When you watch an animated film you often never think about the work that goes into it. Or, if you do, you only think about the animator and no on else on the team. But animation has every job a live action film has, even down to requiring an editor.
Editors come onto an animation team way earlier in the process than live action film editors. They could be brought on the team years in advance, so far in advance that not even the director has been chosen yet. It may seem strange to even edit an animated movie, but everything can be edited and an animation editor has the longest and most intensive job there is. Every movie starts and ends differently, like how The Black Cauldron had to be changed because of its dark tone even in a time where no one believed that animated films could not be edited.
Ken Schrentzmann says that a way to look at it is with live action you shoot first and edit later, but with animation, you edit first and shoot later. Editors sometimes get to write part of the animation because they sit with the writer and director through the entire process. An editor is a key role in an animation, they are very involved in the movie. Screenplays are not just written and made into a movie, they are written and then built upwards from that. Ideas are then made into storyboards and the editor will sit and piece together all the storyboards into an animatic with the rough sounds and everything. If a scene doesn't fit well, it will then be remade. With each film having about 27 sequences there is a lot that can be done to fix it.
An editor is the voice that pushes and guides an animation to the right place. Like with Fantastic Mr. Fox, the whole movie was rewritten and then every scene was rewritten approximately two times. No scene that made it to the movie was the same by the end. It gets rough when a scene gets locked and something needs to be changed like a shot or something or other. Animators know that they're going to be wrong and if they don't allow themselves to be wrong they'll only rely on things that they know will work. They don't plan to get everything right the first time, they plan to get a few things wrong and learn how to improve them.
Animation is all about improvement and this video essay shows that. Even animated movies need to be edited, no matter how silly it seems. No one gets something perfect the first time, and you can see that in this.
I wonder what is like to be brought on two years in advance and sit all the way through the process to the end. What is it like to dedicate your life to one movie for years? Or do animation editors work on multiple movies at one time? It seems unlikely, but so does dedicating all yourtime to one movie.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Yikes
I am a tired human being.
This week was really quiet for some reason. I learned that I can write a three-page research essay approximately twelve hours before it is due. I don't know if I really followed my thesis, but hey at least I handed in typed on paper. We also went over premiere, which is really good because I forgot how to use it and will need to use it very soon. I don't know what else I learned.
Something I would like to learn in the future is how to get the motivation back for writing. I'm handing a lot of things in last minute because of the lack of wanting to write and I hope that I can find that want back. I also want to get betterish at 3D animation so my short looks good because I am worried about that.
This is something that is stupid to be frustrated about but I'm gonna do it anyways. I am frustrated that I only got two honorable mentions in the Scholastic Art and Writings Awards this year. I mean it is great that I even got two awards, but honorable mentions are always kind of "wow you participated here's a ribbon" things to me. I have one more year to enter so maybe I'll get higher next year.
And on that note: I have now officially entered and won awards for the SAAWAs for four years in a row. I continue to be the only student in Lockport to enter and win. It is a shock to me every time, but I hope I can go a fifth year in a year and let my legacy be half a decade of writing awards. Also, we got Sims 4: Vampires and it is the best thing ever and I love it a lot. Vampires make me super happy. If I'm sad just talk about them with me and everything will be better.
This is my favorite cut rap and you should watch this animatic of it. I can almost rap it all the way now. (No you can not escape Hamilton if you know me).
This week was really quiet for some reason. I learned that I can write a three-page research essay approximately twelve hours before it is due. I don't know if I really followed my thesis, but hey at least I handed in typed on paper. We also went over premiere, which is really good because I forgot how to use it and will need to use it very soon. I don't know what else I learned.
Something I would like to learn in the future is how to get the motivation back for writing. I'm handing a lot of things in last minute because of the lack of wanting to write and I hope that I can find that want back. I also want to get betterish at 3D animation so my short looks good because I am worried about that.
This is something that is stupid to be frustrated about but I'm gonna do it anyways. I am frustrated that I only got two honorable mentions in the Scholastic Art and Writings Awards this year. I mean it is great that I even got two awards, but honorable mentions are always kind of "wow you participated here's a ribbon" things to me. I have one more year to enter so maybe I'll get higher next year.
And on that note: I have now officially entered and won awards for the SAAWAs for four years in a row. I continue to be the only student in Lockport to enter and win. It is a shock to me every time, but I hope I can go a fifth year in a year and let my legacy be half a decade of writing awards. Also, we got Sims 4: Vampires and it is the best thing ever and I love it a lot. Vampires make me super happy. If I'm sad just talk about them with me and everything will be better.
This is my favorite cut rap and you should watch this animatic of it. I can almost rap it all the way now. (No you can not escape Hamilton if you know me).
Pro Tips For Making Believable Characters
Animation is everywhere. In commercials and movies and on TV and in your dreams and just everywhere. Every animation needs believable characters, but how do you get there? Well, this week's article gives you fifteen ways to do just that. I'll go over a couple of them.
One way is to study the psychology of human movement. If there's one thing your character needs, it is for sure a realistic movement. Or something that loosely follows the way a real something or other moves. Every movement has a purpose to it. My hands follow a set pattern when typing that would need to be closely watched for a while to understand it. If you want to truly mimic movement you have to understand the movement and intention. You have to follow the thought behind the movement, and follow it several times. It is good to film the particular movement you are looking for and watch it until you feel a little closer to it. Or look weird in public by performing the movement yourself to understand it, much like me.
Guide with your eyes. Often times, a movement follows a sequence that starts with the eyes. The eyes move, followed by the head, the neck, the body, everything until the focus is finally set on what the eyes were leading it to. Eyes are the windows to our soul, and also the windows to our focus. They lead us where we want to go, and if you watch anyone you will notice how this movement happens. If you want something to be believable move the eyes first, let them be the guide of the animation, because that is exactly what they are.
Gravity is important. Without gravity...well I don't know what would happen without gravity but it probably wouldn't be fun. But gravity is highly important when you are animation the real world. You have to have a grasp on it so that you know when something should be floating or dropping through the floor. For example, in walking everything is different. Depending on build and weight, the walk could be different. Thin and tall people could be more light on their feet while as someone who is built a little heavier would have a heavier footfall, with more waist dipping. It might seem dumb to other people to be reminded of gravity, but it is surprisingly easy to forget it and make something move unrealistically. Like with the practice of a bowling ball and balloon, that makes you take a minute to understand the weight and the effects of gravity when you normally don't. Gravity is highly important, don't forget about it.
Anticipation, action, and reaction. The three main things to any sense of flow. Every movement can be broken into these three things. Like when a character leaps they bend their knees in anticipation. Their jump is action. And finally landing their jump is the reaction. Anything can follow the anticipation, action, and reaction rule. With typing the anticipation is finding the key to type, the action is actually pressing that key, and the reaction is the letter showing up wherever. It is important to keep in mind that this kind of principle can be used for facial animation and movement and even bring aid to exaggeration.
There is a lot you can do to improve your character animation. But nothing is going to change if you don't take given advice in mind, so always sit and think about what you were told. It can get you somewhere farther than where you currently are.
This article is helpful for anyone who struggles to animate characters properly. It gives the tips and tricks that I often follow myself. And also says some other things I didn't think about.
For one thing I didn't think to not animate every lettera character says, but now that I have read this article I realize that doing that was a little silly. Advice is always good to take, especially from people who know what they're doing.
One way is to study the psychology of human movement. If there's one thing your character needs, it is for sure a realistic movement. Or something that loosely follows the way a real something or other moves. Every movement has a purpose to it. My hands follow a set pattern when typing that would need to be closely watched for a while to understand it. If you want to truly mimic movement you have to understand the movement and intention. You have to follow the thought behind the movement, and follow it several times. It is good to film the particular movement you are looking for and watch it until you feel a little closer to it. Or look weird in public by performing the movement yourself to understand it, much like me.
Guide with your eyes. Often times, a movement follows a sequence that starts with the eyes. The eyes move, followed by the head, the neck, the body, everything until the focus is finally set on what the eyes were leading it to. Eyes are the windows to our soul, and also the windows to our focus. They lead us where we want to go, and if you watch anyone you will notice how this movement happens. If you want something to be believable move the eyes first, let them be the guide of the animation, because that is exactly what they are.
Gravity is important. Without gravity...well I don't know what would happen without gravity but it probably wouldn't be fun. But gravity is highly important when you are animation the real world. You have to have a grasp on it so that you know when something should be floating or dropping through the floor. For example, in walking everything is different. Depending on build and weight, the walk could be different. Thin and tall people could be more light on their feet while as someone who is built a little heavier would have a heavier footfall, with more waist dipping. It might seem dumb to other people to be reminded of gravity, but it is surprisingly easy to forget it and make something move unrealistically. Like with the practice of a bowling ball and balloon, that makes you take a minute to understand the weight and the effects of gravity when you normally don't. Gravity is highly important, don't forget about it.
Anticipation, action, and reaction. The three main things to any sense of flow. Every movement can be broken into these three things. Like when a character leaps they bend their knees in anticipation. Their jump is action. And finally landing their jump is the reaction. Anything can follow the anticipation, action, and reaction rule. With typing the anticipation is finding the key to type, the action is actually pressing that key, and the reaction is the letter showing up wherever. It is important to keep in mind that this kind of principle can be used for facial animation and movement and even bring aid to exaggeration.
There is a lot you can do to improve your character animation. But nothing is going to change if you don't take given advice in mind, so always sit and think about what you were told. It can get you somewhere farther than where you currently are.
This article is helpful for anyone who struggles to animate characters properly. It gives the tips and tricks that I often follow myself. And also says some other things I didn't think about.
For one thing I didn't think to not animate every lettera character says, but now that I have read this article I realize that doing that was a little silly. Advice is always good to take, especially from people who know what they're doing.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Can a witch turn me into a worm? Worms don't have teeth.
Dear neighborhood witch, legit just turn me into a worm. Remove all my life responsibilities.
Isn't this technically like two weekly comments? Okay, so I don't remember anything school wise that I've learned recently. Except like, we had a lighting and composition lesson at some point...right? Also, I learned that I hate school and don't want to go anymore and wish I was an average student and not a pedestaled high honors kid because then maybe life would be easy and I wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to make sure everything is at least a 90. Or that most grades are a 90 to cancel out my stupidity in Chemistry and keep me at at least a 93 overall average. (I failed that this quarter, my overall is somewhere at 91. My funeral will be soon). I learned that living without motivation is hell and I want motivation back. Please.
Something I would like to learn in the future is how to be a better student. I already try my hardest but it gets me nowhere and I just want to be somewhere. I also maybe want to get a better grasp on 3D animation because I'm still lost and scared of failing the class competition. One last thing I want to learn in the future is the secret to passing chemistry. Again, please.
My teeth are by default my frustration this week. They were the reason I missed two precious work days and I figure if I was a worm I wouldn't have these problems. But instead, they had to form cavities in unfillable places that finally became fillable and then conflicted with going to school. Then they had to go and get new wires and a power chain and rubber bands and I haven't been able to chew since Friday. Like seriously if I was a worm I wouldn't have these problems now, would I?
Nothing made me happy this week. I am a motivationless, sad lump.
Here's a fun article: 5 Reasons You Won't Be an Animator.
Isn't this technically like two weekly comments? Okay, so I don't remember anything school wise that I've learned recently. Except like, we had a lighting and composition lesson at some point...right? Also, I learned that I hate school and don't want to go anymore and wish I was an average student and not a pedestaled high honors kid because then maybe life would be easy and I wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to make sure everything is at least a 90. Or that most grades are a 90 to cancel out my stupidity in Chemistry and keep me at at least a 93 overall average. (I failed that this quarter, my overall is somewhere at 91. My funeral will be soon). I learned that living without motivation is hell and I want motivation back. Please.
Something I would like to learn in the future is how to be a better student. I already try my hardest but it gets me nowhere and I just want to be somewhere. I also maybe want to get a better grasp on 3D animation because I'm still lost and scared of failing the class competition. One last thing I want to learn in the future is the secret to passing chemistry. Again, please.
My teeth are by default my frustration this week. They were the reason I missed two precious work days and I figure if I was a worm I wouldn't have these problems. But instead, they had to form cavities in unfillable places that finally became fillable and then conflicted with going to school. Then they had to go and get new wires and a power chain and rubber bands and I haven't been able to chew since Friday. Like seriously if I was a worm I wouldn't have these problems now, would I?
Nothing made me happy this week. I am a motivationless, sad lump.
Here's a fun article: 5 Reasons You Won't Be an Animator.
Story Lessons
The art of storytelling is a topic that many research and many can not grasp. It is essential to any show or movie or book in order to build a world outside our world. Sure some stories tend to have a formula, like a lot of Disney movies, but sometimes they go outside the norm. The three discussed in this article show us lessons in storytelling that won't hurt any of us to know.
Lesson one is about how research gives your setting authenticity. Wreck-It Ralph obviously had a lot of research put into it to fully encapsulate the feeling of a video game world. It has nods to other video games and such thought put into its unreal games that you can almost imagine them being real. The arcade resembles a real arcade, and the game lobby has graffiti that can match up to a real game's character and old trending graffiti as well. Big Hero 5 did much the same, as one would to mash two completely different places into one. San Fransokyo, as we know is a mash of San Fransisco and Tokyo, was a fictional city that took research and time to flawlessly make. American architecture has Japanese touches and things signature to Japan like sakura trees and lucky cats are put into the background with ease. Sure research is a pain, but without the foundation of your house would not stay standing.
Lesson two is giving reasons for bad guys to be bad. No one wants a pointless villain without a rhyme or reason to their petty ways. Hans from Frozen is the example of a pointless and petty villain. He's kind of just there to make you go "wait what?" and cause some sort of big bad road block. He's just petty and lame. But in Wreck-It Ralph, King Candy has rhyme and reason, just wanting to reclaim his fame as a video game hero. It is hard to let go of the past and just accept that you are just a wash-up, and he shows that full force. Big Hero 6's villain is just a villain out of grief. While most people handle it well, he shows that there is always someone who is going to turn to vengeance as the answer, no matter who it is going to end up hurting. You might not really think it is the case, but villains need about the same amount of character development as heroes and protagonists.
Lesson three is showing the world that not every love story is some mushy gushy happily ever after romance. There are at least four types of love, as named by C.S. Lewis: divine charity, affection, romantic love, and friendship. The three aforementioned movies have different loves. Wreck-It Ralph has friendship, Frozen has sibling, and Big Hero 6 is the title holder of both. While most Disney movies are all romantic, teeth-rotting fluff that follow the same story through different formulas, it is refreshing to see them do something different. Sure Wreck-It Ralph does contain a romance, it does not revolve around it. It focuses more on Ralph's unlikely friendships with Felix and Vanellope. Ignoring the fact that Anna is a gullible princess who wants to love the first prince to hit her up, and Elsa is already a bitter grandma who would rather be alone and away from people, Frozen has a strong sisterly love deeply embedded in its story. Big Hero 6 shows the love between brothers Hiro and Tadashi, and then the love of friendship following the death of Tadashi. The brotherly love stays throughout the story and is one of the sole reasons Hiro gains his friends. Had Tadashi not introduced them, Hiro would have stayed bitter and depressed. Hell, there's even the huge friendship connection that Hiro and Baymax share. Big Hero 6 is just seeping in love, but not romantic love. Sure romance is good, but seeing literally any other kind of love is a breath of fresh air.
Lesson four, our final lesson in this journey, is that character's struggles are the true hearts of stories (plotlines are like....the lungs). The plot is normally the driver, yes, and nothing is wrong with it. Events aren't exactly as inspiring as the struggles our protags go through, though. Characters are more important than plot anyway and deserve a chance to drive more often. Wreck-It Ralph happens because Ralph doesn't want to be a villain anymore, and would rather pursue something else in life. Frozen is a roller coaster through Elsa and Anna's struggle to leave isolation and see where they belong in the world. Big Hero 6 follows the road of depression and grief. And each of them is special because they focus more on the character than they do the events. Sure events led each character to face their problems, but the characters solved their own problems. There was no reliance on the set up of scenes to help them out. Even villains are driving by in their own little struggle cars in these movies.
Disney is not perfect, sure. But its filmmakers know some stuff about how to fabricate a good story. They've learned their lessons and built their foundations properly. Yes, there are the formulated princess movies that follow the same path one way or another. But then there are also gems like Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6 that go down a different road on a search for their own storytelling game.
This article taught me a lot about storytelling. Like how plot doesn't essentially matter, and how formulated villains do you good in the long run. It also made me think about Disney's standing in the world. They stand big and strong because of their cliched movies, but also because of movies that stand out like Lilo and Stitch and all the movies mentioned in this article. Storytelling is just really fascinating.
I want to know if there are other lessons we can find, perhaps from other movie companies. Maybe if you watch enough you can figure out on your own. I'm also curious as to what other Disney movies break the Princess formula. I know Lilo and Stich right off the bat, but what else is there? I also appreciate all this company does for their movies. You can really see the effort they put in by just simply reading an article someone wrote about their movies.
Lesson one is about how research gives your setting authenticity. Wreck-It Ralph obviously had a lot of research put into it to fully encapsulate the feeling of a video game world. It has nods to other video games and such thought put into its unreal games that you can almost imagine them being real. The arcade resembles a real arcade, and the game lobby has graffiti that can match up to a real game's character and old trending graffiti as well. Big Hero 5 did much the same, as one would to mash two completely different places into one. San Fransokyo, as we know is a mash of San Fransisco and Tokyo, was a fictional city that took research and time to flawlessly make. American architecture has Japanese touches and things signature to Japan like sakura trees and lucky cats are put into the background with ease. Sure research is a pain, but without the foundation of your house would not stay standing.
Lesson two is giving reasons for bad guys to be bad. No one wants a pointless villain without a rhyme or reason to their petty ways. Hans from Frozen is the example of a pointless and petty villain. He's kind of just there to make you go "wait what?" and cause some sort of big bad road block. He's just petty and lame. But in Wreck-It Ralph, King Candy has rhyme and reason, just wanting to reclaim his fame as a video game hero. It is hard to let go of the past and just accept that you are just a wash-up, and he shows that full force. Big Hero 6's villain is just a villain out of grief. While most people handle it well, he shows that there is always someone who is going to turn to vengeance as the answer, no matter who it is going to end up hurting. You might not really think it is the case, but villains need about the same amount of character development as heroes and protagonists.
Lesson three is showing the world that not every love story is some mushy gushy happily ever after romance. There are at least four types of love, as named by C.S. Lewis: divine charity, affection, romantic love, and friendship. The three aforementioned movies have different loves. Wreck-It Ralph has friendship, Frozen has sibling, and Big Hero 6 is the title holder of both. While most Disney movies are all romantic, teeth-rotting fluff that follow the same story through different formulas, it is refreshing to see them do something different. Sure Wreck-It Ralph does contain a romance, it does not revolve around it. It focuses more on Ralph's unlikely friendships with Felix and Vanellope. Ignoring the fact that Anna is a gullible princess who wants to love the first prince to hit her up, and Elsa is already a bitter grandma who would rather be alone and away from people, Frozen has a strong sisterly love deeply embedded in its story. Big Hero 6 shows the love between brothers Hiro and Tadashi, and then the love of friendship following the death of Tadashi. The brotherly love stays throughout the story and is one of the sole reasons Hiro gains his friends. Had Tadashi not introduced them, Hiro would have stayed bitter and depressed. Hell, there's even the huge friendship connection that Hiro and Baymax share. Big Hero 6 is just seeping in love, but not romantic love. Sure romance is good, but seeing literally any other kind of love is a breath of fresh air.
Lesson four, our final lesson in this journey, is that character's struggles are the true hearts of stories (plotlines are like....the lungs). The plot is normally the driver, yes, and nothing is wrong with it. Events aren't exactly as inspiring as the struggles our protags go through, though. Characters are more important than plot anyway and deserve a chance to drive more often. Wreck-It Ralph happens because Ralph doesn't want to be a villain anymore, and would rather pursue something else in life. Frozen is a roller coaster through Elsa and Anna's struggle to leave isolation and see where they belong in the world. Big Hero 6 follows the road of depression and grief. And each of them is special because they focus more on the character than they do the events. Sure events led each character to face their problems, but the characters solved their own problems. There was no reliance on the set up of scenes to help them out. Even villains are driving by in their own little struggle cars in these movies.
Disney is not perfect, sure. But its filmmakers know some stuff about how to fabricate a good story. They've learned their lessons and built their foundations properly. Yes, there are the formulated princess movies that follow the same path one way or another. But then there are also gems like Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6 that go down a different road on a search for their own storytelling game.
This article taught me a lot about storytelling. Like how plot doesn't essentially matter, and how formulated villains do you good in the long run. It also made me think about Disney's standing in the world. They stand big and strong because of their cliched movies, but also because of movies that stand out like Lilo and Stitch and all the movies mentioned in this article. Storytelling is just really fascinating.
I want to know if there are other lessons we can find, perhaps from other movie companies. Maybe if you watch enough you can figure out on your own. I'm also curious as to what other Disney movies break the Princess formula. I know Lilo and Stich right off the bat, but what else is there? I also appreciate all this company does for their movies. You can really see the effort they put in by just simply reading an article someone wrote about their movies.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Stormageddon the Squirrel
I am exhausted beyond exhaust.
So this week we learned a ton about 3D animation. We learned how to shape and mold shapes. How to even bring those shapes into existence in the program. We learned a little bit about rigs, thank you demon squirrel.We learned how to animate, and that Maya works completely on keyframing. Also, I learned I'm never going to look at a squirrel the same, I am so uncomfortable. Overall 3D is terrifying and I hope I'll get a semi-grasp on it. I learned Non-Stop from Hamilton has 1234 words. I learned this because instead of choosing normal data like a normal stats students, I asked myself "Hey how many words do 30 broadway musical hype songs have?"
I want to further learn about 3D animation in the future. I want to understand how to operate a rig, and maybe more about video games. I also want to learn how to fix sleep because I am so so tired. I still have a need to bust out a ridiculously long essay, but no class is assigning anything that is built for me. They probably won't, but I just wanna learn something new.
Something that frustrated me this week was learning Maya. It is all very new and strange to me. Also, I have lost my will to write, which is going to mess me up tomorrow when I don't turn in the three writing assignments English needs. I think I'm just too tired to function past the emotions known as frustration and internal screaming.
I saw Moana this week. I loved it. It made me very happy. I also saw my best friend for the first time since she went to college, and I went on a mall date with friends. But also I'm not really happy this week, I'm kind of out of it.
I cried for half of a movie this week. It was because of Lin-Manuel Miranda. This song happened about thirty minutes into the movie? I cried from Lin's voice onwards. (Also how do you animate water like that??) I got really emotional, ok?
So this week we learned a ton about 3D animation. We learned how to shape and mold shapes. How to even bring those shapes into existence in the program. We learned a little bit about rigs, thank you demon squirrel.We learned how to animate, and that Maya works completely on keyframing. Also, I learned I'm never going to look at a squirrel the same, I am so uncomfortable. Overall 3D is terrifying and I hope I'll get a semi-grasp on it. I learned Non-Stop from Hamilton has 1234 words. I learned this because instead of choosing normal data like a normal stats students, I asked myself "Hey how many words do 30 broadway musical hype songs have?"
I want to further learn about 3D animation in the future. I want to understand how to operate a rig, and maybe more about video games. I also want to learn how to fix sleep because I am so so tired. I still have a need to bust out a ridiculously long essay, but no class is assigning anything that is built for me. They probably won't, but I just wanna learn something new.
Something that frustrated me this week was learning Maya. It is all very new and strange to me. Also, I have lost my will to write, which is going to mess me up tomorrow when I don't turn in the three writing assignments English needs. I think I'm just too tired to function past the emotions known as frustration and internal screaming.
I saw Moana this week. I loved it. It made me very happy. I also saw my best friend for the first time since she went to college, and I went on a mall date with friends. But also I'm not really happy this week, I'm kind of out of it.
I cried for half of a movie this week. It was because of Lin-Manuel Miranda. This song happened about thirty minutes into the movie? I cried from Lin's voice onwards. (Also how do you animate water like that??) I got really emotional, ok?
Droid K2
There is one reoccurring thing that tends to happen in Star Wars films. That thing happens to be droids. From the first movies to the most recent, there is always a robot or robots that can steal the stage. Those robots are C-3PO, R2D2, BB-8, and most recently on screens there is K-2SO. A sassy and charismatic droid. But how do you get a personality to show itself in a CGI creation? Well, this week's article tells us just how they added personality to K2.
K-2SO being made who he is is something impressive. Alan Tudyk, the actor, was on set in a gray marker suit. Motion capture was also used, and the actual animation of the droids happened in CG through Industrial Light and Magic. The droid's inner essence was found by letting Tudyk experiment with a digital marionette of himself, the ILM's capture suit, and making the eyes pop. K2, unlike the very flappable C-3PO, is unflappable. He has sarcasm and wit, something not every Star Wars' bot has.
Something uncommon in the Star Wars droids are facial features like eyebrows and mouths to give them expressions. They worked around with K2 until they could find something that gave him the expression aesthetic. They decided to work with the eyes to find an expressing robot. At first, they thought that giving him the ability to blink would be the key, but it wasn't so they took it a step back. Instead, they gave him the ability to rotate his eyes. They bounce around a little and have little thinking moments, much like humans. The eyes really boosted his personality.
Another thing that upped his whole being as a droid was his voice. He's funny and has amazing timing. Tudyk being his actor gives him a lift as well, seeing as he's played robots in previous movies. Tudyk used special stilts to be the correct height for this droid and to give him that long-legged gait oompf. A motion capture suit took in all his actions to bring movement to this droid, and though the eyes were never tracked they were able to study and put them in later.
Animating this droid had to have been a blast, he has a complex gait and calculated eye movements. Even without a widely varied face, he has a large personality and touch of humor reserved solely for Star Wars.
This article was a cool read, I liked being able to follow their process for this character. Have CGI characters by actual actors is always cool, and it is really cool to get a grasp of how it happens. The whole process seems like a hassle though, and I don't think I would find interest in it.
This article makes me wonder about other processes in the Star Wars universe. Like how they made BB-8 and R2D2, and Jabba. The fictional world they have is so extensive and filled with CGI, it must be out of this world to be anywhere in the process of bringing it to life.
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