Friday, March 28, 2014

testing armatures













francesca, haley, andrew, and the hands of chris, james, and mee, as we make wire come alive in the green room. after this, its upward and onward to your own projects!



armature test from Christopher Magee on Vimeo.

Friday, March 7, 2014

village of the eel, draft 2
















Major Story Moments
1. Kaluako’i: Village of the Eel. Sandy, curved beach between rocky points, high seas
2. Kahuna nui silhouetted, offers fish: follow fish down to: puhi
3. introduce puhi
4. puhi swims up to eat fish
5. CU: kahuna, voiceover explains story of Chief Lono and Keao,
6. sun slips down and melts into horizon
7. O’ahu” girl and boy in canoe, catching fish
8. eel knocks canoe, Auhea screams, gets back into canoe
9. morning: Keao on rock at shoreline, sees noio dive into water to catch fish
10. Keao points to spot for fishermen to go there
11. Keao sees Auhea in canoe, takes her out, brings her to Chief Lono’s house, studying her face
12. Auhea wakes up in Chief Lono’s house
13. Chief Lono confers with Kahuna nui
14. Auhea nursed by Keao
15. Kahuna nui’s dream: new chief recognized by mark of puhi/eel
16. Chief Lono falls ill and dies
17. Kahuna nui searches amongst adze traders for sign of the eel; clouds, mist, rain, tides carry unclear messages
18. Auhea gives birth to child with feast happening around, child has eel markings

1. James & Andrew (1-6)
2. Francesca & Haley (7-12)

3. Mee & Chris (13 -18)

General notes based on first draft work (*accompanying images do not necessarily relate to points, here):
1. In order to make the full piece without too much crazy, focus on creating illustrations that contain only small amounts of movement, and using metamorphic transitions to move efficiently from image to image and to create graphic interest that takes advantage of what animation can do.








2. Take full advantage of sand's qualities: texture, translucency via thickness/thinness of sand layering, using morphs to redraw images rather than engaging in involved character movement, etc. 













 3. Make more use of closeups to draw the viewer into the experience of the story, rather than sticking to wides shots only, which can objectify the image and make it seem more schematic. Use wide shots to give a sense of place and context, and to make spatial relationships clear. Use medium shots and closeups to show detail in action, costume/character, and emotions.









4. Use tools besides your finger to make lines. Finger lines can look childish and clunky. Forks, knives, rubber stamps, combs, and other tools can provide linear precision and textural interest.








5. Consider using the sand as part of the image framing device. Should we should the area beyond the live image, or do we want to give no hint to the viewer that he or she is looking at an image that exists on a table?













6. Make sure your images are evenly lit and are the correct aspect ratio  (16:9 widescreen)














7. Please include the individual still image files when you hand in the final versions.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

the village of the eel


VillageofKepuhi (Full) from Christopher Magee on Vimeo.

this year we are trying something a bit more ambitious for our sand animation assignment. I have played in the past with the idea of holding an animation workshop on maui that takes the topic of a hawaiian legend and makes a short piece based on the legend using objects such as sand, rocks, and other natural materials. at present, we are trying out this concept in class, taking the story of the "The Village of the Eel" as our starting point. Here is our first-pass animatic, full version: