Roger Hargrieves Animation Practice and tests

My Tests & 10 second bumpers

This entry consists of showing my journey on creating my 10 second bumper by showing my progression showing each stage of creating this footage, which will feature my own animation tests and animation work based on the artist, Roger Hargreaves, I did this by filming my motion footage of my imagery using I motion and then editing my animation footage on Premiere Pro and desplaying other techniques and processes, this entry will show my development and progress in my imagery. 

Test 1: Mr Blurt walk

This test here is basically. a quick test I did of Mr Blurt walking, by doing so, I printed out my imagery of Mr Blurt the image of the multiple mr blurts but on a smaller scale- I then cut each Mr Blurt character out using a scalple and I the used motion to dilm this footage- using I Motion, by using the manual setting as I filmed this test, frame by frame to then get the effect/illusion of Mr Blurt walking, this was challenging to put together, I did this by positioning the legs on the imagery I drawn various positions on Mr Blurt, giving the walking action on the animation. For a three second test, I feel this went well for a test, for an experimentation. I like how I managed to captivate the movement of my character walking, it was quite challenging, but I did this by captivating each frame by using each Mr Blurt illustration that I cut out, (using the scalpel) and I put each Mr Blurt character in the same position as the previous frame, so it looks like the same character is moving. This test was simple, but it worked for captivating the moving graphic of Mr Blurt walking. 

Test 2: Animation Development

Test 2 is basically an experimentation if anything, basically this footage was filmed fairly early into this project, and I was experimenting on motion image by transforming the colours of Mr Blurt, I did this Via Photoshop by filming myself using Imotion changing the Hue saturation, to see what my character would look like in various different colours and shades, again this test was just an experiment, seeing what I can create by using a still image and putting movement within the still image by changing the colour from one colour to the next.  

Test 3: Mr Blurt Walking

Test 3 and 4 you would have seen before on the previous entry, this video has developed by continuing the walking animation but using a more digital aesthetics by creating A simplistic animation of Mr Blurt walking, basically using the same technique in test 1 but instead of photographing my imagery from printing it, saying ink... I took photographs of my imagery on my phone, using iMotion to captivate Mr Blurt walking. the only thing I feel I would like to improve is to maybe animate my character so the character itself is moving also so Mr Blurt isn't walking on one spot if that makes sense. 

Test 4: Progression & Development

Test four is basically almost identical to test 3 but with more development in the character's movement, ever so slightly, the point of making Mr Blurt look like he walked and stopped again I would still suggest the same improvement with what I can do with this test, but as a test and experiment these tests, 3 and four were I would say not a bad test animation, I was able to experiment with how I record my animation and to test various motion visuals I can apply to my imagery.

Test 5: Test & footage for 10 second Bumper

This animation footage I created the same way as test 1, for printing images out and then cutting them out using a scalpel, and then animated my tutors as Mr Men, saying Blurt, with Paul and Kieth's characters animated in this test, along with me handwriting with Paul and Keith, the only difference with this segment of the animation I used both manual setting and Timelapse setting to get this footage, this footage is part of my 10 second bumper for Hargreaves, good luck finding it.  anyway, the thing I like about this section is the simplicity of the way I have recorded the animation and captivated each frame, it looks simple, but works well. 

Test 6:Test animation badly filmed

This here is a test recording of my animation footage, where I managed to put my footage I recorded together and decided to put together on my animation. this animation I thought was good, but the way I filmed my animation was the let down with this footage, but I have put this footage on my work because I wanted to show my progression on how I got from A-B. 

Development and footage for 10 Second bumper

For this footage, this test is basically a development from test 6, but more developed, as in this footage has more motion graphics movement going on, the movement captured in this clip is more fluent than on test 6 and this test is much learner, the movement is better, in this piece, there is a more explained narrative on this test than opposed to a test just for experimentation, I wanted to put a narrative to the test, how I can generate a story with my imagery, and this is what I came up with- inspired by my brainstorm and previous tests, I can't lie but to admit this narrative I had was improvised, I wanted to see if I could create a simplistic storyline on the spot using my imagery I had created. I feel this test has enabled me to challenge my storytelling skills and it has for filled the mission for me to put together a basic narration 

10 Second animation, without sound

I love how I animated Mr Blurt saying Blurt, I would like to use this for my 10 second bumper at least because I think it was quite a clever effect, and I like how I have arranged the lettering for Blurt, so it looks like Mr Blurt has coughed up the word Blurt.  I thunk this effect works really well, it is very fluent and fast flowing. There is a problem I have with this test, which is to do with exploring my journey is the fact there is no sound in this test, but that is because I wanted to record my journey by starting off filming my animation without sound to then I will gradually build up to sound generation. Despite not having sound, I have accomplished a couple things on this test animation, I have now made an animation with editing Via premiere pro, where I have managed to experiment with the motion graphics, using still images onto of motion image, giving the illusion of moving graphics, I have experimented with different bland modes within my animation, and have added components of separate film footage that worked best, together, to create a together animation which I  think fits well for representing the works of this artist. 

My Storyboard for this 10 second bumper

 I have created a storyboard for my 10 second bumper based on my character designs, illustrations and on my tests I have completed, to then lay out a narrative and a character profile basically just explaining my thought process really, showing my guide and baseline saying what my 10 second bumper will look like basically. 

Mr Blurt Brain storm character profile and other ideas

Here isa breif character profile of mr blurt, to show what sort of character he is in the most basic way, to kind of help me decide where his character is based, the origin, the making, why he's made, towhees made,  just to help me understand my character.

Test Bumper, 10 Second Animation

Take one! yes, this is take one of my 10 second Animation, this I demonstrated the ability to edit my animation by adding other element to my animation as well as adding my narration, to suit the brief, to give Blurt an identification, to feature my inspiration of Roger Hargreaves and to mention C4. only thing I think I could change is perhaps giving Roger Hargreaves more of a direct way of showing my tribute and inspiration for him which I can add, maybe have his name in the animation somewhere, but not to mention this is only a 10 second bumper, I can only take what I come up with at the time to created my storyboard. I managed to feature almost every bit of footage from my tests and other footage, which ill explain in another entry. (but yes I think this has got the potential to work for my 10 second bumper) like I say only problem I have and same for the test below is there's no real, recognition of Hargreaves apart from the theme tune I have used in the sound effects. 

The 10 second animation

This is my 10 second bumper for the Mr Men, this was inspired by Roger Hargreaves Mr Men, after reading the books and watching episodes myself, I have used this as inspiration to guide me create my original Mr Men Blurt animation bumper, I have added one slight thing in the beginning with the visual element which I prefer to the animation above, which has turned to my final 10 second bumper. in terms of target audience, I personally find target audience quote subjective because it is a matter of opinion and looking beyond the leopard spots, creating something eye captivating, engaging and a good narrative for my imagery it has life to my imagery that all ages can enjoy. I would say because target audience is subjective these days, the origin of the mr men ideally was aimed for children and youngsters for educational purposes, people may be very black and white and say no, Mr Men is for babies... actually the audience who are most likely to engage and enjoy it yes are young children and babies, because of the simplicity and the imagination behind it...  but think about it, Mr Men came out in there 70's people who are turning into their 50's may have read the Mr Men as an upbringing from heir childhood, it could bring joy to them in a different way, for the nostalgia... some may say is dated, but some may not, its a matter of opinion if anything else, some adults can have a much wider imagination and enjoy creative and cartoon things, for one, animation I have so much respect for, always have, bu it has only grown and grown, I applaud it! I feel the nostalgia and I actually enjoyed watching some of the Mr Men episodes, it was fun to be a kid again. I wanted to be a big kid, like Speilburg felt when making ET  I wanted to create something inspired by a classic because it made me feel like a kid again and I wanted to allow it to engage with a varied audience, I wanted my audiences to feel like kids again when they watch my animation. Plus there are people who may be full grown adults but some people have a out of the box way of looking at it. so I would say this bumper is an open target audience as that's what Roger has done in a sense, because of our change of generation and how we are growing as a generation. but yes I like the animation, I like the visuals- only thing I am bummed out about is there is no mention of Hargreaves as tribute to him, but this is just a learning curve and I intend of looking at this artist further for my 30 second animation, so I can add this aspect of improvement to that piece. For my sound, I actually picked that from inspiration from my tutor after a Zoom Call, not too long ago funny enough actually suggest use the Mr Men theme tune and played one of them as an example- which I found a big help for me as I was able to work on my audio footage and I made it my own to some degree my mixing two of the Mr Men theme tunes together as a mashup... as I say is how I found tout that Mr Men is actually a Tv series too.

Here are examples of the episodes of the mr men that inspired me: 

(If quarantine is driving you up the wall and if you're bored... watch it! I did, but not out of boredom! it s a good show to watch, I ave the utmost respect for the whole production behind it, the audio, the visuals, the character design... every component... love it)

(There were just a couple of them I have watched)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqTibqtl5bU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqTibqtl5bU

Tutor feedback for animation with audio

Here is some feedback from my tutor, Paul about this piece, as he suggested on the video call to add sound to give my work life and dynamic to it, which I listened and responded to this feedback by adding sound to this 10 second bumper. I have responded and listened to Paul's feedback because audio and sound is an important part of film and animation, its not just the visuals which I agree with anyway, but I wanted to show my tutor my progression,  I was always going to add sound and was unsure what to add, it was in fact Paul who suggested to me adding sound and audio from the mR Men theme tune and it is ironically how I found out Mr Men is a tv series as well as a book series! I want to watch more!