Alien Skin

One of the problems with movies aliens is that they have a very limited range of emotional expression. It is this lack of subtle facial expressions that makes then unconvincing. The choice is wearing makeup and a mask or having animatronic figures are limited to the mechanics of the system. That might have changed. The method used at http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10983-software-adds-surface-special-effects-with-a-click.html shows how various 'skins' can be added to a normal face to produce alien effects.

I've just come across an interesting site at http://digg.com/videos/animation/Filmmaking_fundamentals_explained_with_Animation

It is an animated movie about how to make Live-action movies. As I have never been a Live-action scriptwriter, I was surprised to find how many categories of shots and transitions there are in the medium.

My own training in scriptwriting was to simply sit in front of a film (this was in 1958 before TV) and mentally note the shots. It's advice I give to students as being quicker and cheaper than taking a course. Watching TV with the sound off will give much information on how the director is able to set up a scene.

Another interesting site is http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/ which teaches basic mathematics using animation. Apart from being easy to use, it teaches the process of visualisation, which is a greatly underused ability.

Stan

Fairy Tales

Hot on the heels of yesterdays Blog about writing for animation, todays news at http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20061117top10animated reinforces my views.
This is a review of Warner Bros 'Happy Feet', which I haven't seen, but you can get a taste of at http://www2.warnerbros.com/happyfeet/.

I was always a great Warner Bros fan. Their cartoons were obviously aimed at adults; how many kids really get the point of Bugs Bunny gags? Writing for adults and designing for children is a classic formula in animated movies.

There was a time when Fairy Tales were written as moral tales to warn the young and the unholy of the evils of the world, and the punishment awaiting the wrongdoers. With the passing of time, the messages got lost - or did they?

The theme of so many Animated features is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which translates into 'The Good' (and beautiful), 'The Bad and Ugly'; we know that bad people are ugly because so many classic animated movies have told us so. True the Queen in Snow White was beautiful, but actually ugly inside, on the other hand in 'Beauty and the Beast', the Beast is beautiful inside.

But there are exceptions. Baloo the Bear in Jungle Book is lovely, if not beautiful. We have beauty competitions, but we don't have 'Lovely' competitions. The problem is we can't measure niceness.

What we can measure to a limited extent is how interesting a person is, and more importantly how close they are to ourselves. I note that Social Networking sites are increasingly using animation to attract attention and say "Hey, look at me, I may not be beautiful but I'm fun".

It may be a very subtle thing that animation is used in this personal way, but I'm sure it's the toe in the door. You can already buy avatars to sell your goods and services, I guess you'll be able to buy them to sell yourself - if it hasn't already been done.

Stan

Tail Wags Dog Makes News

The downside of being a scriptwriter is that you mentally rewrite movies as you are watching them. Unlike a novel, a film script - as presented by the writer - is unlikely to survive in a recognisable form once it is handed over to the Producer.

This is because just about everyone working on a movie thinks the writing part is basically inspired day dreaming rather than a craft, and will add their two-cents worth if they get the chance. I once worked with a Producer who took a script credit just for changing the title!!!

Of course, there are movies that do not require much of a script. 'James Bond' is one that comes to mind. Everyone knows the story before they see it; it really a matter for the Special Effects dept to come up with the goods.

And as Animated movies have drifted away from simple storylines, there is more accent on SFX now, so it was with some interest I noted the article http://www.jeffpidgeon.com/2006/11/animation-glut-stories-is-there-glut.html which suggests the tide has turned, and that audiences have seen it all when it comes to 'All action No story' content.

But on the other hand another article at http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=6151 deal with Warner Bros merging its Special Effects dept with the main film units. The logic is that if SFX plays such a big part in action movies they are 'The Star', so there is a thin line between producing effects for a Production Company, and being the Production Company. The tail is wagging the dog, and it likely to continue.

Where will it end? The merging of Animation and Live-Action has passed the point where the audience is entertained simply by SFX. No doubt Production Companies looking for the next trend in blockbusters will - as a last resort - turn to looking for good stories. I can't wait.

Stan

Writing for Animation

By chance today I see that Microsoft has just taken out a patent on software to help "children write stories". I wondered if Microsoft are trying to put me out of business! But on checking their patent, it seems to be related to manipulating images- so that's OK.

The easiest way to get children to start writing is to let them write 'All About Me', covering what their favourite food, sport, lessons, etc, are, and what they dislike most. Of course, Social Networking and Blogs are just that in a more elaborate form.

Writing about oneself is a great therapy - as is talking about oneself. And part of that therapy is due to the fact that someone is actually interested in us. But of course, not everyone who is interested in us has the same motives.
There are lots of online questionnaires asking us details of our buying habits and social activities so they can draw up a 'Profile' for marketing; that's innocent enough, and we all know what it is about.

But supposing these marketing profiles and our networking/blog profiles were matched up, it would give a fairly accurate picture of who we are and what we look like. Well, the 'Big Brother' idea has been done to death, but I'm thinking in terms of creating characters for stories.

Would it ever be possible to feed a computer a profile of someone based on their Blog/Network profile, and buying habits, and get a reasonably accurate image of the person?
I for one, wouldn't say it couldn't be done. I shall be keeping a beady eye out for more Microsoft patents.

Stan

Input Output

When I started in Computer Animation in the mid 1960s, Input devices were limited to a teletext type keyboard, a lightpen (if you had a screen, and most didn't) and a Puck; a sort of pre-history mouse. Your output was punched cards, and later punched tape. On one ocassion around 1970 I was on a TV programme about computers; I held up a piece of punched tape and said "One day film will look like this".

Things have moved on, and Input devices come in many forms; a very interesting one that looks to change the world can be seen at
http://ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han&flashEnabled=1
The "interface-free," touch-driven computer screen, which can be manipulated intuitively with the fingertips, and responds to varying levels of pressure.

Output devices are no slowcoaches either. The largest digital photo has recently been shown, coming in at around 35x32 feet and 8.5 gigapixels. True it's not a moving picture, but a week or two might change that. You can see it at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/29/2239224

Using the brain as an input device has always been the realm of Science fiction, but getting increasing attention in recent years. Biofeedback was quite popular in the 1960s, but lacked the technology to do anything serious.

One aspect of recording brain patterns I find interesting is not as a computer input device but as a lie-detector. As a writer 'telling lies' is something inherent in many stories; Crime and Love obviously, polititicians, car salesmen, lawyers, and Estate agents might consider the ability to lie as an asset. Doctors may have to do it to be kind, A TV programme on 'Honesty' said that Society would break down if everyone was honest!

Another interesting article came out today about a competition I'd never heard of called the Hutter Prize http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/29/2127201
It is about compressing data, and presumes that compressing data in files is similar to how the brain works.

There are some people who believe that the brain is a bit like a cupboard, and that you can only put so much into it. Others (and I am one) believe that the brain can hold an unlimited amount of information. The reason animation works so well as a teaching aid is that it eliminates all but the essential material of the subject it is presenting.

The fact that people with phenomenal memories say they recall numbers as pictures indicates that we might have been using our brains in the wrong way for a few thousand years.
Need I say that teaching animation as a core subject in the curriculum will change all that?


Stan

Animated Series

I heard a story that a lady at a party asked some guy what he did for a living. He said he wrote the scripts for the Bugs Bunny series. She said "Bugs Bunny doesn't need a scriptwriter, he's funny enough himself".
I met Chuck Jones at a party and asked him if this story was true. He hadn't heard of it but said it was quite possible, and related a similar case.

I mention this because over the years I have been sent a number of ideas for Animated TV series by students and animators who feel that TV Studios are on the lookout for new material; they rarely are. There is a feeling that once you have a character as a design, it has a life of its own, and the scriptwriter simply has to record it!!!
My advice to those attempting to do ideas for animated TV series is to look at how many of the past series started as this will show how the characters and storyline have been developed.

The Pink Panther started as a film title, and The Care Bears started as toys. Thomas the Tank engine was born as a book character, and Popeye as a comic. The Muppet Cartoon started as live-action puppets, while the Super Mario Brothers came into being as a computer game. Some familiarity with all of these markets is necessary if you want to write for animation.

There are several others sources for animated series but the common element in the above examples is that these characters were established before being made into a series. It is not hard to pitch an idea when you start from this basis.

Another advantage is to have your own studio and be able to use spare time to produce a pilot for an idea. If the pilot is accepted then it is usually not too difficult to get production money.
A third situation is to be the producer of someone elses series, and come up with your own idea which can be based on your knowledge of the market, as well as having the facilities to test out your idea. Needless to say, few people are in such favourable positions of being able to set up a series.

But there are a couple of ways that offer hope; the first is to become a contributor to someone elses series; and secondly to get your work published in some other medium such as a book/comic etc. It is not enough to understand about animation, you also need to understand 'Markets' because that is what pitching is about. Unfortunately this is a subject rarely included in Animation Courses.

Stan

Cartoon Characters

Popular cartoon characters are not just funny drawings, they encapsulate the attributes of certain types of people; in fact, you can guess a great deal about someone by knowing their favourite cartoon. So it was with some interest I checked out my own character at http://www.naucon.net/misc/tests/cartoon_char.htm a site 'Which Cartoon Character Are You? which claims to find your cartoon alta ego when you have answered a questionaire. I was surprised to find I was matched with Pepe le Pew - a rather lovable skunk. Well!!!

Having worked as an Animation scriptwriter for many years, I am always on the lookout for postures, gestures, and attitudes that can be used visually to sum up a character. In fact I get animators to act out the storyboard before animating it.

But there is another way of looking at characters. Sherlock Holmes almost certainly suffered from Aspergers Syndrome ; which typically comes out as a clever organised person who finds it difficult to make social contacts. Hercule Poirot was probably this way inclined as well.

My own Henry's Cat - who's favourite food is jellybean sandwiches - has an eating disorder. Miss Muffet suffered from fear of spiders, while Peter Pan feared growing up, and James Bond's charm is actually a cover up for his fear of commitment (quite common in men I'm told). If you are looking for some odd characteristics for your characters you might take a glance at Phobias. It is amazing what some people are afraid of.

It is also worth looking at Weird habits. I know a man who sticks his finger into his belly button when thinking; his jerseys have holes where he does this. Actors are always on the lookout for such habits. James Cagney used the trick of continually pulling up his trousers, for one gangster role. The coin-flipping gangster originated from a real gangster before becoming a cliche in the ganster movies. Humphry Bogart pulled his ear whenever he was thinking - in one role; and Harpo Marx based his odd outfit on a tramp he often saw.

One of the things I used to do was look at the questionnaires you find in magazines. Typically these might be 'Are you healthy', or 'Check your IQ', etc. Also the various internet questionnaires that ask a many questions to sort out your life-style. These questions give a good idea of the sort of compatible characteristic a someone might have, it is this compatibility that gives a character credibility.

Stan

Draw a Pig

I came across this site http://drawapig.desktopcreatures.com/ while looking for psychological drawing tests.

Teaching children to draw gives a good insight into how they think and see the world. I was surprised to find that children in London still draw houses with smoke coming out of the chimneys even though most have never seen this happen. But then, most houses still have chimney pots even though they are not used. Children draw what they think as against what they see.

Pigs are difficult animals to animate. They don't have hand-like trotters; vary little in features, and typically described as fat-ugly-greedy-dirty. In fact a good cliche for all we dislike, and this may be because in some ways they can appear quite human; more so than a cat or dog.

Thier place in animation is to represent the villian as in 'Animal Farm'. Of course, we all love Miss Piggy in the Muppets, but that because she associates with other loveable characters.
Foxes and Wolves are also villians while dogs are heroes. Cats seem to take on any role, as do monkeys, while horses are always good.
The psychological links between people and animals has always been exploited, and never more so than in animation. Drawing animals gives some useful insight into how we see the world.

Some more drawing test sites: Psychological Drawing Tests



Stan

stan@MakeMovies.co.uk