Woodhouse Lane Car Park

These are today's photos of Woodhouse Lane Car Park. They're purely for research (as I've never properly been in to the car park), and need an idea of what the place looks like. Unsurprisingly it looks like your typical concrete car park, but the light was beautiful today (although I will be producing my shots at night for the proper stop-motion animation).

I love multi-story car parks.

I was talking to a first year today, and we spoke about the nostalgic attachment we have to these places that are so often overlooked. Like stations, they are places for arrivals and departures, witnesses of family days out, and in the night they more often than not sleep alone. Of all places, the multi-story car park is one of the most human buildings I know. So it's very important that an urban icon like this should be the setting for my short "human" animation, as it's a witness of inner city life.

One of the problems I have encountered today though is that I' am legally required to take photos in this particular car park. This only became apparent once I had reached the second-to-top floor. On my way back to the security desk I was actually told that permission couldn't be supplied by themselves, and that the whole thing should be down on quietly.

I' am questioning now whether it will be a wise decision to try to produce my animation because of the possible legal risks (CCTV, taking photos of car interiors - which to clarify I certainly won't be doing). It's understandable why these places may require permission, but without being physically able to gain permission, I' am at this point unsure what to do.

In the meantime before wednesday, I' am going to research other car parks (both multi-story and ground level) that I can access and gain permission to photograph for a long period of time.

Example of the moving background...

This is just a short example of my background moving, edited

with a very small section of voiceover taken from a Youtube

video. There are a few small issues with this test. At the moment

the image shakes too much, although it could be argued this

gives a certain effect? The frames should also be brighter,

instead of showing a greyness to the paper.

My cyclist just needs to be drawn out in pen in its ten different

poses and then it'll be ready to shoot the whole thing.

My moving background...

I've produced a long landscape watercolour painting of various global

monuments merged together as a background for my current animation.

This background is to move in reverse as my cyclist (based on the 

circumnavigation world record) will remain in the middle of each,

positioned in a different cycling pose in every shot.

This effect (similiar to the Aardman short "Dot" featured in an earlier

post) will create the illusion of the cyclist moving forwards.

Next animation - brainstorm.

This is a fairly cryptic plan for my next animation. I'll try and put it through

a better explanation through words, as opposed to this drawing.

The idea is to produce a 2/3 minute long human stop-motion animation

that displays a message or evokes a certain message. 

The story is of a man returning to a car park to find he can't see his car

anywhere, as he silently questions where he parked it in the car park,

if it's been stolen, or whether or not he's in the right car park. The film will

be about the protagonist's struggle to find his car, leading him to the top

of the car park and a beautiful view of the Leeds skyline at night.

The tone I desire from this short film will be the coldness and abandoned

atmosphere of the car park, providing a setting for the confused man.

I chose the setting of the car park based on this cold feel, the heavy 

concrete and the potential for light to work really well in each frame.

Some scenes I've imagined are: 

1. A low level shot looking through the lit underpass where the

protagonist will be walking back up towards the camera and the car

park.

2. Wide and panning shots of the car park exterior as the main

character enters the multi-storey car park. 

3. Panning shots of passing traffic along the ring road opposite the 

car park.

4. Close up shots of the main protagonist turning away from the

camera, looking around his shoulder, being frantic and expressing this

facially.

5. A very short close up of the protagonist dangling/swinging his keys 

on one finger.

6. Various wide shots of the car park interior - featuring the main

character wandering around, looking obsessively for his car.

I'd really like to make the most out of the setting and maximise this

as what will essentially be an extra character. The multi-story car

park is an obvious icon of the modern world, so it seems fitting that

the short story's setting inhabits a character - that of urban grit e.t.c

7. A penultimate shot of the man and woman walking away towards

the exit on the roof of the car park.

8. A grand panning shot of the Leeds skyline at night.

Characters:

Man - arrives back to the car park. He's been for a few drinks

but we are not introduced to this past. He walks calmly and casually

back to his car, when he is faced with a scary realisation. His car isn't

there, or at least he can't see it anywhere. He's in disarray, confusion

and dread. He walks around much of the car park, up stairs and on to

various floors, searching the car park for his car. 

His keys dangle 

anxiously from his finger as her surrenders to the idea his car has been

stolen. He gives in and reaches the top floor of the car park. He reflects 

upon the reality of not getting home for the night, when he encounters

another character looking out in to the dark.

Woman - she's been staring out in to the distance for quite some time, 

although this is not apparent. She is not stood on a ledge, but away 

from the edge. We can establish she is not a danger to the Man 

or herself. 

They engage in a silent conversation of looks and glances after

quite some time of ignoring one another. They soon communicate

silently through glances and facial signals, before wandering off in to

the car park together.

People I've cast:

My friends Bobby and Lucy have both agreed to be the man and

woman in my short film/scene. Bobby being a closer friend of mine

seems a wise decision as he might be more patient and happier to

give up his time. Lucy has agreed to participate for the end pieces

described above.

Drawing Test

This is just a really rough test of using a continuous drawing as a

fluid animation. Of course this animation isn't terribly long or

introduces any sort of story, but it's just an example of using

simplicity.

I would love to at some point create a much longer animation

that illustrates a story using the simple line work I've demonst-

rated here. There is potential in this video to expand much

further, I just need to find the time soon to experiment much

more.

When Mark Beaumont cycled around the world.

I've chosen to base one of my short "test" animations on Mark Beaumont's story of cycling across the world. I've watched various interviews and programs about the story, so I feel I've gathered enough understanding about his world record to include it as the theme for this particular animation.

My process has begun with finding through Youtube a decent quality interview with Mark that sums up his experience and positive attitude to change. I've then downloaded the video and edited one section on Final Cut to use as a voiceover.

My technique for this animation involves a painted backdrop (which is almost finish - illustrating Mark's international journey) which will move backwards.

My cyclist (which is drawn in 10 different poses to imitate the cyclist's pedalling) will be in a stationary position at the centre of each frame as the painted background moves.

I' am on to the stage where my soundclip is edited, now I just need to draw each cycling pose out with pen, finish certain elements of the painted backdrop, and then the whole thing will be ready to animate.

I' am looking forward to the finished piece, although I think a test on this scale has been over-ambitious and wasted my time to a degree. If this animation could have been made in 4 days,  it would've allowed me to move on quicker, and also learn faster.

The downside of learning and testing animation is that it will be time-consuming, so from now I really need to prioritise with my time and plan how long I want to spend learning about each stop-motion technique.

Animated Yorkshire - Workshop

I' am attending a short workshop this sunday in Leeds to learn all about creating an animated character and working with an armature. I've had a little bit of experience of this in the past, but it'd be nice to refresh my memory about it, so it should contribute nicely to my Comm Tech work.

An email I've received has said that the characters made by participants will later be included in a short film for Bradford Animation Festival, which is nice as I plan to go to the festival (even though it's on after our deadline).

I want this module to be a continuation throughout the next two years, it isn't just an irrelevant area to dip my toe in to for a few weeks.