Research
Studio Target
Studios such as Golden Wolf and The Line Animation all have common features in their animations wither to its neatly polished looks to its over the top animation sequences. I want also capture that and hopefully get their attention when I apply for a role in the future.
I chose transitional animation as a medium to explore as it reaches those standards of those studios and many others as it brings a lot of creativity through such as my cat idea.
Golden Wolf - Animation for DisneyXD idents
2015/2016
Golden Wolf - Converse Chuck Taylor II
Golden Wolf - Zedd ft. Troye Sivan - Papercut (Grey remix)
The Line Animation - True Damage - GIANTS (ft. Becky G, Keke Palmer, SOYEON, DUCKWRTH, Thutmose) | League of Legends
The above works from Golden Wolf and The Line Animation have inspired me to animate transitional animation, using 2D animation for my FMP.
Idea References
There were multiple areas on the internet where transitional animation is used efficiently.
Here are a couple of videos that I found in particular inspiring.
Cartoon Network 25th Anniversary
The Cartoon Network Latin America 25th Anniversary is especially the animation that inspired my cat idea.
Cartoon Networks 25th anniversary animation was one of the main reasons why I came up with the first idea. Their simplistic colours and transitions really catch the eye of the viewer and make you interested in their ‘dynamic’. My goal with the cat idea is to make the viewer appreciate the dynamic of the transitions.
Afternoon Class
I really liked the animation short called Afternoon Class as it really translates the transitions of the boys head when he’s falling asleep with the weight of each object and its practical use. It really communicates the relation of trying to stay awake.
Here are some references for other types of transitional animation that I thought would help me with my current ideas. (I know they are the same from my initial ideas section, but they're still helpful here.
Helicopter and Explosions
After receiving feedback on my ideas, I started planning out my references that I would need for them. I knew animating a helicopter and an explosion cloud would be difficult so I looked up some references for explosions and helicopters and tutorial videos shown below.
Impact Frames
I looked at impact frames and how they work with explosions and other uses.
Blender - Grease Pencil
I looked into other references that may benefit my ideas. For the sword in the stone idea, it has some difficult camera angles and shots through transitions. I found an animation program that could make all the difficult camera animation go away called Blender. They have a tool called a grease pencil.
After looking into the grease tool and tutorials I found some production work using the tool and they really have found good use for it using 2D in 3D space. Here are my two favourite videos that used this tool.
Here are the production videos behind their animations.
I could use the camera while illustrating a 2D cave environment where the 3D camera would move through it; to showcase the dynamic angles and transitions needed for the animation.
The only set back is that I would have to learn Blender and how it works, which could take some time but let’s see what I can do when I get to the idea.
Fight Scene Concept and Smear/Motion Blur Frames
The third idea could also benefit from the grease tool as it can fit with the fight in jetpacks. It’s also useful because it refers to the open trailer for the grease tool called Hero (preview above).
There’s a YouTube channel called Shuriken255 that has stick man fights that are in sync with the music for every beat. This channel inspired this idea of me beatboxing in sync of the fight.
I also have been looking into smear/motion blur frames that may help when it comes to a fight scene and other uses outside this idea too (shown below). (I watch Howard Wimshurst and Jazza's videos regularly, it was no surprise their tutorials would help me out on this too).
Bam Animation
I know I've mentioned them before but I want to give another shout out to another YouTube channel by the name of BAM Animation; that has helped a lot in the past with my work and animations and even today. They have very packed and precise information about all the skills I currently have and improving on (2D animation, character animation and perspective).
Straight Ahead Animation
After looking into transitional animation, I realised I was weak to animating in straight ahead animation compared to pose to pose.I realised this while I was talking to my teacher as he said transitional animation favours straight ahead animation. I found out even more useful information and tips from straight ahead tutorials and guides. I also found out that transitional animation benefits from unpredictable movements such as explosions, clouds and liquids. This will greatly benefit my first idea with the cat transitions as it has all of those elements. This will definitely challenge me and my skills.
Strengths and Weaknesses
After doing some research I wanted to state the weaknesses of myself so that I can focus on the areas I’m most weak in or receive help in.
Strengths
-2D animation
-Character animation
-Production speed (sketch animation (keys and in-betweens)
-Polished Animation (line art and colouring)
Weakness
-Time management
-Sound
-3D animation
-Camera movement in 2D/3D