Categories
MA 3D Computer Animation
Month: November 2021
There are many online novels in China that have high IP value. After selling their copyrights, they have been adapted into animated TV series, comic videos, etc. Some of them are well adapted, and some are not well adapted. I would like to conduct research in this area. Of course, the novel chosen as an adaptation is very good or very popular. And because of space issues, I do not intend to discuss failures caused by reasons such as poor acting skills of the actors and no logic in the plot change.
I listed a draft, listing the good works that have changed and the bad works that have been changed, and clearly stated why they are good and why they are not good. According to my investigation, I found that the biggest problem lies in the narrative structure.
The first is the poorly adapted works. Because online novels count money by word count, many authors like to write the novel very long, and like to add some dialogues and characters to extend the word count of the chapter. Especially masculine novels, with more than a million words at every turn. After the video is made, it will appear that nearly half of the content in an episode is a meaningless dialogue between the two characters, but between their dialogues will vaguely reflect the clues of the next plot. , So I can’t jump over to watch it, and there are still videos of the whole season until the protagonist hasn’t come out of Novice Village. And sometimes there are even cases where the protagonist does not appear in many consecutive episodes. These problems are all because of the narrative structure. There is also the fact that the plot itself is very complicated, but the adaptor does not have the ability to control the complex plot, or the key parts of the plot are deleted, so the plot is changed so that the audience cannot understand it. Of course, I ruled out the following reasons: because the heroine actor wants to appear quickly, the special effects are poor, the law does not conform to the laws and regulations, and the plot is completely different from the original.
The well-adapted works are not changed much on the basis of the original novel, especially some of the very exciting and important plots that have not been changed. In fact, for the audience, many times the requirements are not so high. As long as the special effects are good-looking, the modeling scenes are beautiful, the fighting is cool, and the plot is not too insulting to people’s IQ, the audience will easily accept it. I have singled out two examples here, the web animation “Douluo Continent” and “Sorrow in the Fire”. And both of these are 3D animations that match my major.
“Douluo Continent” is a typical Xiaobai essay, and the plot is very long. According to the data released by the “2020 China Internet Audiovisual Development Research Report”, the animation “Douro Land” has an average playback volume of 149 million per episode, and the album has a total playback volume of 12.5 billion, making it the first domestically produced animation with a playback volume of over 10 billion. It is currently the most profitable 3D animation in China. He has hardly any changes in the plot, and even the characters’ movements and expressions are somewhat rigid. It’s just that the special effects are beautiful, the modeling scene is beautiful, and the fighting is cool, which attracts most people to watch. Because of the development of motion capture technology and cheap and fast UE4 rendering technology nowadays, 3D animations can be broadcast quickly and at a low cost at the speed of one episode per week. So even if the original novel is very long, there are already hundreds of animation episodes, and the distribution is not that difficult for the audience to accept.
“Sorrow in the Fire” is a very complicated plot, with each link giving the audience a strong sense of suspense and surprise. Whether it is writing or adaptation, the requirements are very high. The editing technique used extensively in this animation is parallel editing, that is, the cross-editing of two or multiple events. Thereby causing synchronization on the timeline, or strengthening the potential connection between one’s own events. In addition, this animation brings the audience into the perspective of the protagonist Xuan Ji. Because Xuan Ji’s descriptions are quite detailed, both externally and psychologically. And many of Xuanji’s psychological descriptions often elicit and summarize the questions he and the audience have about the unknown world. Even if the audience does not understand it, Xuan Ji will summarize the plot for the audience.
After comprehensive consideration, I plan to use “Burning Fire to Sorrow” as the main cause of my article to study the narrative structure. Because the success of “Douluo Dalu” has nothing to do with the course I studied, but because the success of this animation is very interesting, I wrote another blog to study this phenomenon.
Here are my examples of good and bad adaptations, and why they changed for good and bad.
Sorrow in the Fire
Chekhov’s gun The foreshadowings made in the front will be useful in the back.
Alfred Hitchcock
Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, “Boom!” There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: “You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!”
In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.”
Winter Begonia—— television series
http://www.iqiyi.com/lib/m_220178214.html
The director was very good and changed the script by calling the original author in the past. The costumes and make-up props were very good when filming, because it involved Peking Opera, professional guidance was also invited. The actors also took serious shots.
Douluo Continent——3D Animation
https://v.qq.com/x/cover/m441e3rjq9kwpsc.html
There is almost no change to the plot, and one episode a week is broadcasted at a very fast speed. The main special effects are good-looking, and there is no big logic error in the plot.
Ever Night——television series
https://v.qq.com/x/cover/rpup19lfbuf2skc.html
This drama is well filmed and conforms to the original text. And the adaptation is also very good. First of all, there is a very complicated relationship between characters in the original work, which needs to be clarified. There are also some supporting role gags. In the article, these mainly account for the number of characters, because Chinese web texts are charged by characters, but in the process of interrogating and mixing, they will reveal some necessary information. This must be controlled when making a TV series. time. And this article is very long, so it is very likely that the protagonist will not have much time to play after an episode.
The Longest Day in Chang’an——television series
This compact story must happen within one day and must end within one day. In order to render the sense of tension, the timing of the play is represented by the projection of the sundial scale, and it is advanced according to these 12 hours, and these episodes are finished. It was also exactly 12 hours. And the content is very compact, and the historical background is also very restored.
not good
Can Ci Pin——3D Animation
People who have never read the original will not understand it.
Jade Dynasty——Film
Xianxia drama was made into a martial arts drama. The laughter is vulgar, and the characterization fails.
Character development
Weakness: Character Development Workshop
It is the second kind that often appears. Weaknesses that require the presence of others to become weaknesses.And it is possible to be hurt by this weakness.
Story development
- Then audience wants to work for their meal: 2+2
- Stories aren’t exact or predictable
- All well drawn characters have a dominant unconscious goal.Acknowledge what drives you take the wheel and steer it
- Change must happen in a story
- Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty
- An itch they can’t scratch
- Singular goal
- Truth that deepens understanding of who we are
- Make me care
- Make a promise in the beginning
- Stories have guidelines
- Like your main character
- Theme: “who are you?”
- Invoke a sense of wonder
Character and Story development in animation
Take 2 films you enjoy and break down the character development and story development throughout the film:
Analyze how the main characters evolve
Analyze how the characters drive the story
If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
The Lion King
Analyse how the main characters evolve: Naive and escaping become brave and strong
Analyze how the characters drive the story:
Simba was very naive at first. Until Scar sets a trap for his brother and nephew, luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge’s edge, Scar throws Mufasa back into the stampede and to his death.
Scar then convinces Simba that the tragedy was the latter’s own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom and never return. Simba and his two new friends, Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog , rescue Simba, who has collapsed in a desert grew up in their oasis and lived a carefree life.
A grown-up Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him that the Pride Lands have become a drought-stricken wasteland under Scar’s reign. Still feeling guilty over Mufasa’s death, Simba refuses and storms off. He encounters Rafiki, who tells him that Mufasa’s spirit lives on in Simba. Simba is visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him that he must take his rightful place as king. Realizing that he can no longer run from his past, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands.
Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa’s death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba forces him to tell the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fight the hyenas while Scar, attempting t o escape, is cornered by Simba at a ledge near the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame his crimes on the hyenas; Simba spares his life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever, but throws him off after Scar attacks him again. The hyenas, who have overheard Scar’s intention of betraying them, angrily maul him to death. Simba reclaims leadership and Nala becomes his queen.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Analyze how the main characters evolve: Being smart and rebellious becomes accepting the responsibility of a new life
Analyze how the characters drive the story:
New York City teenager Miles Morales struggles to live up to the expectations of his father, police officer Jefferson Davis, who sees Spider-Man as a menace. Miles adjusts to prep school, and visits his uncle Aaron, who takes him to an abandoned subway station to paint graffiti. Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains spider-like abilities similar to Spider-Man.
Returning to the station, Miles discovers a collider built by Kingpin, who hopes to access parallel universes to bring back his late wife and son, whose deaths he blames on Spider-Man. Miles watches as Spider-Man attempts to disable the collider while fighting Kingpin’s enforcers, Green Goblin and Prowler. Spider-Man saves Miles, but Green Goblin shoves Spider-Man into the collider, causing an explosion that kills him and severely wounds Spider-Man. Spider-Man gives Miles a USB flash drive designed to disable the collider, warning that the machine could destroy the city if reactivated. After watching in horror as Kingpin murders Spider-Man, Miles flees with Prowler in pursuit, eventually getting away.
As the city mourns Spider-Man’s death, Miles tries to honor his legacy and become the new Spider-Man. While trying out his newfound abilities, he inadvertently damages the drive. At Spider-Man’s grave, Miles meets Peter B. Parker, an older and worn-down version of Spider-Man from another dimension. Upon meeting him, Miles discovers his ability to emit a bio-electric “venom” blast. Peter reluctantly agrees to train Miles in exchange for help stealing data to create a new drive. They infiltrate Kingpin’s research facility, and Miles discovers he has the power to turn invisible. They are confronted by scientist Olivia Octavius, who determines that Peter will die from cellular decay if he remains in their dimension.
Chased through the laboratory and surrounding forest by Octavius, Miles and Peter are rescued by Gwen Stacy, a Spider-Woman from another dimension. They then visit Peter’s aunt, May Parker, who is sheltering more Spider-people from other dimensions – Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham – who are also deteriorating. Miles offers to disable the collider so the others can return home, but after questioning and testing him, they tell him that he lacks experience. Distraught, Miles retreats to Aaron’s home, where he discovers Aaron is Prowler. Miles returns to May’s house, where Peni has completed the new drive; he is followed by Kingpin, Prowler, Octavius, Scorpion, and Tombstone. In the ensuing brawl, Miles reveals his identity to Aaron just as Aaron corners him. Unwilling to kill his own nephew, Aaron spares Miles, only to be fatally shot by Kingpin. Miles flees with Aaron, who tells him to keep going before dying. Jefferson arrives on the scene and Miles escapes, leading Jefferson to mistake Miles as Aaron’s murderer.
The heroes regroup at Miles’ dorm room. Peter restrains Miles to ensure his safety and leaves with the others, choosing to sacrifice himself by staying behind and deactivating the collider. Jefferson arrives outside Miles’ door and, assuming Miles does not want to speak to him, apologizes for his mistakes and inspires Miles. Miles masters his powers, escapes his restraints, and creates his own Spider-Man gear. He joins the heroes, defeating Kingpin’s enforcers and using the new drive to send them home. Kingpin fights Miles, attracting the attention of Jefferson, who realizes that Miles is on his side. Jefferson encourages Miles, who subdues Kingpin with his venom blast and throws him at the kill switch, destroying the collider.
Kingpin and his enforcers are arrested and Jefferson recognizes the new Spider-Man as a hero while receiving evidence of Kingpin’s murders of Spider-Man and Aaron. Miles embraces the responsibilities of his new life, while the heroes return to their lives in their own dimensions.
If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
- The hero in the story must have a special “ability”, or he is going to complete a great mission, or do good deeds and deeds.
- The hero must have an enemy equal to or even stronger than him. This person is not a “vote”, but he thinks he is.
- The hero must be “cursed” — this is the price he paid to become a hero. The hero defeated the curse, or was defeated by the curse.
Categories
body mechanics
Challenge 7: Record/find reference footage
Research path: Reference footage for animation and body mechanics
Bony Weightlifting Reference Footage & Rig: Download
This challenge is about preparation. Not just preparation for animation but also preparation for the weeks ahead. Over the next few weeks, we will be animating more complex body mechanics and performance-based animation using biped (human) characters. The more we can prepare for that now, hopefully, the more successful those animations will become. This is going to start be gathering (and analysing) good video reference footage. There are two basic (obvious) types of reference footage…
1) Found: In simple terms. this is footage gathered from the internet for example. Something that you haven’t personally participated in. There are positives and negatives to this approach:
- Cons: The footage may not be useful due to low resolution, bad shooting angle, or it may be sped up/slowed down. It may not be exactly what you need or feature more content (time) than is useful. A common problem is take footage from the internet and mismatching frame rates between the footage and Maya (3D)
- Pros: It may feature something you or someone else can’t do – A skill like sword fighting or acrobatics or maybe a specific kind of performance by an actor you can’t work with. The footage is more readily available and involves no shooting setup.
2) Personal: This is footage you record yourself of either yourself or another person/thing. There are positives and negatives to this approach:
- Cons: Skill level. If you are recording yourself acting, then you need to have the acting (pantomime) skills to match the requirements of the task. Not using the right tools can also be a problem, such as not holding an object with the right weight or pretending to do something without actually doing it – E.g. pretending to hit vs actually hitting. Finding a place to record, equipment, and help can also be an issue on occasion.
- Pros: You have full directorial control over what you are recording. The content will also be bespoke/unique to your process/goals. You can produce multiple takes of a recording and either use the best or ‘stitch together’ the recording to suit your needs.
FOOTAGE FOR THE WEEKS AHEAD:
Body Mechanics: Find or record your own footage – This challenge is to create a body mechanics animation. This could be something like a person picking up a heavy box, a golf swing, kicking a ball, standing up/sitting down or a stylised walk cycle. In simple terms, an everyday activity that is ‘short’ and involves how the body mechanically works with weight, balance, gravity, and the 12 principles. The goal is not to create a long (joined) sequence – running and jumping or doing a series of activities for example.
Advanced Body Mechanics: Find or record your own footage – This challenge is an ‘upscale’ of the first body mechanics challenge and the goal here is join motions. For example, running and jumping or walking and then sitting. You should focus on movement, not performance (acting and pantomime)
Performance (and Pantomime): This is not something you should record now but is a subject/process that I would like you to research and consider. ‘Acting and performance’ is woven into the DNA of this animation challenge and the best way to approach that if you’re not an Actor is to consider your options. For this challenge we are going to use a short (one line) audio clip (from a movie) as a starting point for an ‘out of context’ performance animation. Out of context means that we leave the actor (who it is) and the movie it is taken from (what context it was in) behind and build the performance around a new character/staging idea. For a wealth of examples, visit the “11secondclub.com” (example below).
The Challenge
For body mechanics: Source or record reference footage for the ‘body mechanics’ and ‘advanced body mechanics’ challenges (see video examples). This footage will form the basis of your body mechanics animation challenges over the next couple of weeks.
For performance: What you can do now to prepare for this challenge is to find an audio clip – either online or be cutting from a film yourself. Make sure it is short enough to allow you to make an animation in the time we have – No 10-minute monologues! Again, watching the examples on 11secondclub.com illustrate an ‘achievable length’ of audio.
Note: For all of these challenges, please speak to me if you are unsure if your footage/audio is appropriate or not.
Categories
Locator Hopping Example
First create 4 locators, named world, can, red, blue.
Bind several of them to the object, first select the locator, and then select the object-controlled controller.
When adjusting the binding, 1 is the parent, and 0 is the release of the parent.
Categories
Walking in animation
Challenge 6 (Part 1): Walk Cycle Blocking
Research path: Walk cycles
Using the ball and legs rig, roughly block out a walk cycle ready for splining and clean up in the next class. You can create a five pose walk cycle (as seen in the video) that explores the basic mechanics of a walk or chose to explore a more personality based walk using video reference.
Ultimate Ball & Legs Rig: Download
OPTIONAL: Levelling up for students who have prior experience of animation/Maya:
For those students who have animation experience or have used Maya before, upscale your walks using rigs from the course ‘store’, a rig of your own (either yours or a downloaded rig). Push your animation beyond the basics also by exploring ‘walking’ and what ’emotional walking’ entails. For example, a very sad walk. You can also add a ‘narrative’ to the walk by creating a mini-story around it and by characterising your rig. For example, a confident hero’s walk before going into battle. If you choose this route, feedback/advice will be given during Friday’s class.
Course Store: Link (Don’t forget to download the scene files and texture files – in the assets and images folders)
Free Maya Rigs Website: Link
Resources: The Animators Survival Kit (Walking Section)
Challenge 6 Part 2: Walk Cycle Splining & Clean Up
Research path: Walk Cycles
Convert your roughed out walk cycle into clean splines using the graph editor. Focusing on fixing pose/graph editor issues and polishing your animation. Be careful not to soften and polish the personality out of your walk cycle whilst using the graph editor. Finally, convert your ‘on the spot’ walk into a ‘keyed’ walk forward.
Ball and Legs Rig: Download
OPTIONAL: Levelling up for students who have prior experience of animation/Maya:
For those students who have chosen this route, use the class to get feedback and to clean up your animation in the Graph Editor and to create a walk forwarded.__________________________________________________________________________________
Additional Topics (Last & This week):
Part 1: Intro to Grouping, Constraining, Parenting, Node Connecting, Set Driven Key, Direct Connection (Connection Editor) & Expressions (Coding Connections)
Part 2: Pivots, Freezing Transforms, Snapping
Part 3: Locator ‘Hopping’ – Object exchange / Set Parent / Visibility
Part 4: Squash & Stretch (Volume Preservation) set up
Part 5: Ghosting
Part 6: The Graph Editor – Tangents, Scaling & Snapping Keys, Weighted Tangents, Infinity & Cycle.
Part 7: Animation & Key frame techniques (Stepped, Freezing (double keys), & Spline)
Part 8: Auto Keying
Part 9: Rivet Constraint & Script
Part 10: Select All & Character Sets
3D animation exercises are done before.
story arc:
- exposition
- rising action
- climax
- falling action
- resolution
Stories as a circle
- you A character is in a zone of comfort
- need They want something
- go They enter an unfamiliar situation
- search Adapt to it
- find Get what they wanted
- take Pay a heavy price for it.
- return Then return to their familiar situation
- change Having changed
Character types
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
- Dynamic
- Static
- Round
- Flat
Hero types
- Hero
- Mentor
- Threshold Guardian
- herald
- Shapeshifter
- Shadow
- Trickster
- Allies(sidekicks)
story leading、
- The ending can make or break a story.
- This is a crucial part of story development. You want your audience to want to see the story again or tell more people to see it and increase your audience size.
Has anyone ever felt like they were mislead by a story or felt unsatisfied with an ending?
Pick a film you personally have watched and enjoyed. Forrest Gump
Breakdown the story arc (what are the 8 stages)
- you In 1954, in Greenbow, Alabama, young Forrest is fitted with leg braces to correct a curved spine, and is unable to walk properly. He lives alone with his mother, who runs a boarding house out of their home that attracts many tenants, including a young Elvis Presley, who plays the guitar for Forrest and incorporates Forrest’s jerky dance movements into his performances. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, and the two become best friends.
- need Forrest is often bullied because of his physical disability and low intelligence. While fleeing from several bullies, his leg braces break off, revealing Forrest to be a very fast runner. This talent eventually allows him to receive a football scholarship at the University of Alabama in 1963, where he is coached by Bear Bryant, witnesses Governor George Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door (during which he returns a dropped book to Vivian Malone Jones),[7] becomes a top kick returner, is named on the All-American team, and meets President John F. Kennedy at the White House.
- go After graduating college in 1967, Forrest enlists into the U.S. Army. During basic training, he befriends a fellow soldier named Benjamin Buford Blue (nicknamed “Bubba”), who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him after their service. Later that year, they are sent to Vietnam, serving with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta region. After months of routine operations, their platoon is ambushed while on patrol, and Bubba is killed in action. Forrest saves several wounded platoonmates – including his lieutenant, Dan Taylor, who loses both his legs – and is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- search At the anti-war March on the Pentagon rally, Forrest meets Abbie Hoffman and briefly reunites with Jenny, who has been living a hippie lifestyle. He also develops a talent for ping-pong, and becomes a sports celebrity as he competes against Chinese teams in ping-pong diplomacy, earning him an interview alongside John Lennon on The Dick Cavett Show, influencing the song “Imagine”. He spends the 1972 New Year’s Eve in New York City with Lieutenant Dan, who has become an embittered cripple. Forrest soon meets President Richard Nixon and is put up in the Watergate complex, where he unwittingly exposes the Watergate scandal.
- find Discharged from the army, Forrest returns to Greenbow and endorses a company that makes ping-pong paddles. He uses the earnings to buy a shrimping boat in Bayou La Batre, fulfilling his promise to Bubba. Lieutenant Dan joins Forrest in 1974, and they initially have little success. After their boat becomes the only one to survive Hurricane Carmen, they pull in huge amounts of shrimp and create the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, after which Lieutenant Dan finally thanks Forrest for saving his life. Lieutenant Dan invests into what Forrest thinks is “some kind of fruit company” and the two become millionaires, but Forrest also gives half of the earnings to Bubba’s family. Forrest then returns home to his mother as she dies of cancer.
- take In 1976, Jenny – in the midst of recovering from years of drugs and abuse – returns to visit Forrest, and after a while he proposes to her. That night she tells Forrest she loves him and the two make love, but she leaves the next morning. Heartbroken, Forrest goes running, and spends the next three years in a relentless cross-country marathon, becoming famous again before returning to Greenbow.
- return In 1981, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny, who asked him to visit her. Forrest is finally reunited with Jenny, who introduces him to their son, Forrest Gump Jr. Jenny tells Forrest she is sick with an “unknown virus” and the three move back to Greenbow.
- change Jenny and Forrest finally marry, but she dies a year later. The film ends with Forrest seeing his son off on his first day of school.
Breakdown the characters into their archetypes
Forrest Gump：Protagonist，Dynamic，Round
Create a timeline for the main character starting before the film start
- exposition: Forrest lives alone with his mother, who runs a boarding house out of their home that attracts many tenants. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, and the two become best friends.
- rising action: After graduating college in 1967, Forrest enlists into the U.S. Army. During basic training, he befriends a fellow soldier named Benjamin Buford Blue (nicknamed “Bubba”), who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him after their service.
- climax: After months of routine operations, their platoon is ambushed while on patrol, and Bubba is killed in action. Forrest saves several wounded platoonmates – including his lieutenant, Dan Taylor, who loses both his legs – and is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- falling action: Forrest soon meets President Richard Nixon and is put up in the Watergate complex, where he unwittingly exposes the Watergate scandal.
- resolution: Forrest is finally reunited with Jenny, who introduces him to their son, Forrest Gump Jr. Jenny tells Forrest she is sick with an “unknown virus” and the three move back to Greenbow.