Final Animation - Peter McVerry Project

The final version of the animation.

Showcase Presentation - Peter McVerry Project

Showcase Presentation - Peter McVerry Project

A represnetive from the Trust had come in to see our process and also to see if anything needed to be changed from the original. I prepared a showcase of the assets we had currently made, though they had not be composited together just yet. Aishling, the representative, like what we had done so far, however she encouraged us to add additional animations on the rightside of the house and to maybe also add an opening as the animation began to suddenly.

 (A showcase of the current assets.)

Text Style Tests - Peter McVerry Project

Text Style Tests - Peter McVerry Project

In Adobe Affects, I started by testing the text animation where I physically drew it with the pen tools, adding the texture over it and alpha-channeling so it appeared within the writing. After that I tested the animation with pre-generated text, applying the texture the same way and testing out the trucking animation tools.

Text Style Reference - Peter McVerry Project

Text Style Reference - Peter McVerry Project

My part in the actual animation of the project was to design and animate the text that would be used in the final piece. I wanted something simple in design so as not to take away from the visual animation; text that would be easy to read in the short amount of time yet still be part of the animation style. I looked into 3D styles of text but ultimately stuck to the flat, cartoon-like text to once again follow the same style as the visual animation. 

Visual Reference - Peter McVerry Project

Peter McVerry Group Project - Visual Reference 

I began researching continuous line effects to influence the creative process, looking at various ways to form the line, from intricate weaving patterns that overlap to a more simplistic style where the line does not touch at all. For colour palettes, I looked at mute tones for the background while the animation and text would be brighter, bolder, to stand out more.

Peter McVerry Trust Project Presentation

Peter McVerry Trust Project Presentation

Style

The animation will be a sequence of quick-moving scenarios that will mostly depict what the speaker is talking about.

BABA from joel kefali on Vimeo.

Concept Examples;

Continuous Line Animation Example;

Cut-Out like animation done in Adobe Aftereffects for greater flexibility in producing the animation. The animation will be have a continuous line format where the audience will follow the path around as it forms a house. The palette will be the blues and whites of the Peter McVerry Trust website to keep with the theme.

Examples of Houses in Continuous Line 

Theme;

The animation follows a 'path to security', highlighting the advantages the Trust has given this person to maintain a safe, secure existence; filled with with dignity and security.

Group Project - New Idea Development

Peter McVerry Trust Idea

The new animation I had in mind for the Group animation would be a text-based animation, with imagery and maybe characters to go alongside it. The animation would be done in a cut-out style, where I hope it would be bright, colourful and an overall positive looking piece. I want the pacing of the animation to quick, but not so fast that it can't be understood, so I feel I may need to ignore some of the dialogue to focus on the more important aspects the original video.

Story Outline;

The animation opens with an arrow zigzagging it's way up to the top of the screen, as the works 'Safe Pass' appear on the trail it leaves behind. The arrow continues up and makes a sharp turn right as a set of workman's clothing drops onto it, seemingly amazed by it's own ability to move. Behind it, like a neon billboard, the words 'Work Clothes' flashes. The jumpsuit moves right, along the trail, where the arrow has dropped suddenly. The jumpsuit jumps off the edge, and as it disappears below the screen, books, pencils and other educational material bursts up like water splashed up onto the screen as he talks about getting into college. The camera jumps down to follow the jumpsuit, it has become like normal clothing stuck in the wind as it falls. In the background, various explosions and clustered shapes mimic the sense of chaos as the screen grows darker. The jumpsuit falls below the screen, just as several hands rise up with a burst of light, weaving around the screen. The jumpsuit is perched on the last hand to rise, looking confident as the scene ends.

Reference Material

https://vimeo.com/76827185

https://vimeo.com/42059246

https://vimeo.com/133356390

https://vimeo.com/67189243

Peter McVerry Talk

Peter McVerry Talk

On Tuesday 3rd of October, we welcomed a guest speaker from the Peter McVerry Trust. The speaker began by introducing the Trust the mission of the trust and its history that is spread over the last few decades. She highlighted the Trust’s aims and goals for the next few years and even had the strange business strategy to go out of business, something that would only be achievable by ending homelessness in Ireland. The speaker emphasized the goals of the Trust they hoped to achieve for the homeless in Ireland, some of which were building houses for the homeless or those in bad situations.

In terms of the animations, she spoke of need for the animations to represent the Trust’s message pf hope and highlighted several key aspects the animation should show;

- Positive; don’t focus on the negative
- Respect for the person
- Use of Imagery
- Stereotypes; challenge people’s perception of homelessness.

Original Story Idea and Why It May Not Work;

In the beginning, I found a short animated series online known as '1Minute Nature' that used digital animation on top of cut-out backgrounds and images of real environments that where scaled up compared to the characters. I wanted to try cut-out animation with a small blend of manipulation animation in the background of the short. The simple outline of the story was to have the character in a kitchen environment while real people in the back went about setting the table. The character would sit on a mug while in the background people would place cutlery on the table. The character would jump down and indicate that the mug was similar to the cell he slept in for a number of years while in hostels. As he would describe the house he now owns, the people in the background would place down everyday objects that would represent the areas he describes. The character would then move behind one of this objects and the scene would transition to a scale model of a sitting room or kitchen where he would sit and say he can final have a cup of tea in his own house.

I changed my initial idea due to the fact that when I looked at my idea in a bit more in-depth, I found that I felt I was making the character seem small compared to the individuals in the background and thusly making him appear less important and denying him a sense of respect for his story.

Now I am planning out an idea involving a text based animation with respective imagery for the scene. The short will mostly comprise of quick moving scenes and transition from one angle to another so that the animation is not just one straight line.

Peter McVerry Trust Story Idea - Group Project

Peter McVerry Trust Story Idea

Influenced by the animations from the ‘1Minute Nature’ Series, I thought it would be interesting to go with this style from the Group Project as it was something I had done little of in the past. The style of this animation would be that the character would be shrunk down in size and would interact with the enlarged environment around them. I often did digital animation so I wanted to stay away from it for this project. Instead of the characters being digitally animated, I wanted to try cut-out animation with the realistic environments. The goal for me was to think up of a story in which the character would need to interact with the surroundings for the message to get across. However, I found this difficult as the number of objects I could find where limited in the fact that they had little connection to the setting or events the character would speak about.

Plot

Taking into account the ambiance audio in the background of the clip, I tried to set the animation somewhere relevant. The animation opens up into a normal, real kitchen and the camera pans down to the table at the center. The character sits on a mug as people in the background place cutlery on the table. The character will jump down as the audio starts, indicating that the mug was the same size as the cell he stead in while in the hostel. As he describes the house he currently owns, the normal sized people place down everyday objects that would represent the areas he describes as he walks forward. The character moves through the objects as they are placed before the scene transitions to a model of a sitting room by the character taking behind an object and walks into the new scene. He sits down, saying he can finally have a cup of tea in his own house. The scene ends as the Trust logo appears.

The story will need work, but I think I will enjoy this project as it gives the class an opportunity to work as a group in a real client-esque setting. 

(Samples from '1Minute Nature' Series; Not the scale of the characters compared to the realistic 

objects in frame.)

Peter McVerry Trust Project

Peter McVerry Trust Project

As part of the Professional Animation Project, we were given the opportunity to develop a 15 to 30 second animation for the Peter McVerry Trust, a charity set up to reduce homelessness in Ireland and the damge caused by drug abuse and social disadvantage.

About Peter McVerry Trust

Peter McVerry Trust is committed to reducing homelessness, the harm caused by substance misuse and social disadvantage. Peter McVerry Trust provides low-threshold entry services, primarily to younger people and vulnerable adults with complex needs, and offers pathways out of homelessness based on the principles of the Housing First model.  

Aims

• To target those most marginalised in society and offer a safe, challenging and supportive environment through our service provision.
• To treat participants with warmth and respect and actively encourage them to be involved in all aspects of their own support plan.
• To offer a comprehensive prevention package of support to reduce the likelihood of homelessness to those leaving care, those leaving treatment, those leaving prison or other institutions and those whose accommodation is vulnerable.
• To offer a comprehensive package of support that will provide the best opportunity possible for them and assist them in planning a pathway out of homelessness or drug use, or if they continue to use drugs, to assist them towards some level of stabilisation in order to live a life of dignity, with respect and opportunity.
• To assist each person to re-establish himself or herself in the community and move towards greater independence.

Style Influences;

1minute Nature 

http://1minuutjes.nl/?page_id=267

BABA

https://vimeo.com/96454349

'Andersartig' by Dennis Stein-Schomberg

https://vimeo.com/31686433

Story Ideas

The style I had in mind was paper cut out, with maybe digital animation layered over it. I do not have a set story in mind just yet, however I have an idea involving an enlarged environment where the character appears small next to mundane items and objects. A scene in mind would be set on a kitchen table and the character, describing his story, would be represented by things like cups or salt shakers.