Summer Reading Club – Author Blog

We are back! We have been away touring to Gladstone and teaching clay animation to some amazingly talented young people. The showcase of animations that participants in our workshops created in just 8 hours was shown at the Gladstone Entertainment Centre to a huge audience on Friday night and they were amazing! But we have now returned and here is the next instalment of our blog!

So where were we… oh yes…

Concept…check. Storyboard…check. Character…check. Background…check. Now what?

Now you need to set up your equipment. Don’t worry. You don’t need lots of gear OR lots of money. We have ways around that!! Before you begin we would like to suggest that all technology resources and powered equipment is best used with adult supervision. This is for your safely of course! You need to be very careful when hooking up equipment to electricity.

The way we do it is to set up a camera on a tripod. This will act as your lens.

We use a digital video camera of broadcast quality but really any digital camera will do. We connect this to our laptop or computer with a fire wire cable.  On the laptop we use a program called Stop Motion Pro. This is the program commonly used within the industry (they use it to film Wallace and Gromit!) and a free trial of this program can be downloaded from their website www.stopmotionpro.com

There are of course HEAPS of other programs out there but this is the one that we have found works well for us!

What else do you need to consider?

Light

We also generally like to use a room with curtains or blinds and then use lights to create a consistent shooting environment, otherwise if you film in natural light you get shots that are all differently lit. We generally use mini par cans on a T bar (you can see them in the image above). But you can simply use desk lamps like we are in the image below!

With lighting there are many special effects that can be created with gels (filters that change the colour and intensity of the light). Experiment and see what sort of creative lighting effects you can create!

Basically you now have your stage setup with your background, your characters and other objects placed on the background (or to the side if that is where they will enter the frame), the camera, the tripod, the laptop or computer and the lights… what now….

You basically need to take a shot. Then you will move the characters just the slightest amount. Then you take another shot. Then you move your characters again…

The reason that Chicken Run took four years to make was that for every one second of animation, they took 24 still shots and only moved the characters one or two millimetres each shot! Now we are not suggesting that you go to those lengths! (Although we did warn you that you needed to be patient if you were to explore clay animation!) The less you move your character each shot the better.  For the demo animations that we film in our workshop we move our characters two to four centimetres each shot and then we play the videos back at a rate of two frames per second. That is why there is a jumpy effect (like the flicker books we mentioned in our first blog). But a great result can still be achieved despite the low frame rate as long as you have original, innovative ideas and you spend the time to create a unique character that will withstand the rigours of animation.  Our next post is going to wrap up the series with some handy hints and what to do with your animation when you’ve finished so stay tuned.

Bye for now,

Fiona and Grant

2011 is here – and what a year it has been already…

Well we had a break and we are ready to get back to it all. It seems a little flippant under the current circumstances to say happy new year so we really just want to say that we hope that everyone reading this is safe and well and our thoughts go out to everyone experiencing a difficult time right now.  This is from both of us and also from everyone here at Bazil Grumble.

And for those who are looking for some indoor action for the remainder of the holidays, let’s get to it!  Hopefully by now you have taken on board some of our ideas from Part 1 and 2 of our blog and have your concept and your storyboard. We gave you HEAPS of time!So come on, let’s move onto the next step…

What materials should I use to make the characters?

The word clay in Clay-mation comes from the term modelling clay. Many people think immediately of clay as in the muddy stuff you make pots out of! That’s because most people know modelling clay as plasticine but this is actually a trademarked name for the most popular brand. We have actually used clay (as in the pottery type!) for animations before and it is fun to use but lacks the differentiation that can be created due to the multitude of colours available in modelling clay. It can however be helpful in creating landscaped backgrounds.

Plasticine is a product that is made from petroleum jelly (Vaseline), calcium salts and aliphatic acids. It comes in a wide variety of colours but it doesn’t often come in brown. Brown is a colour that many people like to use so this is how you make it:  Use equal parts red, yellow and orange and 1/10 of that total quantity of black. You then have to mix together by hand which takes a while (once more… we warned you that you needed to be patient to be a clay animator!) The Aardman team uses a bubble gum mixer – you will have to use your imagination about how that works!

We purchase our Plasticine from a local large office supplies retailer here in Brisbane however you can buy other brands in lots of different locations. We have found the original Plasticine brand to be the most effective and of the most consistent quality however. This is a pic of our leftover plasticine box. There’s just a little bit leftover… (we run STACKS of workshops!)

How do I use the modelling clay to make my character?

Now this is where it gets really fun!  Making the character is so cool because you can let your imagination run wild. We each have characters that we like to make best. Fiona loves to make dinosaurs and Grant loves making interesting little people! And usually someone gets chopped up into bits so you can’t get too attached to them!) In our workshops we like to let everyone try to guess what we are making and it can take a while for them to work it out! We get some pretty funny suggestions… is that an…. armadillo???

So, what will your signature character be?  Basically there are few rules to adhere to when creating a character that you are going to animate. If you sculpt your character from one piece of clay moulded into shape it will be stronger and last longer than if you stick single pieces together, which can result in a character that falls apart!

 To help you along we have made a character and here is a picture of all the individual components:

 “But my character is falling apart” you cry! “

A way to ensure your character is strong enough to animate is to use an armature. This is like a ‘skeleton’ for your character. It is made of wire and has ball and socket joints for knees, elbows, hips etc. This ensures that your character can move time and time again without falling apart. It also ensures that you character moves in a realistic manner and means that it can have thinner arms and legs which is more appropriate for particular characters. Armatures can be purchased from overseas locations online for a significant monetary outlay. But we suggest that you create your own. Some people swear by covering tie wire with the alfoil so that it doesn’t cut through the plasticine. Others just like to use alfoil on its’ own by scrunching it up into a bendy frame. And others again just like to use tie wire. We have even seen people use pipe cleaners for smaller characters and this seemed to work quite well!  We generally always use a matchstick in the neck of the character as well so that they can look from side to side.

Once you have a basic structure you can add other elements to your character to make your creation more interesting….

So experiment and see what you can come up with. You may need to attempt your character several times as no doubt they will become more interesting and unique each time you try again.

But now I have a character, what next?

You need a background that you will place the character on for filming. A miniature stage so to speak. Backgrounds can be used to create more visual interest and meaning?  We use a large piece of MDF board for our backdrop. We have ties strong cord in it so that it curves but then it can also be released for flat storage. It is great because it has an indistinguishable horizon and a surface that the characters can stick to (which really helps because then they are less likely to fall over!) Also it can be wiped clean after each shot so that you cannot see the characters footprints (they leave greasy little tracks the little critters!!) 

 In the past when we have travelled long distances by plane we have to make do with what is at the location at which we are facilitating our workshops so we have used fabric for the background (although this does get greasy marks)… 

  …and even lego can jazz up a background!

 Our advice is to use a background that is fairly plain and simple and not too ‘busy’. It can be tempting to want to build elaborate sets on which to film however for a short animation they are too distracting. You don’t want the viewer to spend more time looking at your background than your characters! You need a background which enhances your characters and does not detract from them.

So now you need a bit of time to play with some modelling clay and see what you can create. Go wild! Be creative! Have fun and we will check back in really soon with the next instalment!

Over and out. Take care everyone :-) Fiona and Grant

P.S. We want to give a big shout out to Laura street for her awesome cartoons in this blog!

 So you want to make a clay animation?

Here’s a little dude that we made for our workshop series at the Fun 4 Kids Festival in Victoria but where should you start?

You need a concept (and lots of time indoors – rainy summer holidays are the perfect time to make animations for this very reason!) Here is a link to a video of a segment on Bazil Grumble Clay Animation that was on the WOW edition of Totally Wild on Network 10 last month.  It will get you pumped to get happening and get animating. Once you start you’ll love it! 

 So…Action stations… we mean Animation Stations people! 

But how do I come up with a concept?

We suggest that you…

Keep a visual diary to keep track of your ideas – images, poems, photos, funny sayings… it can all provide great inspiration for your project

Watch people, animals, things – how do they move? Be observant and notice the little details as these will give your animations more life!

Imagine the impossible – remember anything can happen in clay animation!

Don’t forget that if you have to say “and then this happens, and then this…” you are forgetting the key point – animation takes a LONG time!

Oh… did we mention that you need to keep it simple…

Some examples of amazing animations that people have created in our workshops….

Short animation concepts:  A chase, a race, a cartwheel, a dance, sinking into quicksand, eating, being eaten, fishing… can you think of others?

Elements that are easy and look really effective are: ripples on water, crying tears, facial expressions, clouds being blown across the sky, sun rising or setting…can you think of others?

Big River Fishing is an example of a basic concept that we created in only 45 minutes as a demonstration for a workshop that we held at a school in Grafton, NSW earlier this year. Traditionally a story has a beginning, middle and end and a climax in the middle. Animation does not necessarily need a formal structure but this example does have a clear story that works really well.

Feel free to experiment with your ideas but no matter how you structure your animation, you will find that your best animations are when you make the unexpected occur to shock or surprise the viewer. We think this animation called Geoffery or Geof-fry created by our students in a workshop at a school in Ipswich is an awesome example of this…

In the above animation meaning is communicated through simple text however you can also create meaning, mood and atmosphere through the use of speech bubbles, by voice over, by even by using music or sound effects (both of which you can make yourself!) We are not going to get into the technicalities of sound in this blog. That is a whole other story and another blog for sometime in the future! In our workshops we focus primarily on communications through the visual elements of animation due to time restrictions – a lot of our workshops are only two or three hours and have we mentioned how long animation takes??? Ha ha!!!

Here is an example of sketches of a concept created by students in one of our workshops in Grafton, NSW.

So once you have a concept and an idea of what techniques you are going to employ to create meaning for the viewer you are ready to storyboard…

But what is a Storyboard?

A storyboard is like a comic strip. It is a series of images drawn by hand that represent the key shots that will be taken by the animator in order to bring the concept to life. Underneath each ‘box’ you can write notes about the action taking place and include details such as the location, lighting, and other relevant notes. You can draw arrows on the storyboard to remind yourself about which way a character will move etc. Here is an example of a storyboard template…

Here is an example of a storyboard created as a result of those initial sketches we showed earlier… 

And the plasticine characters that were used to film the animation!

Well we think its only fair to give you a couple of weeks to work on a concept, some initial sketches and a storyboard. (We are having a little holiday now we spend far too much time in darkened rooms playing with plasticine and computers!)

Wishing you a Creative Claymation Christmas!

Fiona and Grant

Are you ready?

Before you decide to read on ask yourself… am I a very patient person?
Before embarking on a clay animation journey you must know that the famous movie Wallace and Gromit – the Curse of the Were-Rabbit took five years to create.

On average, one single animator usually animates about five seconds of animation per week (of course this is a big company of experts where things need to be perfect in readiness for screening at the cinema!). Animation is indeed a very time consuming process.

So if you answered yes… that you are a very patient person… then read on… and get ready to explore the wonderful world of clay animation with Bazil Grumble!

But what is clay animation?

Clay Animation is a form of stop motion animation. Basically, stop motion animation is about making an inanimate object appear to move of its own accord. The illusion of animation is created by pictures that are seen by the eye, which then sends signals to the brain. These signals take a fraction of a second to reach your brain so when you see a lot of pictures put together at a certain speed they look as though they are moving.

Think back to the flicker books that you might have played with. You know the ones where the character was doing something like skipping and on every page the image was drawn slightly differently so that when you flicked through the book it looked like the character was moving? Well, clay animation is just like that! The difference is that clay is used for the character rather than a drawn figure and the image is captured with digital media rather than on paper.

Put very simply, when we make a stop motion video we take a shot (a picture with the camera) of the character, move the character a tiny bit, take another shot, move the character, take another shot… and on and on and on it goes (now is a good time to remind you that we warned you that you would need to be very patient!!)

So where did it begin?

Clay animation is not a new creation although it has become exceedingly popular in Australia since Adam Elliot won an Academy Award in 2004 for Harvie Krumpet. In fact clay animation has been around since 1908! If you’d like to know more, there’s a great history of animation on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_animation

Why do clay animation?

People often ask us WHY do we love clay animation. Well we love that we can tell a story through a visual medium and that words are not required to communicate meaning. We love that we can turn our dreams into reality and make magic happen with a small budget. We love that we can create a static character and give it a life of its own. We love that we have worked out a way to create animation quickly and easily using basic resources so that people in all locations and with no prior experience can experience the joy of clay animation. We love that people who do our workshops can learn so many skills while engaging with an art form that they may never have had a chance to explore before. But most of all we love the look on people’s faces when they see their own art on the big screen!

How do you begin?

Over the coming month we will be loading 4 more posts about how to make a stop motion video. Stay tuned as we will be coving topics such as concept development, character development, tools and technical equipment and of course filming.

So stay tuned for the next installment.

Over and out peeps! Fiona and Grant

GETTING PUBLISHED

Mick & Toby Issue #1

Page-1

Page-2

Page-3

Page-4

Page-5

How will the comic look in its final form? Do you want it to be just online or will you be printing it? How will your comic book get into the comic book reader’s hands?

There a few different ways that you can publish your comic.  In the past it was quite expensive to publish through a printing company though now it is a lot cheaper, but you will still need to consider how much you can spend.

The internet is a great way to get your comic out there without spending much money. Using the internet you can now distribute your comic online, which can be as simple as posting your comic on your facebook or myspace page for your friends to see or to send it to one of many online comic websites. The other way get your comic online is to make your own web site or publish it on a blog  just like this one. This is very easy with programs like Dreamweaver and WordPress.

Is your comic book going to be in black and white or colour? This can change publishing costs – colour printing will usually cost more than black and white printing. If you are printing in black and white, a cheap way you can print the comic without a printing company, is to just photocopy and staple it yourself.

If you are going to print your comic, go around to a number of printers and get quotes and find the best price for your budget. Once the printing is done talk to your local book store or comic book shop about getting your comic book on the shelf. You don’t have to limit yourself to these locations, you can try local record stores, cafes or anywhere you like to hang out. The main thing to remember is to get it out there to your audience.

GENERAL SAFTY TIPS:

Make sure you have a good light source while drawing as this will put strain on your eyes.

Take frequent breaks from drawing or working on the computer if you’re using one. This will help reduce eye strain, also hunching over and sitting for long periods can damage your neck and back.

The End.

LAYOUT

Comic layout is important and can help you tell your story.

Use a larger scale paper size so, when reduced in size,  the picture has more detail. Also it is easier and you will have more space to work on. So if you want to print your comic in A4 size, you would draw it in A3.

With the layout of your comic, there is no right and wrong way to it, just what works best to tell your story. Things to consider are: do want a close up of your main character on the first page? If you have a surprise or you want to establish a large scene, you can use the whole page to emphasise the effect.

Panels

 Other things to consider are how far the panels are apart. This may not seem important but it will help you communicate how much time passes from panel 1 to panel 2. If you have the panels stuck together with no space in between, then panel 1 has responded quickly to panel 2. And if the panel 1 is spaced further away from panel 2 more time has passed between the panels.

Once you have done the layout of the comic, start planning where you would like your dialogue to go.
Lettering and speech bubbles are cartooning and illustrative conventions used to convey dialogue, internal thought or a story. If you are not confident or feel your lettering is too rough, the computer is a great way to overcome this. Also, you may be able the get a friend who is good a lettering to help you. Using the computer, you will be able to add lettering and speech bubbles to your drawing later very easily. Be aware of line and letter spacing if you are going to draw your lettering yourself. A helpful way to do this is to use ruled pencil lines for the spacing for your lettering.

Speech Bubbles . Speech bubble order.

Basic Balloon Shape : Thought, speech, exclamation, and caption.

Speech bubble order.

Speech bubble order of dialogue: The dialogue order traditionally goes from left to right and from top to bottom.

TECHNIQUES FOR DRAWING AND DRAWING STYLES

Have you thought about how you want your comic to look in its finished form? Will it be in colour or black and white? What you choose can depend on your skill and style. If your artwork already involves a lot of colour, then you will obviously try and do a comic with colour. Think about what inspires you. This will influence your style and drawing techniques.

Another thing to consider is how people will read your comic. Do you want your comic to be read online or to be published in the traditional printed format?

Your personal style will be shaped by what inspires and influences you and will develop the more you draw. If you are good at painting, then paint the comic.  If you are good at illustration, focus on that.

Work station & equipment:

Work Station & Equipment

A light box is very useful tool for any artist.

Colour:

There are a few different ways you can colour your comic. You can do it the traditional way or use a computer. The easiest method to colour drawings I’ve found is to draw the picture by hand then scan it into the computer. Then I colour the picture on my computer. The method you use will depend on what tools and equipment you have at your disposal. If you don’t have access to the computer equipment you need, you can do it the traditional way by drawing the picture and colouring using water colours, felt pens, pastels or whatever you like. Think about how you are using colour.  Does it work as a functional element for your story or are you just adding decoration to your drawing?

Style 1

Style 2

Dramatic contrast: black and white
Hatching and Cross-Hatching is a shading method used to create dimension and mood. The most effective way to use hatching is using it in black and white drawings.

Hatching

Hatching & Cross Hatching 1

Hatching & Cross Hatching-2

Movement & devices:

With illustrations and cartooning, there are many different devices that can be used to quickly convey noises, actions or internal thoughts. These exaggerations are heavily used in the cartooning profession to depict and emphasize comedic elements. These images give greater emphasis to ordinary subjects and situations or can be used to show things that are not actually present in the static picture.

Body movement can be illustrated in a number of ways by the movement being illustrated or by the use of devices to imply motion. You can draw movement directly by having the body in a particular state of motion, for example running, jumping or falling. Angles and perspective can also help emphasize movement. Body language is also a great way to express internal feelings and expression of your character. Body language is something we all use and observe in the outside world every day. It may be as simple as someone resting their head in their hands to show boredom or a figure leaning in a relaxed position will infer a casual presence in the picture.

Foreshortening:

This is an exaggerated perspective effect applied to characters and objects. Foreshortening is used for characters or objects so they appear to be coming at the viewer from the page which helps with melodramatic impact. This also creates the illusion of things being near or far away.

Foreshortening 1

Foreshortening 2

Distortion & simplification:

Expressions are essential for an illustrator to learn. By distorting or exaggerating a character’s features, you can convey different emotions and feelings in your story. This can be shown through the character’s body expression and, of course, through facial expression.

Basic Expressions:

Expressions

Light and shade:

This is another way to generate a mood and feeling in your picture. For example having your picture very darkly shaded you can create drama and suspense. By working with the three dimensions of the objects, people and places, you will be able to create an atmosphere for the image.

The light coming from different directions affects the light and shadows on the object.

Light & Shade

Don’t overdo it. The main part must still be integrated with the other elements in the image

Focus:

There are different ways you can direct your readers to a point of view. This helps lead the audience through the story and helps with the continuity of the pictures. An example of this is a close up on a characters face.

Corrections:

If working on paper, it can be quite difficult to change or correct mistakes in your work, especially if you’re using ink or another medium that is not easily removed. There are a number of ways to correct your work:

Patching from above:
Place and glue a specially cut piece of paper over your mistake. Paint over the edges of the paper with white paint to hide the line.

If you’re using a computer to finish your drawings, corrections will be much easier with the use of layers and the eraser tool.

Next Issue: Layout

There is no strict rule about how you should start creating a comic or graphic novel. You can just dive into drawing the comic straight away or write a script, then sketch the actions.

I will be drawing out rough thumbnails sketches then cleaning them up for colouring. You can clean your work up in a number of ways. One way is to use a light box to trace over the rough draft using a clean piece of paper. The other way is to scan the image into your computer and use the eraser tool and layers to clean up the picture.

When you are happy with your script, you can set out a rough thumbnail sketch to lay out the page. A thumbnail is a rough sketch of what you intend to be the final drawing. This can be as simple as stick figures and a few lines about the story or can be more detailed to include dialogue and any action that happens in the story. This will help you arrange the panels and any action or dialogue that is shown on the page.

Thumbnails of Mick & Toby. Note these can be very rough and depict basic actions and settings.

Thumbnail Page-1

 

Thumbnail Page-2

Thumbnail Page-3

Thumbnail Page-4

Thumbnail Page-5

 Model Sheets:

Mick Model Sheet

Toby Model Sheet

When creating the characters in your story, a model sheet helps keep your characters looking consistent.

When you finish your thumbnails, you can start to add more detail to your work. You can also use a ruler to draw all the panels you want on the page.

Black & White Page-1

Black & White Page-2

Black & White Page-3

Black & White Page-4

Black & White Page-5

The background is an important feature of your picture and helps tell your story. Backgrounds create a setting for your story and characters to interact.  A good warm up is to practice drawing the different settings and environments. This will give you a chance to get comfortable with the backgrounds and have a better understanding of how to place your character in that environment.

Sky-Line

Backgrounds

Reference photos are a really useful tool for creating backgrounds and will give you details that you may miss by drawing from memory.

 Depth of picture, perspective, direction and angles:

Perspective is a very useful tool when drawing backgrounds and objects to emphasize depth and height. For example, an angle showing the height of a building will give a more dramatic impact for the viewer. Perspective requires one or more vanishing points on a fixed horizon. A horizon line determines the vanishing points and because it is your own eye level it alters as your perspective moves. There are number of different perspectives you can use when creating your picture.

One-point perspective is a method and is the easiest and most commonly used by cartoonists. This involves drawing a horizon line, which will act as your eye level, and a fixed vanishing point.

One-Point Perspective

Two-point perspective uses two fixed vanishing point on either side of the horizon line. These may need to be done outside the page if you’re illustrating an interior of a building. It can be done by creating a grid to suggest the line direction.

Two-Point Perspective

Three-point perspective is used to emphasise height and depth to make it look more dramatic. This may involve the horizon line being above or below the picture itself.

Three-Point Perspective

Next Issue: Techniques for Drawing & Drawing Styles

What is a comic or graphic novel? Basically a comic or graphic novel is another way to tell a story,  just like a book, film or a painting.

Comic books have gone in and out of favour in their long history but now they are firmly part of today’s various digital and print media.  A good example of this is the Batman or Superman comic books. Batman and Superman both started as comic book heroes and have since made the jump across all forms of media: television, movies, books, computer games and the internet.

I think it is important to understand your motivation and goals for creating a comic.  What story do you want to tell? How do you want to tell your story? Over the next five weeks, I am going to talk about the following topics:

• Story – how to develop and write a story for your comic
• Drafting pictures – how to start making your story into pictures
• Drawing techniques – different drawing styles and cartooning
• Drawing layout – presentation, lettering and sound effects
• Publishing – how to publish and distribute your comic to readers.

Where to start?

HOW TO CREATE A STORY:

So what type of comic would you like to make? Comic books can take many forms and styles. You may just want to create a comic strip like the Garfield, Footrot Flats or Phantom comic strips you see in the newspaper. Or there is the more traditional comic format as seen in the popular X-men, Superman and Batman comic books. These comics can also be accumulated into a graphic novel which is just a very long comic (or a comic series compiled into one book).

Some of you may be interested in developing a story rather than drawing a comic or vice versa. To overcome this, try and find someone interested in working with you. For example, you might have a friend who can do the drawings for you. Of course you will need to share similar views and opinions on the comic you what to produce together.

First you will need to think of a story. This is a lot easier than you think. Inspiration for your story can come from anywhere. Think about what sports, music or hobbies you like, because it is easy to write about what you know. Also think about genres and any movies or television shows that you like (horror, action, drama and comedy).  Another good source of inspiration is thinking about what comics you already like and what it is you like about them.  You will need to think about the people who will be reading the comic – your audience. It’s a great idea to listen to friends and other comic book readers about what they like in a comic.

It’s also important to remember that some stories can be told with pictures alone. You don’t need to have dialogue in your comic. You may want tell your story using  just the drawings and images you create.

Once you have decided on a story that you would like to turn into a comic, you can begin with a rough script. This is mainly so you can set out the story flow and choose what pictures you would need on each page.

I will be producing a short comic based on the short story ‘Mick & Toby’ to demonstrate the different styles and methods used to create a comic.

Story: Mick & Toby

Mick and Toby are best friends at school together. They do everything like play soccer and of course Xbox 360. They also read comics together; both their favourite comics are X-men & Batman.  They really love playing sport together at school.  This is because Mick & Toby both have special powers. Mick can run faster than anybody. And Toby’s so big and strong, he can throw anything miles away. The thing is, because of Toby’s power, he needs to eat a lot to keep his strength up. The other kids at school make fun of him because he eats so much. Mick is always concerned about this but also wants to fit in with the other kids, so sometimes he ignores Toby. One day some new kids at school start to pick on Toby. This normally wouldn’t be so bad but the new kids have special powers too. They use their powers to make fun of Toby. Mick uses his power the help Toby.

Mick & Toby Issue #1

Next Issue: Drafting Pictures