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Mothers Days

by Nat Urwin

Mission Statement
The mission for my Final Major Project on CGAA is to complete a hybrid animation using stop-motion puppets and cg sets which is the second half of a year long project. I will do this using hand crafted puppets and a green screen set-up in my garage. The animation will be between 2 - 3 minutes in length. The story is in the script that follows.

The story is about a man taking his mum out for her day out and each time. they visit the seaside, in whatever the weather, to the same place, they sit on the same bench, her favourite place. Not really his ideal place to visit unless its sunny which comes across subtly in his animation. We see them over autumn in the rain, winter in the snow and ice and spring in the wind, each time with something a little humorous between them, and the finale is in the summer. We see him sit alone, same place, same bench but this time people (sound effects) everywhere and he is so alone. When he gets up from the bench the audience is left with an In Memory plaque on the bench.

Script

Mothers Days

(NO LIP-SYNC REQUIRED)

Draft 10.

Autumn - Cloudy : Colour palette reds, browns Long shot of a car driving along the seaside - model car along the coast (CG). Car : Son driving, Mother in passenger seat. We see them from the front (as if the camera is attached to the bonnet) We see the mothers face just peering over the dashboard as she is short, she lights up a cigarette which starts to ll the car with smoke so he opens the window and his hair starts to unravel and blow around the car. The mother sticks her arm up and grabs the hair to keep it from blowing around, she continues to smoke whilst her arm is up in the air holding the hair and he continues to drive as if nothing is odd about this scenario. He pulls over (parks) and they sit there for a moment. Camera cuts to the sea / beach while sound effects give the impression they are struggling to get out of the car - son unfolding wheelchair etc They sit (his hair immaculately bad again) under one of the beachs sheltered benches (typical seaside bench - light blue, rusty metal), the mother happy and the son blank. After a moment has passed the son then gets up and walks off camera, he comes back with 2 ice-creams. As he stands giving one to his mother (before she takes it), she fumbles around with her sleeve and pulls out an old tissue, spits on it and wipes his cheek (think grandma when youre a kid), then she takes the ice-cream. His ice-cream is held out slightly to the side of him, out of his peripheral vision, a seagull which is sitting on the canopy to the bench poos on the ice-cream without him seeing. We continue to see him sit down next to his mother (in her wheelchair) he stares into the sea (off camera) for a moment, then without looking at the ice-cream goes to lick it. CUT.

Winter - Icy / Snowy : Colour palette blues, whites Shot of a shop sign with snow and icicles, its clearly winter and cold, baron. Sound effects of a car stopping and them struggling to get out again. The mother wrapped up in her winter clothes with a blanket on her legs, Tinsel around her head and ashing christmas lights on her somewhere, looking happy, and a cup of tea from a ask (steam). The son wrapped up and looking emotionless out at the sea. They are sat on the same light blue seaside bench. The mother suddenly gives signals to the son indicating she needs the bathroom. Next shot - Outside the public toilet cubicle with sound effects (he has to help her go to the bathroom) and the metal seat is cold. (Teeth chattering, running wee sounds) CUT back to her back at the bench and the son walks back into frame with some nice hot sh and chips. They sit there quietly enjoying their meal representing quiet peaceful moments of time together.

Spring - Still a bit chilly, windy : Colour palette Greens - spring colours Daffodils in some borders, with the car sound effects (Cut a bit shorter) They are both sitting on the bench, with her empty wheelchair to the side. They sit there looking at the scenery in front of them for a little while, his hair lifting in one piece a little with the breeze. Theres a carrier bag on the bench next to him, he pulls out a stick of rock, unwraps it and gives it to his mother. We cut to a shot of him sitting there, then his mother passes the stick of rock back to him, he goes to put it in his mouth then just before he does looks down and jumps once he sees his mothers dentures clamped around it. CUT

Summer - Sunny : Colour palette oranges, yellows Usual sound of the car pulling up, camera focused on a beach windmill stuck in the sand. CUT to the son sat on the bench, usual established shot. He sits on the bench thinking for a while, we see all the very subtle gestures of somebody thinking, lots of sound effects of people around him enjoying the beach and the weather while he sits there basking in the sun with his eyes closed, then he looks to his side and smiles. He gets up from the bench, the camera cuts to further away, revealing his mum isn't there with him. Then cut to the view of a shiny In Memory Plaque on the bench that was not there in the previous seasons. As he walks away from the bench, (to continue the slight humor and unluckiness of the guy OR to signify the jokes between him and his mum still continuing even after she has passed), there could be a string of gum stuck to his bum from the bench which stretches longer as he walks, then snaps.

END

Influences

Paranorman

Oh Willy

Mary & Max

Pirates : In an Adventure with Scientists

StoryCorps

Whats What Hand-crafted CG

2 Characters :

- Ball & Socket Armatures - Silicone Bodies - Clothing - Eyelid series Wheelchair 2 Ice-creams 2 Fish & Chip portions Bench & Plaque Stick of Rock Dentures Flask & Tea Carrier bag Cigarettes Santa Hat Ground Surface (concrete tiles) Chewing Gum

Long shot of the coast Small CG car for the long shot View of the sea and beach Icy Shop with swinging shop sign Daffodils scene Car Front, back & Simulated Smoke Toilet Block Windmill in sand Small Christmas lights Seagull

Reference Images

Character Design

I decided the son character should be a little podgy. Skinnier characters are much easier to make and animate as they are lighter, however, I felt this character would have a bit of weight behind him to suit the personality.

Concept Art

I was trying to find the right looking place for the characters to sit for all of these scenes.

I found this scene didnt have enough going on, plus I needed to have something in the background to use the CG elements with, which this scene does not provide.

This scene looks better, the buildings would be in CG, but it doesnt quite say seaside yet.

This is better, the dullness of Bingo and Family Fun is just what Im trying to create. The irony.

The next series of images show different visuals I tested out until I came to one I liked.

This is the best suited for my animation. The run-down seaside look, yet the mother loves it so much.

Chromakey Tests

Before

After

Page 07.

Chromakey : Test 05 Process Breakdown

Change of settings, Lower ISO and others adjusted accordingly.

01.

After Test 04s issue of bad flicker even with the removal of the florescent tubes, I did some research and saw the suggestion of lowering the ISO. The previous tests had a high ISO so I changed it right down and noticed the flickering stopped on the live view screen in Dragonframe.

02.

Image from the camera of the green screen.

A bit more graininess than test 04 but nothing to be an issue

03.

After Effects : Keylight : Screen Matte mode

The graininess removed without any hassle, there is no need for White Clipping again.

04.

After Effects : Keylight : Screen Matte : Clip Black

05.

After Effects : Keylight

06.

Added a background in the green screen section.

This Colour Correction is still quite moody but I think it works.

07.

Colour Correction

CG Sets

There are many different types of building next to the seaside. Ive decided to go for the style of hand drawn structure, with high detail realistic textures. This way I think it compliments the animation by having slightly off character styles that are wearing real clothes and look like skin etc, so they have realistic textures too.

Here shows some Modelling stages of the buildings. I use the images Ive drawn to make sure my buildings are proportionally accurate. Then Each part is UV Mapped as I go along to save from having any built up mess later on.

Puppets

Green Screen Set-up

Wheelchair Construction

Check out more about Mothers Days at: www.skygecko-nat.blogspot.com

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