Cloud Formations Episode 2

I have now created 5 cloud compositions in the same way as the one below. I have combined them into one sequence to show the variations between them, and added a textural background. I will keep all 5 clouds as separate RGB+Alpha movie files, and add them into the final film when it is ready.

Cloud Formations

For the clouds in my sequence I was inspired by the devoré printing technique, which burns out one fibre in a blend to leave semi-transparent areas in a fabric. This allows a designer to reveal other patterns beneath devoréd areas when the fabric is layered up. This was an idea I wanted to re-create using Photoshop and After Effects, and this was my first experimental outcome:

• This was created using photographs I took of some laser cut mountboard, with a spotlight placed behind to illuminate it. The laser cutting effect here was in fact a mistake- most areas did not cut through completely and the negative shapes wouldn't fall out. But this result creates a very beautiful effect when light is shone through the gaps. The design was also created by accident. The laser cutting programme, APS Ethos, stopped working before I had finished covering the whole page with clouds, and the programme continued to crash every time I tried to open it again. However, I think the sporadic design looks much better than an all-over design would have looked for this application.

• I then inverted the image in Photoshop to create a more appropriate colour palette.

• I cut out one cloud motif to animate, and created a separate version with only the cloud centres. I layered this on top of my original cloud in After Effects, and animated the position, rotation and opacity of the two layers together.

Cloud Layer

Cloud Interior Layer

Clouds Inverted layer

• I added a final layer of inverted clouds, placed below the cloud interior layer, and animated the movement of this around the screen. Finally, I set the cloud interior layer mode to "Stencil Alpha," which revealed the layer below in only the cloud centre areas.

• I created an RGB+Alpha movie of the composition, and imported this into a new After Effects project. I made the footage into a 3D layer, and was able to rotate the cloud inwards and outwards to give it more depth. Since I created the movie as RGB+Alpha, this meant that the cloud was the only item showing in the screen, with no background. I will now be able to create several clouds in this way, and finally add a suitable background to complete this element of my sequence.

Descending to the Ocean Floor

The sequence showing Captain Mo's descent into the ocean is now almost finished. The only element missing is Captain Mo himself! He will probably be added right at the very end of the process, when all of the other sequences are ready, so that the ship can be animated in a continuous path through the film.

This descent to the ocean floor now includes:

• Even more detritus. I added some additional laser cut shapes, a few elements taken from Cranky, and Cranky's head buried in the ocean floor. I used the original compositions I created of Cranky's two layers, and masked these off to bury him in the sand. I used a variety of filters to make these elements blend into the background.

• 'Underworld' sign. I created this image in Photoshop, and added a separate layer of lights. I animated the opacity of these lights to give the suggestion of them gently illuminating and fading. The arm holding the sign was original drawn as a potential limb for Cranky, but I later decided he was better off without. I placed an anchor point at the elbow joint to create a rotational movement.

• A little fishy. I took a drawing of a fish and animated his movement through Cranky's eyehole. This required two overlapping layers of the fish, one above Cranky and one below, and masking these off to hide the appropriate areas of the layers as he moved across.

• The Underworld! I decided that I wanted the Underworld to look like a diver's helmet, which has been neglected at the bottom of the ocean for a long long time. I thought this would relate well to my steampunk references, and would enable me to use some beautiful metallic textures taken from photographs I took in the National Railway museum, and some rocky, distressed surfaces from photos at the beach. I drew an inky outline then filled the shapes with textures in Photoshop and kept building these up. Finally, I added a plume of smoke and an ominous red interior. I added the window layer separately and made this 3D, so that I could rotate it inwards on its z axis.

The only other elements I am considering adding are some illuminating fish in the darkness, but I will decide this after Mo has taken his rightful place in the sequence.

The Underworld original drawing

The Underworld with texture

Descending

This is a work in progress. The sequence I am currently animating is a descent into the ocean, when Captain Mo is being dragged down to the watery depths. I am slowly building all of the elements I need into the sequence, and this footage shows the composition at its current stage.

So far, the sequence features:

• A watery backdrop. This a video I took of some layered fabric, which I attached to a window blind and gradually drew upwards whilst gently rippling it to give the swaying effect. I used adjustment layers to alter the brightness and contrast, and the hue.

• Piles of detritus at the sides, which I will continue building up. On the left is a texture taken from a photograph to create a rocky edge, as if Mo is falling into an underwater cavern. I will add a similar shape on the right. I used a 'Hard Light' filter to blend it into the background. The shapes on the right include scans of my laser cut samples, such as a lamp and some cogs, and the negative shapes from my finished pieces. I also added a composition featuring a sketch of another mechanical beast, perhaps an earlier model of Cranky. I animated it in a similar manner, with a moving jaw and rotating gills and eye. The bottom of the cavern was created using a bubble texture from a photograph taken at the beach.

• A squid drifting past. I took an inky drawing of a squid and added a "multiply" filter to make it look more at home in the water.

• An ominous darkness. This was created using a solid black layer, to which I added a rectangular mask with feathered edges. I then moved this whole layer upwards to create an ascending darkness. Watching it back in Quicktime, I now realize I need to adjust the timing of this layer to make the animation run more smoothly. The footage of the fabric ends before that the darkness has covered the screen, so I will need to alter this.

• Cranky's lure. I used the same spotlight effects as I used when Cranky swallowed the lantern to illuminate the darkness. I will add other broken elements of Cranky, such as his gears and sparking battery and his head at the bottom of the ocean.

When we reach the ocean floor, the video continues to run with very little action. This is because there are several more elements to be added before the sequence is finished.

The next stage will be to finish building up all of the layers of detritus and broken Cranky bits, and to create the Gates of the Underworld on the ocean floor. Finally, Mo's ship will be added.

Sorry Captain Mo - keep fighting against your Fate, and one day you may reach new seas.

Cranky in 60 Seconds

Cranky has finally got some movement. This sequence shows his entire screen time, from his dramatic entrance to sinking in defeat. The lantern will be knocked into his mouth in a different composition. I also added some smoke effects, which I created using a texture from a weatherworn stone floor and trimmed into a billowing shape. I animated the opacity and the scale, and also added a ripple effect.

Originally I had intended to show some little critters working away inside Cranky, but with all of the other elements combined I now think that this would be too much detail on screen at once. I have added the concept drawings to the end of this post, to show the original ideas, but have now decided to omit these characters from my final sequence.

Cranky appears 5 seconds into the sequence.

Cranky Sees the Light, Episode 2

Today I edited the layers in my previous film, adding some extra motion for the inner workings and developing the spotlight techniques. I decided to use two lights- one with a very focused beam to represent the glow from a lantern, and another with a larger, softer beam to reveal more of the inside of Cranky. I also added a lantern, and some gills. The end of the sequence runs for several extra seconds, since the next stage will be to animate his movement (and his gradual sink to the depths of the sea in defeat.) I will also create a sequence to go before this one, showing the lantern being knocked into Cranky's open jaws.

The elements I used to create this sequence were:

• A scanned fabric printed with gold foil to create Cranky's surface.
• A scan of the mountboard I laser cut with Cranky's workings, placed with the reverse side on the scanner bed. I liked the burned edges of the cut, and thought the colours were very appropriate for my Steampunk references.
• A scan of the second layer of laser cut mountboard, again showing the burned edge. This time I used Photoshop to invert the image, creating an effective contrast in colour to the layer below.
• A lantern drawing from my sketchbook, which I altered in After Effects to increase the contrast and lower the brightness.
• Some footage of fire I filmed on my digital camera. I masked off the area I wanted and adjusted the scale to suggest growing flames. I also used a "Hard Mix" filter to blend it into the other layers.
• Two spotlights- one with a narrow beam, high intensity and sharp edge, and the other with a lower intensity, wider beam and softer focus.
• An Art Deco-inspired drawing which I duplicated and fanned to create gills. I placed anchor points at the base of the fan, and rotated the individual drawings to create the movement.

Cranky top layer - Scanned fabric

Cranky middle layer - laser cut mountboard (inverted)

Cranky base layer - laser cut mountboard

Lantern and gill drawings

Cranky Sees the Light

I have finally started working towards my final film! On Thursday I started experimenting with Cranky and his inner workings. For his top layer, I used a scan of a fabric I printed with a wave design in adhesive and gold foil, and altered its colours and contrasts using Photoshop. I liked the idea of using curling waves as his 'skin,' giving a suggestion of his camouflage tactics in sea.

When it came to animating Cranky, I used a solid silhouette for a base layer, and this acted as a parent layer that I attached the subsequent layers to. I added two layers for his inner workings, both of which were animated in their own compositions to create the movement I wanted. This involved sorting each moving element, such as the cogs and wheels, onto their own individuals layers and giving them rotational movement. These were saved in RGB+Alpha, giving them their transparent areas, and brought into the final composition. I was then able to add his top layer and finally, a spotlight.

I wanted to use the spotlight to illuminate Cranky's inner workings gradually, and altered the opacity of the top layer of skin to create the dark contrast. I think this has been a very successful experiment, but I want to adjust various elements to make it perfect. I would like to add more movement to his inner layers, and I will also narrow the beam of the spotlight to show a smaller area as the light moves around. The light is meant to be coming from a lantern Cranky has swallowed, so the movement should be more jerky as it rattles around inside him. I may experiment with this idea, as I rather like the smooth movement the light has at the moment. I may adjust my story to better suit the most effective outcome of these trials.