ANIMATION TEST.

 

Over the last week or so, I've been trying to get my head around how I'm going to tackle making my animation. It's based on an editorial I am in the process of doing from an article in NewScientist based on technology. The summary of the text, is about how web browsers and personal item of technology (i.e smart phones/tablets) are taking over the decision making process for many people. It expresses how a lot of people are reliant on comparison apps and review websites to choose their path for them basing it on other people's choices.

I wanted to do an illustration based around the perpetual face in order to show the similarity between people. From this I wanted to create a continously spinning head that will eventually split down the middle, and open to reveal an empty space where the brain should be. I've been making little gifs in photoshop to try and get my head around how I'm going to execute the illustrations but finding it quite challenging. To get my head around the spinning motion, I stuck bluetac on to a wooden ball to make a small stop motion piece. I did this in order to understand the positions of the nose, and when each one is visible after every turn. This also helped with my understanding of the shadow casting as this is going to be the most important element of each illustration in order to make sure that face looks likes it is rotating. As I want to create a smooth 360degree turn, I need to have as many drawings as possible to ensure a slick rotation. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to add some blur and tweak any problems in photoshop/aftereffects afterwards but would rather keep this to a minimum. 

To make sure that I achieve this, I think I need around 5 different frames for this part of the animation to look okay. To get the proportions and scale looking right, I took some photos of my face whilst turning on the spot. I then layered them up, dead rough; to make a quick gif to make sure they number of frames I predicted would work efficiently. It seems to look okay at the moment but I'd rather get a few more frames thrown in if possible. I've found that making these small animations as reference, it has definitely helped me to understand the process. Even though they're incredibley rough, I've found them very beneficial and helpful. The next step is to start making the final illustrations.