My Experience on This Project

Originally, I had made the decision to use the feedback obtained on both characters a platform for making alterations to them in order to create better, improved animation tests. However I soon came to realise that I had been unrealistic with this goal, because the original set of animation tests took longer than expected due to technical issues. Therefore, I decided to use the feedback gathered through the questionnaires as a way of analysing the success of each character, and to acknowledge how they could have potentially been improved if I were to use them again. 

Farah

For the character of Farah, luckily I managed to gather a lot of positive feedback. However something that did come up on more than one occasion was the fact that her 3D tests were less believable and slightly more robotic than the 2D versions. Therefore, if I were to animate her again in 3D, I would have to consider spending more time on it, in order to achieve a more fluid performance. In terms of her ability to be used in the 3D world, I was very happy with her design and felt it worked in both mediums. If I were to produce more tests, I would consider not just play blasting the Maya files, but actually rendering them all out with a background, because I felt this is something that may have also made the 3D tests seem less appealing in comparison to the 2D versions.  

Toby

After a while, when it was too late to make any massive changes, I had realised I was not as happy with my design for Toby. I couldn't fully put my finger on why, I think he just ended up not looking as good as I had been aiming for. However, despite this, he did prove to still have popularity amongst the participants. I came to the conclusion that as a character he was better suited to being 2D, because once I had finished modelling him in Maya, I thought he looked slightly odd. This reinforced to me, the importance of design when a character is going to be taken from 2D to 3D, and I now feel like I could do not only a better job a second time around, but I would also be able to go about it much quicker! 

Animation Testing

The animation tests produced allowed me to gather a broad and non-biased set of results, however there are certain aspects that I would consider making if I were to do an experiment like this again:

• I would ensure all tests were properly rendered with a background in order to keep it fair
• I would consider the use of more camera movement in 2D and not just 3D, due to the fact that this time I took advantage of the 3D tools at my disposal with out thinking about it for 2D
• I would produce performances that presented more movement and more extravagant actions actions from both characters, as I feel the tests for Farah were more subtle in comparison to the tests of Toby.

Writing 

The writing section of this project was by far one of the most interesting essays that I have had to carry out research for. It was an opportunity for me not only to submerge myself in a range of academic sources, but to also reach out and communicate with different practitioners, as well as taking advantage of my trips to MAF and ASFF. The process of gathering primary feedback from the practical work was extremely interesting, because I was able to identify a pattern running through the results, which hugely informed by final chapter. Finally, this project encouraged me to think more deeply about the more sensitive, cultural aspects that can influence a character's design. It encouraged me to have a more in depth outlook on the ethical issues that surround different stereotypes in animation, and how it is important to consider this when designing characters, especially when a character is of a specific ethnicity, gender, sexuality or religion. 

I have really enjoyed this project and  I feel I have not only produced some fresh concept work of which I am very happy with, I have also come out of this project feeling more enlightened and aware of the deeper, more sensitive aspects to character design. 

Academic Poster

As part of the requirements for this project, I have put together an academic poster illustrating and explaining the aim of my work. This highlights what exactly the goal of the project is, how I have gone about achieving this through primary & secondary research, as well as how this has informed the final practical outcome. 

Moodboards - Research

After beginning the research necessary for my first character, I began to think about the design for y second character. I knew this character would be from a different time period, the 1940's, so I began by gathering together different relevant images as a means of informing it's potential design.
 I began to think not only about other examples of young boy characters similar to the kind of style I was imagining, but I also spent some time researching the clothing that would have been worn by young boys at this time, as a way of getting a better and more realistic image in my mind.

Analysing Key Texts - Cultural Aspects

Through out my research, there have been a number of different sources that have had a significant impact on my findings. As part of the research that will influence my practical, I have been focusing on not just character animation alone, but also some of the deeper cultural, religious and ethnic aspects that can influence the internal and external design of a character. Despite it arguably being one of the most obvious areas to look into, I decided that Walt Disney Animation Studios was a relevant area to look into. This being, because over the years, Disney has produced a number of full length feature films, the main characters of which differ not necessarily in gender, but when it comes to ethnicity and cultural background these are aspects which are definitely very profound.

One of the main things I have been analysing is the way in which Disney, visually portrays these characters who are from all different parts of the world, at different points in time. After gathering together these examples, I decided that annotating the visual design of these characters would be a good idea. It is not my intent to design one of my characters in the exact same way as Disney, I actually want the design to be very different to Disney. However I felt it important to take note of the different physical and psychological traits given to these characters, and to think about why these have beeb applied.

How Did This Influence my Work?

This made me think more about treating the topic of ethnic representation with caution. After all, it is very easy to offend people, even it is not intended, so carrying out this research did encourage me to think more deeply about the effects of stereotypes used in animation. 

Animation Tests - Gathering The feedback

Once all of the animation tests were complete, I spent my Christmas break gathering primary feedback on the character performances. The key areas I wanted to address were:

1. Does age have an influence on a person's preference between 2d & 3d animation.
2. How big of an influence does a characters backstory impact their "appeal"?
3. How important is it for an audience to relate to a character?
4. Does it depend on the specific character?

In order to gather substantial and fair feedback, I produced I questioner that would address these areas: 

Age:                       Gender:

Do you have a preference when it comes to 2D & 3D animation, if so, why?

Out of the tests you have seen, is it the 2D or 3D characters that appeal to you the most?

Can you explain why?

Are there any aspects to the character's’ performance that you especially like or dislike? Please explain why.

Out of the two characters, do you have a favourite? Please explain why.

How Did I Find This?

I decided it was necessary to include the participants' age and gender, in order to see of there was any running link between these factors and the feedback given. This method of gathering feedback proved to be quite effective, because it allowed me to obtain qualitative and quantitive feedback. The fact that I was able to ask people of varied ages and genders, meant that I was able to gain a non-biased view point on the topic of 2D & 3D animation.

What Would I Change?

if i were to use this method of gaining feedback again, i would consider recording the feedback as well as having it written down. I would also consider asking people to rate each character performance based on certain qualities such as "believability" and "reliability"

Animation Tests

After producing all of the 2D and 3D animation tests, I decided that I wasn't going to post them all online. I didn't feel happy posting work that I wasn't excited to show off. However I did post the 2D tests for Farah, because I felt the happiest with these.

I decided to that I would submit all of the tests together separately from my blog, simply because they played a bigger part of informing my final chapter of writing than they did my showreel.  

Further Concept Work

As I got further into the 2D development of my two characters, I began to feel disheartened. This was because, on the one hand I felt extremely happy with my design for the character Farah, but not with Toby. I began to feel the design for Toby wasn't as good as it could be. However something I needed to remember was that these two characters are not supposed to be compatible with one another. Due to the stage i was at in the project, I was unable to go ahead and design a new version of Toby because I needed to get going with animating.

How I dealt with this?

I knew that as part of my outcome for the practical artefact, it would be necessary to analyse the success of both characters and state any changes that would need to be made if I were to use these characters again. So I held onto my dislike for this character as a way of allowing me to know where improvements would need to be made in the future.

As a result of my decreasing interest in the character of Toby, I ended up spending more time on the Turnaround for Farah. However I decided this was wiser than spending more time than necessary on Toby, because I knew he wouldn't end up in my showreel. So I decided to only produce the necessary work required for Toby that would enable it to influence my final chapter. 

Character Backstories

One of the most important things I needed to establish about these two characters was:

• Who they are
• What kind of personalities do they have
• How is their personality/lifestyle influenced by cultural aspects
• Who is their audience. 

Since these characters were not supposed to be designed to work together as a pair, I decided to create two contrasting backstories. Not only would this challenge me more in terms of physical design, but it would also allow me to see if this influenced the practical outcome of these characters in any way, and weather or not it would influenced the way they were received by an audience. 

Character 1: Farah

For the character of Farah, I decided base her in the modern day. This is because, at the point of designing I had found myself quite distressed and angered by a lot of the political and religious issues going on at this point in time. After thinking about this I had the idea of designing the character with the purpose of educating an audience. 

In what context would this character be seen?

I imagine that Farah is the main character in a short animated film based on the topic of racism and inequality. The general storyline of this short would be based around Farah and her family, emphasising how much of a kind, normal family they are. The purpose of this character and the short that could potentially be made would be to reinforce to a young audience (school age, between 13-16) the importance of acceptance, and that somebody's ethnicity or religious beliefs does not define their whole existence, and that everybody should be treated as equals. 

Character 2: Toby

For the character of Toby, I decided to go with something that contrasted the backstory of Farah. When thinking about culture today, and I started to think about how different things were 70 years ago. With no iPhones, no internet and the different ways in which children were brought up I decided this would be an interesting aspect to think about for this character. I wanted to reinforce the fact that because of the non-existent internet, it would e much easier for this character to shut out the bad things that are going on, allowing him to carry on being a kid.

In what context would this character be seen?

The target audience for Toby would be children aged around 6-9. Toby would be the main character of a children's animated series based around the life of an evacuee. I decided that this would be an interesting storyline to go with, because it would be aimed at youngsters but wouldn't incorporate any of the modern day gadgets we have today. I would hope that this would be the kind of series that would remind kids to go out, get messy and play.  

Primary Research - Paul Wells

During my visit to Manchester Animation Festival, I managed to have some really useful discussions with people, as well as seeing a variation of both 2D and 3D animated shorts. One of the most memorable things I took away from this visit was the discussion I had with Paul Wells. After explaining to him what the topic of my dissertation was on, he offered a lot of advice.

During this conversation, we discussed two key areas. The first of which, the use of non-human characters, because this is something I will be mentioning in my dissertation. Wells said that one of the key reasons that the use of animals instead of humans works so well, is because children often see their pets as their "best friend" and this really had an impact on my writing, because the relationship between children and animals wasn't something that had crossed my mind. This fit in really well with my section on Disney and Pixar's frequent use of non human characters.

We also discussed some of the benefits of the use of both 2D and 3D character animation. This was really insightful because I was able to hear the view point from one of the authors who's books I had become very familiar with during the research process. I took away some really useful notes from this discussion and it gave me more to consider when writing.

Primary Research - The Brothers McLeod

As part of my research for this project, I attended ASSF in York, and this proved to be really helpful. I attended the Brothers McLeod seminar on Animation Aesthetics, and afterwards I had the opportunity to meet with them and have a good long chat about the use of 2D and 3D character animation.  I felt this was interesting because The Brothers McLeod produce 2D animation, and after the seminar, their passion for it became even more apparent, so it was great to hear their point of view on the topic!

I had originally planned with them before hand to go for coffee,  however something came up for them, so we ended up chatting just outside of the seminar room where it was quite noisy. This wasn't an issue at all as we were still able to have a good chat, however the only down fall was that i was unable to record the conversation, however I did take a of notes!

Outcome

When I asked them why, in their opinion that 3D animation has become so popular and more "mainstream" than 2D, Greg gave the argument that it could be to do with commercialisation, and that it is easier to make toys out of 3D characters. We also went onto the topic of Nostalgia, and how that can have an effect on people's preferences of animation. They did mention that they are kids of the 80's, so they obviously grew up watching 2D animation. This lead onto the topic of the audience's age, this is when Greg mentioned that he has kids who love both watching 2D and 3D animation.

The outcome of this discussion was really interesting, because despite Greg's love for drawing and creating 2D animation, they did argue that it is down to the individual. This was actually a really refreshing conversation to have, because I came away feeling more enlightened and even though I didn't have a recorded discussion, I still felt I could use this as part of my research.

Rigging and Binding

After the set back I had with the UV mapping, I began to worry about keeping to schedule. I have rigged characters before, however I was feeling very aware that it would take me a while to do. I have experience with it, but I will admit I am quite slow. After looking back over my work plan, and after being offered help from another student who is very experienced and much faster at working in Maya, I decided that accepting this offer would avoid the rigging process from dragging out for longer than necessary and would help to keep me on track, especially since I had yet to animate all tests both in 2D and 3D.

Did This Help?

Agreeing to take this help turned out to be a very good decision, as it meant these characters were able to be animated within a few days, where as if I had done it, it would have ended up taking at least a week.  The controllers were the same as the controllers I have made for previous characters, so it was good to have this familiarity. 

This change in events was a useful reminder that sometimes there are issues that come up that can't really be anticipated. However this has created another really useful aspect that I can discuss in my dissertation when I am on the topic of my practical and the limitations and problems I have encountered in one medium that I wouldn't necessarily have encountered in another. 

UV Mapping - My minor set back..

When it came to the UV mapping stage of these characters, I had imagined that it wouldn't take too long, given that my previous experience with it had been smooth. However, with the character of Toby, after separating all of the parts and cutting down the middle so that he could be unfolded, for some reason it wouldn't work! I then realised this was apparent with my second character too. 

After getting help from my tutor, even he was confused at first by what had gone wrong. It turns out, on both characters I had some how managed to acquire faces of zero value. I was able to get help on how to correct this, but both myself and my tutor were baffled as to how it came about in the first place. 

Fixing It

This was fixable, however it did take time. The faces that were of zero value could be highlighted and then needed to be deleted, and then re-applied using the muti-cut tool. The fact that these faces were in different places all over the characters' body, meant that it was quite long process. 

This did set me back, however it did make me feel some what better to know that this wasn't a problem that could have been easily identified. After this was fixed, luckily the UV mapping did then work!

Mirroring

I was very apprehensive about mirroring these characters, because up until this point I had spent a week on modelling them, so I was hoping that everything would go smoothly with minimal set backs.

Fortunately, the mirroring process went well and other than having to make a few small tweaks in certain areas down the centre of the character, there were no issues. After this point, the only areas left that needed modelling was the hair on both characters, their noses and their mouths. I decided to leave these areas until after the mirroring process because I knew it would give me a clearer perception of how things would look. 

Developing The Faces

I began building the noses of the character out from the face, which proved to be much easier now that I could see the whole of the mesh and not just half. The nose on the first character was very small and quite rounded, so this was just a matter of extruding out a singular face and then adding in some extra edge loops.

I went ahead and did the same with the second character. However the nose on this character was designed to be much more angular and prominent. I went about this by extruding the three central faces of where the nose would be. It was then a matter of moving the verts to the appropriate places, and scaling down the edges to ensure it was straight.

 How Did This Go?

At this point I was left feeling very happy with my progress, especially knowing that the end of this process is no near. At this moment in time, the only areas left to model are the hair and the mouths of both characters.

After this development, I have started to feel much more confident in myself as a generalist practitioner. I have come to realise that the modelling process in 3D is something I really enjoy, and I value the skills I have been reminded of and gained so far, just as much as the skills required for 2D design.

Speeding Up

Time is Ticking
Through out this modelling process I began to feel disheartened, because as much as I was enjoying building these characters I forgot how long it can take. I have never been hugely fast at working in Maya, except for when it comes to the animation process itself. However after moving on further with building these characters, I was at the point of modelling the more intricate parts of their geometry.

The characters I had modelled previously, all had either flippers for hands, or only three fingers all together. So when it came to modelling the hands, I was prepared for this to be tricky. However this actually went surprisingly well. I needed to make sure there was enough geometry lines added to the hand itself to allow me to extrude out all five fingers, whilst keeping gaps for the space between them.

The hands on this first character were designed to be small, so this in a way made it slightly harder.

 When it came to modelling the hands on my second character, it was a quicker process. The ends of the fingers are more more squared off on this design, and the hands as a whole are much larger. The incorporation of nails on this design was necessary however I decided not to include them on the character of the young boy, because his hands are very small anyway.  







When it came to modelling the clothing, this was a very different process for each character. For the character of the young boy, his clothing needed to look loose and slightly too big for him. So the best way to go about this was to model the body mesh first.

Each part of the clothing was it's own separate mesh. I had to ensure there were the appropriate edge loops around the edges of the shorts or the sleeves, to prevent them from looking paper thin, and to give them some depth.

Rotating the Arm

Something I took away from last year's Maya module, was the importance of adding a twist in the lower arm, in order to allow it to move realistically. Therefore this was something I added to the geometry of both characters. I took the lower 4 edges of the arm and selected them all. The rotation setting was set to 22.50 which then allowed me to do down each edge and rotate them the appropriate amount.





How Did This Go?

As this stage of the modelling progressed, I began to feel more and more confident with the work I was producing. I did encounter a problem after creating the clothing mesh for the boy. I combined all of the different clothing parts together, thinking this was the right thing to do. However, this actually resulted in the software running very, very slow. Thankfully I had saved my work at each stage, so I was able to go back to the point where these components were un-merged. This resulted in everything running much quicker. Instead I just made sure that all of the components were grouped together, rather than actually being merged. This was a useful mistake to make because It made me realise there is no point in merging things unless it is necessary. Otherwise it could result in the programme running slower and therefore slowing down my work process.

Progress With Modelling

After making progress with my first character, I decided to get cracking on my second. I thought it best to keep both models at the same level, instead of completing one and then going on to the next. This is because, I figured it was good practice, but also I knew I would get quite restless and bored just working on the same model.

Getting started on the modelling for this second character was much easier, because her clothing is not as loose as the clothing on the boy. This meant I was able to create the body mesh without having to worry about then modelling the clothing on top. I knew I would be able to simply create the thicker edges around the neck and the wrists to create the jumper, and the same for the jeans and shoes. 

What Problems Did I Encounter?

Through out the early stages of modelling I was fortunate enough to get through it quite smoothly. At this point, the only issue came across was the fact that Maya itself was running quite slowly, however I realised this may have been down to the actual computer I was using, so once I moved onto another, everything was fine. 

The physical build of this character is very different to the other, so this was something I had to get used to. I kept flipping between all of the different perspectives in Maya as a way of making sure I was staying on track in relation to the reference imagery. 

Key Text - Ten Most Cultural Trends of The Last Descade

After realising the importance of acknowledging the deeper aspects that will influence the design of my characters, inside and out, I decided to carry out some research into some of the most significant cultural changes that have gradually been evolving in recent years. The reason for this is because, the term "Culture" is something I have often steered away from. Not because I have a lack of interest in it, but because I have often been quite lost when trying to establish what the term "culture" refers to. However, after coming across an online article "Ten Most Significant Cultural Trends of The Last Decade" by Andy Crouch, I feel my general knowledge on the topic has become more enhanced. 

(Crouch, A. (2016) ‘Ten most significant cultural trends of the last decade’, Available at: http://qideas.org/articles/ten-most-significant-cultural-trends-of-the-last-decade/ )

This article covers areas such as:

• Changes and growth in the area of technology and communication 
• Growth in travel and transport
• Popularity for urban life; such as big cities 
• The end of the majority - this refers to specifically the area of ethnicity and religion
• The self shot - the growing urge to refine and adapt our physical appearance due to the growing standards of society
• Informality - the casual appearance, even in the working world is becoming more and more acceptable. 
• The fact that money, has become more and more of a common goal. The pricing of basic things such as housing and food, have fluctuated massively. 

Reading this article was so useful for me, because it actually made me realise how broad the term "culture" is, and how other aspects I have been considering such as religion and ethnicity also fall under it. 

How has this influenced my practical? 

For my two characters, I have decided to have two very differing back stories. This is not just to assist me in creating two completely different characters in themselves, it is also about the audience. I feel it could be quite effective to have a modern day female character who is from a background that is causing her to be on the receiving end of a lot of abuse, both verbally and over the internet, despite the fact that she is a good, hardworking person.

For the second character I have decided to go for something the total opposite. A young boy, who is living during the second world war, and has been evacuated to the country side, who has a love for animals and exploring, and has a strong desire to become a doctor. 

I plan to write up more detailed back stories for these characters when the design work is more thorough, however at this point I feel it is good for them to differ in the way they do because it is not just about the differentiation in their appearances, but also the deeper aspects of their lives and how their living in different time zones has an impact on this. 

Group Tutorials - Practical Progress

During our first group tutorials we were asked to discuss the progress made so far in terms of the practical side of the module. I felt quite confident about this because I had spent two days prior to this focusing on my design work. By this point I had begun to develop ideas in regards to not only the physical and emotional design of the characters, but also their backstory.

Since I had decided to develop two of the design I had produced over the summer, I already had something to build up from. I continued on by simply sketching and experimenting with face and body shapes. Since I now knew that I would also need to consider aspects such as culture, ethnicity and religion, I felt it was important to consider this when sketching.

The two characters currently being designed are not supposed to be compatible with one another, since they would be from completely separate stories, the only thing that they would need to have in common, is that they are both animateable in both 2D & 3D.

At this point, I was able
My research so far, has really helped me thunk deeper about the design of these characters, not just their appeal, but the importance of simplicity. I have toned down on the design and simplified the clothing of these characters because I need to be realistic with my time, and I believe that if they are well animated and are able to perform well, it will be perfectly acceptable for them to have quite simple clothing. Especially after reading "Producing Animation" by Catherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi, it was brought to my attention, the importance of not making things complicated if it will not offer anything extra for the production of the animation, and aspects such as time and money must always be considered, before going ahead with complex designs.

Also, I am not massively experienced in the area of 3D modelling, so I need to avoid giving myself an un-realistic amount to model, because I still need to be able to animate these characters.

Tutorial Outcome

After this tutorial I felt really positive about the work I had produced so far, because not only did I get to discuss the practical developments made, but also the developments in gathering primary research by contacting practitioners. My tutor seemed pretty pleased with the contacts I had made so far, and actually asked what my methods were in terms of getting people to get back in touch with me. Something I have realised since starting to contact practitioners and studios is, they may not always reply, and that is okay, also I find it much less stressful to draft my emails to day before so I can simply do one last proof read and then click send the next morning.

Time to begin Modelling!

After design work for my two characters was well underway, I decided that beginning to model as soon as possible would be a good idea. As long as I had the reference imagery to go off, then I was able to persevere with it. At this point, I had not yet completed all concept work, however I felt I had enough to begin the modelling process and decided it was good practice to crack on with it, because I didn't this process to take longer than needed, because I will still need to animate them in 2D & 3D, as well as doing the same with a third character.

I began by using two of the drawings from my sketchbook as reference, which would then allow me to draw the front and side on drawings needed for me to import into Maya. At this point I didn't worry about making them coloured, I just needed to line work so I had something to work with. 

I decided to leave a holes on the side drawings where the arms would be, because I felt that in Maya I could have a better view of the arm contraction through the front and perspective view. I began with "Toby" who is the character of a young boy. 

I had to get used to the fact, that unlike the character in Matt's tutorials, there were no geometry lines on this character. However this wasn't a problem as I was able to easily figure out with reference to the imagery what would work and what wouldn't.  

This time, I was very aware that the physical build of this character is much skinnier and smaller than the characters I have previously modelled. His head size is also large in relation to his body. I wanted his body to look skinny and for his clothes to look slightly too big for him, to reinforce the fact that he is only a child.





How Did I Find It?

I found the first section of the modelling process to be quite therapeutic, however I had to keep reminding myself that the proportions of this character are not supposed to be anatomically correct. I found myself flicking between the front, side and perspective view second guessing my design, however I decided to just keep going with it, because at this point, it was just a half a body mesh without hair or clothing.

However, after making myself get back into the swing of Maya previously, I feel I got off to a good start!

Getting Used To The Software - Maya

As part of my preparation for my practical side of the work, I knew from the beginning that I would need to put some time aside to re-familiarise myself with Maya. I had previously become quite comfortable with using Maya after our second year Character and Narrative module. Since then, Maya has changed slightly, so I thought it best to spend some time getting back into the swing of it, in order to make my practical work go as smoothly as possible.

I decided the best way to become more familiar with the new Maya 2017 was to use the tutorial's provided the year before, by my tutor Matt. Although these were created in the old version of Maya they proved to be extremely useful. I began following his step by step tutorials again of building a character.

Through out the process of following these tutorials again, I found myself quickly remembering the key tools and techniques required for creating and modelling characters in Maya.  Although this character was not the same as the designs I had created, it was still extremely useful, as I came away after spending just an hour on it and I felt much more capable and confident to begin using Maya again.

What did I gain from this?

One of the most useful things I took away with me after sitting to re-familiarise myself with the software, was the fact that certain parts of the anatomy that I couldn't remember how to build, such as the shoulder and the neck.

After playing about for a while, I felt much more familiar with the tools and the terminology. For example, I quickly felt confident again when it came to manipulating the vertices, faces and edges. This is something that I hadn't fully remembered since this time last year.

Influence from the research.

Over the course of this module so far, I have gathered a substantial amount of research, all of which supports many different arguments. At the early stages of researching, I found myself having the assumption that most of my research would support, primary and secondary, would suggest that 2D is now being outgrown by more modernised 3D animation. However after carrying out some primary research and getting into contact with practitioners, I found myself becoming more enlightened, and realising that this is not necessarily the case.

After getting into contact with Emma Reynolds, who works for Kilogramme Animation Studio, but who is also a freelance Illustrator and Animation art-worker, I was able to hear her view point on the topic, which actually turned out to be really different to what I had anticipated:

Firstly, this feedback from Emma does support some of the arguments I will be wanting to discuss in my dissertation, such as the fact that "appeal" relies on many aspects, not just visual, as well as the fact that 3D animation has definitely become a lot more mainstream. However the significant part of this feedback that really made my perspective on the topic change:

"- If we're talking about television series though, not just feature films - 2D animation is having a massive boom. With the tax break in the UK allowing companies such as Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick to start up again, and Mackinnon and Saunders Digital among others, it's a great time to graduate as a 2D animator with many more jobs available than say 7 years ago.

Adventure Time, Stephen Universe, Regular Show, Rick and Morty - All 2D and immensely popular. And then there's 2D series that have been going on for a lot longer and remain popular such as Futurama and South Park."

This statement from Emma, really made me realise that when it comes to the area of TV series, 2D animation is still hugely popular. Also, the reasonings she has given for why she believes 2D is still so poplar were not vague, she also referred to the financial aspects that have changed in the UK, which have allowed specific studios who work in 2D to thrive. This was particularly interesting and useful research for me, because up until this point, I feel I was slightly unaware of how popular 2D animation is in this area, despite being familiar with all of the shows she mentioned! 

This has completely opened my mind, because up until now I think I was slightly blinded by the fact that all I was seeing in cinemas was 3D animation, as well as old well known 2D characters being brought back in the form of 3D. After gaining this feedback from Emma, my perspective on this topic has become much more broad, and I feel it has opened up new doorways for research. It has also reminded me of the importance of keeping my research open and non-biased. 

Triangulation of Research

For my dissertation I am addressing the question of "How does the use of 2D & 3D animation, impact the audience's ability to connect with a character?" I have chosen this because, as somebody who's area of focus is character design, I feel it would be a very interesting area to look into, especially with the rapid growth of 3D animation. I want to see how this growth has impacted the way audiences today perceive a character, and the extent to which the medium drives their perception. In order to determine this, other areas will need to be addressed, such as appeal, performance, nostalgia, and even financial aspects. At this point, I do believe that the medium of animation has a huge impact on the way a character's performance is put forward and the use of both 2D & 3D can have it's pros and cons.

Their has been much evidence so far that supports the view that the physical design of a character is not always the most important aspect that needs to be considered when it comes to making them relatable and believable. In Chris Webster's "Animation: The Mechanics of Motion" It is stated that "It's the fact that the characters demonstrate the kind of traits we recognise in ourselves and in others that brings them to life" (Webster,C. 2005) This suggests that to an extent the medium in which a character is animated, and their physical design can only go so far when it comes to making them believable to an audience. Webster supports this again by stating "How well they are drawn, or how well crafted the modelling is does not make them real to us." Again this brings us back to the argument that the well thought out physicality of character is pointless without the internal side. "Ideas for The Animated Short - Finding & Building Stories" Holds a similar argument, the argument that it is not about that character's physical performance, but more about the fact that the "..character has the ability to move an audience emotionally through the events of the story." (Sullivan, K Alexander, K Mintz A, Besen, E 2013) This again re-iterates the importance of a character's psychological design, above the physical. There are also other reasons as to why the personality of a character is of the up most importance, for example, the possible limitations when it comes the creating the visual design. This is referred to in "Producing Animation" By Catherine Winder & Zahra Dowlatabadi where it states that if a character "..wears a costume that has intricate details such as lace and buttons, every scene in which they appear will require a lot of pencil mileage, or line work, in 2D projects, and additional development and render time in 3D projects." (Winder, C & Dowlatabadi, Z 2001) This reminds us that, other aspects that are out of the designers control, such as financial aspects as well as technical and time limitations can have an impact on the final visual aesthetic of a character, therefore re-enforcing the importance of the deeper attributes a character holds mentally, which therefore does not just depend on the designers, but also the writers. 

Time Management and Project Planning

In terms of time management, I have realised over the past couple of years that the best way for me to plan my day to day work is to use post-it notes. As somebody who prefers to visually see and establish what my goals are for the day, I find it much easer to make a to do list the night before, stick it in my notebook, and thenI can rip it out when done. (Also, it saves me A LOT of space in my book)
I don't know why I like to work in this way, I just do.

I have also noticed as this module has progressed, doing this allows me to keep note of things such as books, points to research which I can have at the front of my notebook for reference.

A few people have wondered how I manage to work this way, to be honest it works for me, because it's a great visual way of keeping track of things and then being able to discard of them.





I have also dedicated part of my bedroom to the COP timetable that was provided for us, as well as creating my own weekly plan to ensure I stay on track with all areas of the course.

This was once again, really useful for me because I am now able to see exactly how much time each week I should be using for each module. This really helped me to put everything into perspective.










Project Planning 

At this stage, I have done quite a lot of research, both primary and secondary. Although this is still no where near finished, I have become setting time aside for my practical. This is also because, I need to be able to write about the feedback received for the practical, as well as using this to assist my design process for creating a final character. I also need to consider setting enough time aside for actually creating the test animations, as well as rendering time.

At this point I have decided to be well underway with design work this week (the week commencing the 17th October) and to be ready to begin test animations by around the 31st. However, since my research is going to have an impact on my practical side, I am currently keeping an open mind to the possibility that the design work may take an unexpected turn and therefore take longer. Therefore we shall have to wait and see how my development work goes and where my research will take me this week!

Connecting the Reserach and the Practical

Since my recent tutorial, I have become increasingly aware of how important it is for me to constantly allow my research to influence my design work, and to not finalise my designs too soon. Since producing rough concept work over the summer I have since realised that, the characters I design will need not only a strong design, but also a back story in order to aid the audience's ability to find them appealing and to empathise with them.

Through out my research so far, I have definitely gathered information which has had a huge influence on my practical. Whilst reading, there has been constant stress on the design of a character not just being about it's visual aspect, but also the way it performs and what it holds on the inside. This was repeatedly brought to my attention whilst reading "Animation, The Mechanics of Motion" by Chris Webster: "It's the fact that the characters demonstrate the kind of traits we recognise in ourselves and in others that brings then to life." This was something that reiterated to me the importance of performance and movement, and not just the visual design.  

Also, it has become more apparent to me through out the research process that there is no need to create characters that are overly complex, because they need to be transferable between 2D and 3D.

For example, Steve Robert's "Character Animation - 2D Skills for better 3D" refers to the modelling of 3D characters; "..if it's very complexity makes it awkward to animate it completely defeats the object of the exercise" He also later refers to the importance of "..good strong silhouettes.."   

This is definitely something I have been trying to constantly think about whilst producing design work, and it is a constant reminder that simplicity is sometimes better. 

The research I have carried out so far, has encouraged me to go back and reconsider the designs I began producing before the module began, because I now feel I have a better outlook and understanding on my chosen topic. 

Lecture 2 - Methodology and Critical Analysis

This lecture focused mainly in what a methodology is, in order to encourage us to not be afraid to actually use the term in our writing. It was mentioned that every research project needs to have a methodology, and that every project will always have one automatically, even if it isn't well thought out or easy to establish. Although "Methodology" is a scientific word, it's actually straight forward:

• It is a systematic and organised way of addressing a research project 
• It is unique to each research project 

Richard also highlighted the importance of "Explaining and defending the ways in which you have gathered research " because otherwise, how do we know it is valid? 

The "methodology" of our projects must always be established at the start of our dissertations. The importance of "Critical Thinking" was also emphasised. Again, this is actually a very simple thing, it simply means, separating the best from the worst and the appropriate from the inappropriate. This is something that will help me to carry out my research well and to ensure that the information I am providing is relevant. 

We were also encouraged to thin about "Skepticism" which is a term used to describe, stepping backwards and allowing the research and logic to bring you to your conclusion. Also, the use of triangulation will result in more effective, useful research, and will prevent the outcome from seeming biased or ill informed. 

This was a really useful lecture, because it reminded me to constantly be looking for contradictory sources and to make sure my research is not one sided. 

Lecture 1 - Organising Your Research Project

This Lecture was definitely extremely useful, especially since I went into it feeling pretty unsure of how to structure a dissertation! To begin with, Richard suggested two books that could be very useful when trying together together research:

"Critical Thinking Skills" by Stella Cottrell
"Doing Your Research Project" by Judith Bell

Richard highlighted the main points of information about this dissertation, including how long it needs to be, how to structure it and when the deadline is. He did stress that we should have a SUBSTANTIAL DRAFT SUBMITTED BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 


In terms of planning:

• Write down all possible questions to investigate, and then focus on two sub-questions (Focus on Primary and secondary research)
• Pin down a working title
• The key terminology must be used in the working title!

This talk made everything seem less scary, for example Richard suggested we do simple things such as write down our question and stick ut on our wall where we will often to see it, that way the question will become engrained in our minds and means we would be less likely to go off on a tangent. 

Also, we discussed the importance of finding contradictory sources, and a good example of doing this would be to have a look at some online journals. We were also encouraged to think about qualitative and quantitive research, as well as making sure we consider ethics and getting approval from people, to avoid upsetting anybody! 

We were shown the layout that we should try and stick to in order to include the appropriate information:

Intro - approx 1000 words

Main Body - Context and themes

Main body - Case Studies of Practise 

Conclusion - Approx 1000 words

Seeing it approached in this way really made it clearer in my mind, instead if thinking about the amount of writing required, I was able to see the separate sections of the writing that will be required, and this made it all seem more manageable to me.  

What now?

After gaining a clearer view on my area of focus, I have begun to delve into the books, as well as thinking about possible animations that can be analysed as part of my writing. I also need to think about those cultural changes in western characters over the years, and after speaking to my tutor I feel that maybe a good one to look at could be Tom & Jerry.

Primary Research Points to Consider:

• Find out who will be at MAF and contact them ahead of time
• Do an analysis on a character that has recently become 3D from 2D (possibilities include, Paddington Bear, Mr Peabody & Sherman, Winnie the Pooh)
• Discuss some of my favourite animated characters and discuss and provide evidence why.

Secondary Research Points:

• Why do characters get changed to 3D? (it may not always be the designer's or animator's choice)
• Limitations when animating in both 2D & 3D (such as the 12 principles)
• How do you take a 2D design into 3D? 
• How can the design of a character change due to the times we are in/ culture/ politics etc. 

For my research, I have so far carried out a lot of reading and been taking down numerous quotes. I plan to continue to do this as well as using other forms of gathering research such as talks, interviews, animations and websites, as well as the feedback given to me through my practical. 

Reaching Out to People

I knew I needed to get into contact with people to hear their viewpoints on my chosen topic, and to see what they had to say on the matter of 2D  and 3D, and how it effects the appeal and therefore the audience's connection with the character. After trying to word a number of emails that weren't so long that they would bore the recipient to death! I then sent them out hopefully and awaited the replies.


Jon Turner & Emma Reynolds

 I emails Jon Turner, from Kilogramme who I had actually met a few months back on a studio visit, as well as Emma Reynolds, a freelance animation art worker and Illustrator who also works with Kilogramme. They both got back to me very quickly and provided a lot of useful feedback, all of which I know will be very useful to use as primary research.

It was actually really interesting being able to gather different viewpoints from people who work in the industry, especially since Kilogramme works with both 2D and 3D animation. Also, some of the feedback I received was new to me, so not only was this useful to take on as evidence of primary research, but it also just helped to fuel my own knowledge of the topic even more!

The Brothers McLeod 

After purchasing my ticket for their talk on Character Aesthetics in York, and researching their work and realising how cool the stuff they produce is, I got overly excited and actually decided to email them ahead of seeing them, to ask if they would be up for grabbing a coffee after their talk. I did this because I would love to also get some feedback from them on the topic I'm researching. Not only will I be able to gather some really useful information during their talk, but I will hopefully get the chance to ask them some direct questions later on, as well as getting some feedback on my design work so far!

Luckily Greg got back to me almost straight away and said they would always be up for grabbing a coffee, so as I'm sure you can imagine, I danced around for a number of seconds.

I'm really looking forward to Aesthetica, because I know I will be able to gather some really useful research and get feedback at the same time.

Fettle

I was aware that Fettle Animation Studio focuses on 2D, so I thought it would be interesting to hear their views on the matter. After sending a courtesy email to double check that they had the time to spare before bombarding them with all the information, they got back to me quickly and asked me to send them more information. So I'm still hopefully awaiting for them to get back to me again!

First Tutorial

After narrowing down my area of focus for my dissertation, this made things feel so much clearer in my head because there was a lot more focus, and I didn't feel like there was a risk of me going off on a tangent.

My first one to one tutorial with Annabeth was actually useful, and I left feeling really determined and ready to tackle this module. During the tutorial there were some key points covered which I know will really help me in terms of research, for my writing as well as my practical side.

I came out with a clearer idea of the necessary areas of research I need to undertake. The areas we discussed were:

• Look at Pictoplasma and try to find some of their talks online 
• Contact Brothers McLeod and attend their talk on Character Aesthetics in November 
• Look ahead to see who will be attending MAF so I know who to talk to 
• Research the cultural evolution of well known Western character's over the years, such as Tom & Jerry. 
• How much control do the character designers actually have over the medium of animation? 

In terms of the practical side, I also came away with a much clearer understanding of how to address it. Since I know what my practical side will be, I need to make sure that I animate the same action for the characters across both mediums, in order to make it a fair and valid comparison. Also it was stressed to me how important the intellectual side of the design work is, so it is important for me to think about what my characters will represent. 

• Designing three characters seems more appropriate - this means the final character can be influenced by the feedback received on the first two. 
• What do my characters's represent? - think about race/sexuality/political standing/gender/mentality
• It doesn't matter that my audience isn't clear at this point, this will be determined by the work and research carried out. 
• I need to allow my research to guide my design work - so I shouldn't assume something is finalised too early on.
• I must also keep some time aside to become comfortable with Maya again
• I have also decided that I need to keep developing my understanding of Animate CC
• DRAWING DRAWING DRAWING 

Time to get Cracking - Dissertation Research

Luckily at the end of second year I had managed to get myself into a position that allowed me to have quite a clear view on my practical side of my dissertation. My area of focus is based on (surprise surprise!) Character Design, and the way in which the use of 2D and 3D animation has an effect on the performance of a character.

As soon as we started back up, I got the opportunity to present my development so far to my piers. 

I began by showing the samples of concept sketches I had produced over the summer break. The concept work that has been produced so far is quite broad and random, purely because I decided at the time just to develop at least three characters that all looked different to one another. 

I began playing about with colour and decided to produce some turn-around sheets. This was useful because it enabled me to get in some practise, but also it meant that my character development work was already underway, and even though I know my title may change over the next few weeks, my practical side seems to be more set in stone. 

These examples of concept work are not necessarily final, they are simply developments I have made from doodles in my sketchbook, however I hope to pursue them further.

In terms of other research before before presenting, I had gathered information from a number of books, all of which proved to offer very useful information, weather it was in the form of quotes or just information that would be useful for me to know through out this module:

Books

• "Animation" by Andrew Selby 
• "Re-imagining Animation - The Changing Face of The Moving Image" by Paul Wells and Johnny Hardstaff
• "Ideas For the Animated Short - Finding and Building Stories" by Karen Sullivan, Kate Alexander, Aubry Mintz and Ellen Besen
• "Animation - From Pencils To Pixels, Classical Techniques For Digital Animators" by Tony White
• "Drawing For Animation" by Paul Wells

Animations

I had also put some thought into specific animations that would be worth analysing, such as the old and new version of "Paddington" as well as the modern day 3D Winnie The Pooh, in comparison to the original. 

Primary Research

Before this point, I knew I wanted to use the practical side as an opportunity to create both 2D and 3D concept art and animation tests for at least two or three characters, which could then be incorporated into a questionare. 

Feedback From My Presentation 

After presenting, although I felt slightly more worried about the whole thing than I was before, I knew exactly what I needed to do. The problem seemed to be that my areas of research were a bit too broad, and soon after beginning my presentation I realized how wishy-washy I sounded! I also realised that the actual wording of my title needed to be established. After presenting, and gaining a lot of helpful feedback from my tutor and other fellow animators, I knew what I needed to do:

What Now?

• Re-consider my area of focus (narrow it down)

I realised that before hand, I was gradually getting pulled towards the technology side, so much that it was pulling me away from the aesthetic and performance side of things. However, don't get me wrong, I will still be addressing the technological side, just not quite so in depth. I wanted to focus more so on how 2D and 3D animation, has an effect on how the audience can connect with a character. 

• Establish Sub questions 

The thing that was worrying me, was knowing exactly what to focus on in my writing, however after having a discussion with my tutor, we deiced that it would be a good idea to not have too many questions to cover, in order to stay on track. These two questions being "How does the Medium Effect the Character's Performance?" and "How does the Technique Effect The Character's Readability?" At this point, I felt happy because I knew that my idea for my practical side would still work well! After presenting, and having another conversation with my tutor, I felt ready to head back to the library and look for more relevant sources.