Snake. Mood Change part 1. Week 8 CSM

Week 8 snake from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.

This will hopefully form part 1 of a bigger mood change animation involving the above character. I tried to go for a more 'Tex avery' approach this time so that i can play with more extreme poses, follow through' and squashes later in part 2. Next week we're onto four legged walks so its going to be a real challenge to realize all my ideas. Fingers crossed ill get it done.       

Flash and After Effects Test, Week 8 CSM

Flash and AE test from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.
On thursday we were taught the basics of using 3D layers with a 2D animation in AE.
I quickly botched up a bird cycle in Flash as well as some background on 4 layers. I then exported all the layers separately as PNG files then imported them into AE. I could then pull the layers apart from a flat image into a 3D image (well more like 2 and half D) and move them around individually. I scaled the cycle to make it look like it was traveling fast from a distance  and played around with camera movements and lighting. Its not exactly studio ghibli but to me it was a very helpful exercise. ill be using AE a lot more in the future me thinks.
Now if I can just find someone with a copy...

On the northern line, week 8

Clean Up part1, week 7 CSM

Week 7 CSM clean up from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.
irregular posting this week which is down to celebrations of my birth on the weekend. This walk still needs some sorting but I need to leave it for now and continue with a bunch of other animations. Its going to be another busy week!

On the northern line, week 7

This week i was lucky enough to get some honest drawing feedback from a former CSM animation student Wesley Louis. He gave me some really helpful pointers as well as advice on my approach to drawing. Over the next few weeks i will be aiming to capture more gesture and character.       

Sinusoidal wave and Crotaline movement tests

Crotaline movement test from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.


Untitled from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.

Visit to London Aquarium, Week 6 CSM

Life Drawing. Week 6 CSM

On the northern line, week 6

And I thought last week was bad! I need to step up my game.

Walk Cycle, Week 5 CSM

week 5 walk cycle from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.

rough walk cycle from Frankie Swan on Vimeo.

When my tutor said that walk cycles are one of the hardest things to do in animation I didn't believe him, now i know better. The small mistakes hurt the most and I see a good few! I hope to do a clean up of this cycle and sort out all the errors whenever i get the chance.
I was inspired by The Lost boys from 'Peter Pan' and create this character who is based on memories of my older brother during our childhood. Playing soldier with rusty metal poles we found in our communal garden was one of our favorite childhood games. Ironically my brother became a soldier when he joined the army years later.

life Drawing. Week 5 CSM