Accidental Selfie - Animated ekrunk Short

[ekrunk]

Hello,

I just posted a new cartoon on youtube. The last cartoon I created was too long and ideal for the sharing culture of youtube. I've been focused on creating some short form stuff that is quicker and more engaging for online audiences. Any feedback would be great. Not sure if it holds up. Thanks everyone!

[Danimal]

Went on a touch long for my tastes, but was still entertaining. In particular the typing guy's hands and the swiping/texting on the phone were exceptional.

[slowtiger]

Yes, the overall pacing is too slow. Most movements lack dynamic - only the typing is right, everything else is sloooow, including the dialogue. I'm especially drawn back everytime when eyes are animated that slow - please, everybody: eyes usually change direction in an instant, use stop interpolatipon for pupil's position!

I like the style, the handmade quality. In comparison the elements created in AS look shabby. I'd go for a completely hand-drawn look.

More good points: The cars in the beginning, every little detail in that coffeeshop - you surely observe your surrounding, and it pays.

You could improve the whole movie by faster dialogue, faster cutting, try to stay under 2 minutes.

[ekrunk]

Hey Slowtiger,

Thanks for the critique. I don't think I've really gotten a feel for animation timing yet. Thanks for the suggestions, and I would certainly try this again with faster pacing. Especially with the pupils (everyone). The reason I went for the AS characters is they provide better movement within the bones. When I try to animate the hand-drawn stuff, and try to get more details from the movement, it looks too jagged and "off". Colors don't stretch themselves, the body looks too fragmented. It's just hard to get expressions. How would you approach animating those hand drawn characters so they can be more expressive?

[jahnocli]

Couldn't get to the end -- gradually lost interest. Everything needs sharpening up, especially the timing. I agree about the hand-drawn content -- best part of the animation. Try something a lot shorter -- some dialogue between a couple of people. I'd use hand-drawn mouth and eye positions in switch layers, certainly worth a try. There's plenty of stuff out there on the web about mouth phonemes etc. to help you.

[slowtiger]

You are already on the right way with that multiplied hand-drawn head and its mouth. Just draw more face elements on paper, like the eyes, eyebrows etc. And draw variations of each, which you can use in a switch layer.

The typing hands, for example, could be improved even more. While you have the overall motion perfectly right, you could have each hand be a switch layer containing some 3 or 5 different hand drawings with different finger positions, which can be switched every 2 frames to give the impression of typing. (I used that very same technique here at 0:18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Iftpa30dDI)

I'm really fond of your style, this hand-drawn stuff has personality, it's a statement, and sticks out against all that stuff which uses just AS' drawing tools on a very basic level. This style goes best with more jerky movements - avoid everything which is slow, instead do all movements fast, between pauses. Think of finishing a movement in 3 or 6 frames instead of 1 second. Even the camera pan should follow this rule. I think your style will profit if you go a bit more in this direction.

Have a look at this classic: "Die Nashörner" by Jan Lenica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcayyfvk3O4, and see how little smooth movement he acually uses. Most is done with a simple switch from one position to another, and he uses the very fast pan I like.

I think I'll show your film to my students, to give them some idea about that potential.

[ekrunk]

Great advice on the timing. I think while animating, the tendency for me is to count seconds instead of frames. This might be because I have a puppeteering background, where it's all about making things as clear as possible. I will experiment with the switch layering on the hand drawn. From what I understand, I'd be animating more with the switch layers than with the bones... is that the idea?

Thanks again!

[Danimal]

you could have each hand be a switch layer containing some 3 or 5 different hand drawings with different finger positions, which can be switched every 2 frames to give the impression of typing.

In the far shot I actually thought this was happening. It wasn't until the closeup that I saw it was just the same shape moving very well.

[slowtiger]

You use bones and switch layers, even at the same time. The trick is to not submit to the bones' sticky promise of ever-so-smooth movements ...

In my workflow I always copy the last position of a bone to the start of the next movement before I do that movement some 3 or 6 frames later. This ensures that my characters stay still between movements, with the effect that each movement clearly sticks out.

[ekrunk]

great. thanks again, slowtiger.

[Pinesal]

I like this style alot. The hand painted art is very cool.

Your stuff is very similar to mine as it's basically cutouts animated. The one thing I noticed that needs work and hasn't been mentioned is the little specks that float around some of the body parts. Like in on scene there was a head moving and little white specks were moving with it. These are spots in the image that you failed to erase properly. I do this too. To try and catch it when I am editing the image, I place a black background, temporarily, on the image so the white specks and stuff stand out better and I can erase them.

[exile]

Hi Ekrunk,
You can see how seriously the commentators take your work, it's being compared with classical and highly professional stuff. The idea is brilliant and I loved the off-tune singing - did you do the audio of that part yourself? I was laughing even the second time. That's a part that shouldn't be shortened, IMO, maybe you could blend in images to supplement the repetitive animated singers.

The cutout style is appealing, as well as the elements of stop-motion animation. I loved the artwork inside and outside the café, it captures the mood. I think Tiger is right that this distinctive style is worth developing and you're on the verge of a breakthrough.