Film Watch - Moon

This weeks film to watch is the enigmatic SiFi thriller 'Moon' directed by Duncan Jones.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/

Notes from 28th Sept session

Notes

• Continued with project ideas work and preperation in the studio
• Ashley discussed learning plans 1-to-1 with students and reviewed peoples aims for their project.
• Every week going forward from now there will be a film listed in Tasks to watch during the next 7 days, which we will then discuss as a group the following Wednesday.

Task

This weeks film to watch is 'Moon' directed by Duncan Jones.

Tech Cues - Aspect ratio / Resolution & Frame rate

Selecting the aspect ratio / resolution and frame rate for your work is a really important part of your planning stage as both of them make a huge technical impact on the film and are often difficult and messey to change once you have begun work.

When taking on commercial work, these are two things you must confirm with the client before production starts and, particulally where your client isn't knowledgeable about these technical aspects, you will need to talk through with them how they plan to use your animation or film work so you can make the most appropriate choices.


Aspect Ratio / Resolution

This is the screen size and shape of your film, the width and height in pixels of each frame.

• The aspect ratio refers to the relationship between the two values eg. 4:3 (4 pixels wide for every 3 pixels high) or 16:9 (16 pixels wide for every 9 pixels high)
• The resolution is the number of pixels on the screen eg. 1920 wide by 1080 tall (giving 2,073,600 pixels per frame).

If your production is going to be projected in a classroom then you will likely need a different set of values to if you are creating a short film to submit to a festival or an advert for a web banner.

Some of the main standard resolution values you will come accross currently:

• 1024 x 768     [4:3]
  This is the old non-widescreen format used on TVs. Many older projectors used in theatres and schools still need this ratio as widescreen footage (16:9) can appear squashed horizontally, or letterboxed to a scale that is harder to see, if used instead.
• 1024 x 576     [16:9]
  Low res wide screen format. Some TV productions are still produced at this resolution but it is rapidly becoming much less common. It's a good size for streaming over the internet to mobile devices or slow connections as it keeps the overall file size down but gives a good picture quality.
• 1280 x 720     [16:9]
  The scale you see with "720p" video, sutable when you need HD footage but also want to keep the file size down. A good size for streaming over the internet if you want a crisper picture and the audience is likely to have a reasonably speedy broadband connection.
• 1920 x 1080     [16:9]
  What is currently reffered to as full HD, aka "1080p" video. Most non-cinema commercial work tends to require this format, and it is the scale you should try to work to for personal productions if you intend to submit them to festivals as it will give a nice, clear picture even when projected onto a cinema screen. Be aware that file sizes can grow very large, very quickly with this resolution so for HD productions you may wish to work at 1280 x 720 resolution on less powerful computers.
• 3996 x 2160     [1.85:1]
  One of the two formats used for American films along with [2.39:1] (see below). The resolution quoted here is for a 4K camera which is a recent introduction and an averadge home computer will not handle projects of 4K resolution. However, the same aspect ratio can be created with a lower resolution such as 1920 x 1038.
• 4096 x 1714     [2.39:1]
  The usuall world cinema standard ratio, also known as "two-four-oh" as it may be thought of as rounded up to 2.40 i.e. [2.4:1] Again I have quoted the ratio for a 4K camera, so for your own productions it would be better to use 1920 x 803.

Frame Rate

As an animator it is important to understand clearly the difference between frame rate and animating on singles, doubles or any other multiple.

The term frame rate should be reserved for when you are talking about your output film and the scene file / timeline you are animating within on the computer. It is the number of frames per second (fps) not the number of drawings per second.

While a 24fps film animated on doubles looks the same as a 12fps film animated on singles, you should not think of animating on doubles as setting up a scene file at 12fps! There are still 24 frames of footage, you only have 12 drawings but you are exposing each drawing twice, hence doubles.

Any change in fps, when also keeping the length of the film the same, will always lead to either frame blending (where you see part of two ajacent frames overlayed on top of each other at the same time) or exposure extension / skipping (where the computer chooses certain frames to show for longer turning singles into doubles etc. when increasing fps or remove entiarly when decreasing fps - very bad if one of your key frames is removed so try to avoid decreasing fps when possible).

When capturing live action footage for a slow motion shot it is always preferable to film at a high frame rate so that you will have a smoother picture once the footage is stretched out to a slower (lower) fps. This does not lead to problems mentioned above, asuming you are using a devision of the original frame rate e.g. 120fps down to 30fps, as the overall length of the footage is also changing.


The main standard fps values you will come accross currently:

• 24fps
  The 'norm' for animation. It divides down into smaller factions very easily: 12, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1. Usually you will want to animate at 24fps even if that means you need to convert it up to a different rate, as getting the timing right will feel more natural. 24 fps is also the European PAL standard frame rate.
• 25fps
  What most basic digital video cameras will film at, also the North American NTFS standard frame rate.
• 30fps
  A more modern frame rate for capturing on digital video cameras.

Tech Cues

Every so often I'll be putting up a 'Tech Cues' post. These will be condensed snippets of technical knowledge, that will be of use to reference during your production process.

If there is anything in particular that people would like me to cover in one of these please leave a comment and I'll try to do an explanation or demo to answer your quirey.

Animation & Film Festivals

A few animation, games and film related festivals you might like to visit this year. It's a great change to hear about some of the most recent work being done in the industry as well as getting some inside knowledge into the techniques used to produce it. Also you can meet other students working on similar projects and build contacts with the people who will become your contemporary professionals in the future.

Flip Festival
27th - 29th October 2011
Light House Media Centre - Wolverhampton

Leeds International Film Festival
3rd - 20th November 2011
Leeds

Bradford Animation Festival
8th - 12th November 2011
National Media Museum - Bradford

Encounters International Film Festival
16th - 20th November 2011
Watershed and surrounding area - Bristol

Animex
7th - 11th Febuary 2012
Teesside University - Middlesbrough


Also take a look at some of these foreign festivals, you might not choose to travel this far just yet, but that doesn't stop you from submitting your films to the judges!

Sundance Film Festival
19th - 29th January 2012
Park City, Utah, USA

FMX
May 2012
Stuttgart, Germany

Internationales TrickFilm Festival
May 2012
Stuttgart, Germany

Australian International Animation Festival
May 2012
Wagga Wagga, Australia

Annecy
4th - 9th June 2012
Annecy, France

Melbourne International Animation Festival
June 2012
Melbourne, Australia

Notes from 21st Sept session

Notes

• Introduced Ashley Dean who is taking course tutoring duties from Laura.
  http://www.brokenpixel.co.uk/
• Continued working on our ideas for the upcoming semester's work, including mini briefs and the three ideas pitch.
• We talked more about the possible competitions available for animators and illustrators which might be appropriate for the mini briefs component.
• Began to complete the Learning Plan sheet for the upcoming semester's work.

Task

Continue work on your three ideas for the major project in preparation for the pitch next week on 28th September.

Complete your Learning Plan and ensure this is handed to Nick by the end of the week.

External Projects

Updated 21st Sept

Here is a list of various Illustration and Animation competitions and other external projects that you may want to choose from for your 100 hours Mini Projects part of the module. I will add more to this list as I find them, so check back on this post occasionally for additional options. Also be aware some of the deadlines are quite soon, so get cracking!

Illustration

• Graphic Competitions
  - Muppets Fan Tee Design Contest - Oct 2nd deadline
  - Tapirulan International Illustrators Contest - Sept 23rd deadline
  - Ilustrarte 2012 Children Books Illustrators Contest - Sept 30th deadline
  
• Eyeka
  - Speedo - Sept 29th deadline
  - They update regularly, so check the site again later for more options
  
• The Calendar Project Competition
  - 3 colour, self motivation topic - Oct 14th deadline
  
• Communication Arts
  - Various categories - Jan 6th 2012 deadline
  
• House of Illustration
  - Book illustration - Jan 10th 2012 deadline
  
• Tigerprint
  - Female Special Relationship Card - Oct 13th deadline

Animation

• 11 Second Club
  - Weekly competition
  
• Eyeka
  - Speedo - Spet 29th deadline
  - Dell / Intel - Oct 5th deadline
  - Puma - Oct 11th deadline
  - Knorr - Oct 25th deadline
  - Danone - Oct 26th deadline
  - They update regularly, so check the site again later for more options

Notes from 14th Sept session

Notes

• Introduced Matthew Duddington to the students.
  – Matthew will be responsible for administrating the Blog and Liaising with staff and students to develop content that is animation and illustration led.
  
• We jotted down initial thoughts on ambitions and directions for the next twelve months.
  – What plans or ideas did people have for future career development which could lead and inform the major project.
  
• We began work toward building our project research file (see task below).
  
• In the next few days, Matthew will create a post ‘External Projects’ on the course blog (drawthedinosaw.blogspot.com) that will provide links to potential sources for the Mini Project part of the module brief.

Task

Begin to create a research file (for example: images, URLs, story extracts, photos, sketchbook work, sculpture, collage, diagrams, models) that includes your influences, ideas and interests in animation or illustration.

Use this research file as a foundation for developing 3 possible ideas for your major project which will be pitched on the 28th September.

Additionally consider the design of your online identity (Avatar and Name) through consideration of your influences and peers. This research will include subscription to Blogs and Forums if not already doing so.

For Wednesday 21st September please bring along any initial ideas and work in progress, which we will continue to work on in studio and discuss amongst the group.