Evidence of broad action readable poses, gestures and pantomimed action in a set of directed sequences. (40% weighting - linked to learning outcomes 1,2,4)

In the image presented is one of the rigs that we were given to used, the one I chose is Norman where you can find here:http: //www.11secondclub.com/resources
In the image is one of the poses I have put Norman in, the emotion attached to it is meant to be Boredom.
So far I have done a few more static poses. Because of the weather, I am rather behind on my work but I hope to catch up quite quickly.

Stop Motion Armatures

Using the stop motion ball and socket armatures provided you will learn to animate

in a straight ahead method.

You will create a number of simple animated sequences including: Lifting

Pushing Pulling Walking Stretching and imbue these with a good sense of timing, pace and character.

You will then build on these early exercises to animate to a set script and direction with the stage and props available. You will interpret the script freely but the essential criteria is to create a sense of character and performance in your animation.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

Stop Motion Armature animation will be assessed against the following criteria evidenced by examples of straight‐ahead animation in a range of stop motion animation sequences to a set script (30% weighting - linked to learning outcomes 1,2,4)

I have yet to start on this, for the same personal problem with the weather, but I am not worried, I enjoy Stop Motion immensely.

2D Digital Cut-Out Animation - Pre School brief. Toon Boom

The Brief: Research, Pitch, Design, Build and animate a 15 second 2D Digital Cut-Out animated opening title sequence for a Pre- School (ages 2- 5) Children‟s Television Programme. Include Typographic design and original sound in your sequence.

Pre – production (weeks 1 – 4): Under the guidance of Laura Weston you will compile a digital research folder of the sector including Design for Pre-school, Children’s Contemporary Illustration, Children’s television and interactive applications for computer/tablets/mobile devices/web Building from your research you will progress to present ideas for two treatments as 3 Minute Pitches in week three including the following elements: Research influences and styles, Character designs, Concept art, Colour models, character turnarounds, Typographic Samples, Synopsis of idea. Thumbnail storyboard. One of your ideas will be selected for production commencing in week four.

Production (weeks 5 – 12): Working with Teagan Ball you will learn how to construct, rig, animate and stage a simple character in Toon Boom which will have appeal to the demographic of audiences aged 2 – 5 years and their guardians/parents.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

 a set of five animation cycles demonstrating your control of the Character emoting a range of simple gestures (Blinking, Smiling, waving, jumping, through to walking on the spot or equivalent) you will then build on these early exercises to fully animate a short title sequence of 15 seconds.

 A 15 second fully animated cut out sequence including typography and accompanying sound.

(30% weighting - linked to learning outcomes 1,2,4)

I have started this as shown in the image, and I hope to finish it soon.


Module - Sculpture for Animation

Module Description

This module develops three dimensional awareness of the human figure using an understanding of form, volume and weight.

Continuing on from last semester’s life drawing sessions there will be a series of workshops exploring sculpture as a means to develop and generate characters. You will be introduced to a range of sculpture and character modelling methods to support your development in the field of traditional, 2D cut-out, stop motion and CGI animation.

This will enable a greater awareness of volumetric structure and how this applies to animation production.

You will be shown how to design characters using industry level design concepts and techniques.

There will be workshops on making wire armatures for sculpting over, sculpting figures in clay and using Maya and to build GCI characters.

You will be introduced to rapid prototyping technology that allows you to print out a real three dimensional object from a CGI image.

You will be introduced to 3D scanning technology that allows you to scan a real clay sculpture for use in Maya / Mudbox.

Module Content Week one intro

Exploring the center of gravity, poses and distribution of weight using simple wire figures, and designing your first character.

Part 1 (Starting Week two):

Create a First Person Shooter Character and sculpt in clay.

Design a character suitable for a class based first person shooting video game (e.g. Valve’s Team Fortress II). Pick from the following class types;

Scout Soldier Heavy (Weapons) Flame Thrower Sniper Medic Demolition Expert Sentry Gun Engineer

This design will form the basis of a clay sculpted figure.

The final figure will be photographed and painted digitally.

Part 2 (Starting Week Six):

Take your character, make it in Maya and rig it.

Your previous clay sculpt will form the basis of a polygon / NURBS sculpted character generated in Maya.

This character will be textured using Maya and rigged for animation.

I have started this, though it is not in the right order because of my absence.


Module - Film Analysis

What is this module about?

This module's main theme is the textual analysis of films to find meanings or values inherent in them. You will be trained in the basic skills of conducting close criticism. You will explore, in particular, the implications of scrutinising the mise en scène (“everything in front of the camera”), screenplay, sound design, and editing aspects of films, in order to interpret meanings. You will become fluent in the shorthand and terminology of film form for analysing film as a "text", so that you can then conduct a textual analysis of a film’s formal qualities.

Specific formal characteristics of film will be explored in developing your analytical skills for interpreting meaning in films:

The screenplay; Cinematography; Editing; Costume;

Visual effects; Animation (including stop-motion); Acting performance; Sound design; Production design.

You will finish the module with the ability to use the basic skill of close textual analysis to interpret and discuss movies precisely.

How will the module run every week?

We will have regular full film screenings on Wednesday mornings in the Film Theatre. These will be augmented by Thursday morning seminar classes, wherein there will be presentations of film extracts both by the tutors and by student groups. Sometimes, you will also be given research exercises to conduct in and between seminar classes.

The cinema is the only way to fully experience the artistry of movies! You must go to the cinema regularly to experience movies, if you wish to get the most out of this module. The Stoke Film Theatre itself is a great place to start!

You are not familiar with a film until you have experienced it at least twice...

I have another blog about this part as I feel it is and should be separate to my Animation. You can find the blog here: http://filmsanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/