Mixed Media Animation

Having decided that we are going to take a mixed-media approach to our experimental animation I have been looking at animations that take this approach for some inspiration. This will also give us an idea of what kind of juxtapositions will work and which won't.

The concept of layering different materials on top of each other is inspired by the work of Yuri Norstein. His work not only uses a mixture of materials but also employs an alternative narrative, based on human memories and association rather than in chronological order. His work also features symbolism which is an interesting concept to consider when making decisions regarding our animation.

Tale of Tales (Skazka skazok) by Yuri Norstein from Club yonki de caballeros on Vimeo.

Still from Tale of Tales

Yuri Norstein - Hedgehog in the Fog (1975).

Norstein used a multi-plane layering technique and employed numerous materials for his animation. 

Hedgehog in the Fog - Yuri Norstein (1975) from O.C. on Vimeo.

Paul Rains - And Murder of Crows

And Murder of Crows has a very handmade feel and appears to employ paint as well as possibly pastels or charcoal. The boiling effect is particularly effective and gives the animation an appealing style. A similar approach could be taken to elements of our animation to incorporate a handmade feel.

xdral-vertical-small from Suzie Hanna on Vimeo.
I thought this extract from the work of mixed media animator Suzie Hanna presented a good example of how multiple techniques can be layered together in a single frame of animation. 

Feeling My Way from Jonathan Hodgson on Vimeo.
In Feeling My Way Jonathan Hodgson uses print-outs from live-action, these are drawn over with paint and pencil, and rescanned and edited to create a collage. This is an interesting means of combining two different mediums and a similar effect could possibly be achieved by drawing over CG.



Joanna Preistley uses a mixture of materials and textures as well as abstract characters in this animation.

No Corras Tanto - Cesar Diaz




This animation uses sand and stop-motion on glass. The animation reacts to the music and for this reason may be particularly inspirational for us at this stage of the project. I particularly liked the sections of the animation in which the sand moves with a fluid motion, reacting to the music and providing a canvas for the next piece of animation. The idea of experimenting with different colours of sand may be interesting when combined with digital techniques, influxes of colour could be produced setting a certain mood and could be layered with other animated elements.

Andreas Hykade - Love & Theft

I found it particularly interesting the way the colours in this animation change to suit the pace of the audio. This is particularly relevant to us with the multi-paced track we have chosen. I also really enjoyed the abstraction and metamorphosis of the characters. As we were hoping to incorporate characters into the animation whilst retaining an experimental approach this could be an inspiration to us.

Post by Jess

Collaborating with musician..

We have decided that a starting point for the experimental animation may be to collaborate with a musician and base the animation around the music. We will therefore need to do research into websites that allow non-profit collaboration between artists.

Below are some of the links I have found so far.

Conor please feel free to add to this if you find anymore!

www.https://soundcloud.com
http://www.studentfilms.com/forums/composers-royalty-free-music.48/
http://www.newgrounds.com/collab/browse/artist/musician/1
http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos
http://artists.jamendo.com/en/home

Original post by Jess.

Original Sketch

Most of the inspiration for these little sketches was from Paprika and Summer Wars, both anime produced by Madhouse, and David O'Reilly. Considering O'Reilly work mostly in 3D, I am very intrigued by his work.

To find out more about Madhouse, this is there Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhouse_(company)

Here is a link to one of O'Reilly's works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxPyN6IK1tM


Here are the Sketches:

©Conor Page 2013

Digital Jess

Digital Jess Design

The first character design of Digital Jess that I have done. A character that we will use in our animation.

In the animation, the mask over the characters face will be a screen that will show different Jess emotions.

©Conor Page 2013

Combining Digital With Physical

Here are some quick sketches with how I think we could combine our 3D animation with physical 2D. They are a kind of Rotoscoping rigs which i could use to experiment with physical materials. I want to be able to free myself from the computer. For true hybrid animation it would be nice to combine old technology with new technology and through experimenting with this find out what outcome we can achieve.

 1. For the above idea I want to be able to take our pre rendered 3D animation and project this onto a frosted plane of glass or plastic. On top of this, another plane of glass/plastic that can be used add materials on. This would then be captured frame by frame.

This could also be flipped horizontally and be used as a multiple plane camera. 

2. For this idea I will use just one plane of glass. I will use this and the projectors light as a sort of Lightbox on which I will then draw over the 3D animation frame by frame, capturing as I go along.

© Conor Page 2013

Updated 3D Model

Updates to initial character design

 Following our conversation the other day I have updated the character to include a shirt and neck-tie.

Motomichi Nakamura - Tiny People Tribe

Tiny People Tribe by Motomichi Nakamura is an animation made in Flash and After Effects, and projected onto the creators house using a portable projector and recorded on a video camera. This creates an interesting effect that would be achievable with limited equipment.

Although we haven't currently made plans to use projection in our animation this may be something to consider.



Tiny People Tribe from Animate Projects on Vimeo.
The Making of Tiny People Tribe
Making of "Tiny People Tribe" from Motomichi Studio on Vimeo.

Post by Jess

Sean Vicary - Re-Tolled (2013)

Interesting mixed-media animation by Sean Vicary using found objects, puppets, live-action and digital animation.



I particularly liked the use of different materials in this animation and the combination of photographs with stop-motion animation. This mixed media approach particularly interests me as there is a combination of digital techniques with more traditional techniques, this is the type of route we are currently considering going down.

Post by Jess

Developing initial Ideas

One of the ideas we have been thinking about for the experimental animation module is based around a carnival/parade and influenced by Paprika (2006).

Conor sketched out the above character following our conversation about the idea and I have been modelling the character in Maya. This will give us the opportunity to experiment with working together and transferring paper-based concepts into 3D.

 I was unsure whilst modelling of the type of shirt to give the character. Having discussed this we have decided to base use the following images are reference and create a simplified frill type collar.

 By modelling the characters clothes separately will later be able to experiment with adding dynamics to the material using nMesh.