Development
What's my goal for this semester?
My approach to this semester's task will be a bit unique.
Usually, animators start their projects by recording acting references; however, I decided to challenge myself and complete my animation tasks using only my imagination and the knowledge I gained over the years at university and through personal practice.
Nevertheless, I would use references and tutorials only for things I have never done before (e.g., tail animation).
What am I aiming to achieve by this challenge?
Animation is a time-consuming process, and the ability to animate some elements without needing references would significantly speed up my workflow. Thus making me more productive and efficient in my profession.
Mechanics - 180° Turnaround
&
Emotion Performance
These two tasks were combined into one single animation, which Dan approved.
Why did I decide to do so?
I wasn't actually aiming for it at the start.
All I was focused on was creating a believable character reaction and expression, and making it more entertaining to watch from the viewer's point of view. However, later, my friends pointed out that the way my character moved was, in fact, a combination of two tasks. I asked for permission to proceed with this animation as it is, and I was granted it.
First of all, I need a character to work with.
I chose one of my favourite characters from the show "Helluva Boss" by Spindle Hors Studio - Blitzø!
My attempts to find a character sheet online for him were unfortunately unsuccessful. So I decided to do it myself, basing it on the show. Also, it was a good practice to draw a character before bringing him to life.
As soon as I collected all references for the character sheet, I began by drawing his expressions and different poses, so I could get a feel for the character and portray his personality through them.
When the expression sheet was done, I made a character sheet.
With every drawing, I became more and more comfortable drawing in the show's style.
This character sheet would be pretty handy in future, guiding me in animating a 180-degree turnaround.
And that wasn't an easy task to complete, primarily because of the horns.
I've made a storyboard and acted it out in front of the mirror to test whether it would even work.
As I was sure this suited the character's cheeky personality, I started to animate him.
Unfortunately, I've been so focused on animation itself that I forgot to record my beginning.
However, there are still many incomplete frames and leftovers that need to be polished.
I've managed to record some of the process of animating, and because of my workflow, it's still clearly visible how I made all the steps, from key poses to in-betweens to timing tweaks and polishing.
After some polishing, this is the final version! I might colour it one day, to make it look more presentable for showreel!
My Own Animation
For my last animation, I chose to make an interaction animation between two characters.
My choice of characters was (Ant)Tenna and Spamton from the video game "Deltarune" by Toby Fox.
Their design is much simpler, and I have more artistic freedom in how I want to portray them.
In my previous animation, I tried to copy a show style; it was an unusual one for me to draw, and as an animator, I need to be able to adapt to different animation styles.
This time, I didn't make a character sheet simply because I was already familiar with these characters, so I felt much more comfortable working with them.
So I made a storyboard straight away!
However, I still draw a few practice sketches to make sure I remember how to draw them.
I draw a background, so characters could interact with their surroundings and began to slowly animate.
The best thing to animate here was Tenna's antanne! They came out so jiggly and wobbly!
It was a bit complicated at the start.
I couldn't manage the timing; it was always off and felt strange.
But slowly, I managed to figure out how to make them just like I imagined.
It's still not finished. This was too big a project to complete in this semester. Nevertheless, I'm planning to finish it in December.
Thank you for your attention!