Planning this out I began thinking about weight values and squash and stretch – the first few times I scrubbed through the keyframes I’d added so far looked uncanny because the ball didn’t behave like a ball, it didn’t change shape on impact with the ground and wasn’t stretched by its upward motion. The ball also appeared as if it was floating up and down rather than being moved by a force from left to right as it bounced, so I had to “break” the tangents in the graph editor first so that they could be adjusted:
The green line, representing the ball’s movement from left to right, had to be adjusted by each individual keyframe to round out the ball’s trajectory, this produced a more realistic looking bounce.
Adding in squash and stretch using the scale controls shown below. Using the Object tab on the right hand side I adjusted the Translate Y axis from 0.4 in the frame before impact to -0.5 to the frame containing the impact.
The below screenshot shows the keyframes clustering around each impact of the ball against the ground:
I wanted to rotate the ball as it moved but I wasn’t able to find the controls for this in the rigged model, if I have more time in the future I can revisit this task to include rotation and texturing.
During the introductory session to the Design for Animation unit, we were tasked with finding an animated film which features the artist’s hand. I learned that one of the the first recorded instances of this trope is from the titular 1906 silent film, where the artist Walter R. Booth draws a couple who come to life and dance a cakewalk.
Films by the Year (2021) The Hand of the Artist (1906) Urban [incomplete]. 8th July. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/Rc4ZsV_SYxs?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
I recalled several instances of the hand of the artist being featured in cartoons from my childhood, including this meta reference to the trope in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants titled Welcome to the Chum Bucket/Doodlebob, which aired in 2004. The spin on the original is that rather than featuring a human hand breaking the fourth wall, the characters themselves find a magic pencil and watch as the drawings they make with it come to life. The pencil is ultimately returned to the live action character who accidentally dropped it into the ocean in the first place.
SpongeBob SquarePants Official (2020) DOODLE BOB Stars in FrankenDoodle ✏️ in 5 Minutes! | SpongeBob. 20th March. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/oesOm6XDW9w?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
I recalled a similar instance in a Looney Tunes cartoon from 1955 featuring Bugs Bunny called Rabbit Rampage, where Bugs argues with the animator over how he should be drawn. The episode also features a series of fourth wall breaking gags where the animator – represented by an independently moving paintbrush – paints picket signs into Bugs’ hands bearing slogans such as “I won’t work” and “I refuse to live up to my contract”, a gag where his head is replaced with a pumpkin in order to silence him, and the background is replaced with an oncoming train when he refuses to move. At the end of the cartoon the animator’s brush is revealed to have been wielded by Elmer Fudd.
In being briefed for this unit’s assessment aim, we were introduced to a handful of potential research topics. I am including some that stood out to me below because I would like to revisit them in the future.
The Golden Ratio:
“The golden ratio, also known as the golden number, golden proportion or the divine proportion, is a ratio between two numbers that equals approximately 1.618. Usually written as the Greek letter phi, it is strongly associated with the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers wherein each number is added to the last. The Fibonacci numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on, with the ratio of each number and the previous number gradually approaching 1.618 or phi.” (Berndt, S., Obermiller, J. (2024).)
As it was explained to us in our lecture, the golden ratio for visual arts shows us how to make use of the way the human eye is naturally drawn across an image. The ratio serves as a framework for understanding the limits of human attention, work can be arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way that guides the eye without overstimulating the viewer.
There are even golden ratio calipers for traditional artists to adjust according to the scale they prefer to work at. (Hilder, R. for Creative Bloq (2023).)
Useful Resources
We were introduced in this session to several sites we should be reading regularly to better understand animation as we learn and begin researching. I’ve chosen to list them here as a future reference for myself, and will add to them as the unit progresses.
Films by the Year (2021) The Hand of the Artist (1906) Urban [incomplete]. 8th July. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/Rc4ZsV_SYxs?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
Nigel Mairs (2024) ‘Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language: Week 2’ [Lecture]. PU002333: Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language. University of the Arts London, London College of Communication. 3rd October.
SpongeBob SquarePants Official (2020) DOODLE BOB Stars in FrankenDoodle ✏️ in 5 Minutes! | SpongeBob. Date NA. Available at: Youtube: https://youtu.be/oesOm6XDW9w?feature=shared (Accessed: 03/10/2024).
