I’ve finally got a solidified idea!
My program of study for this masters, involves experimenting with hybrid animation as a way to try and make hand drawn animation, or at least the aesthetic of the style, more practical for things like an industry pipeline. As part of this program of study, I will also research into what exactly it is that makes hand drawn 2D animation so appealing to so many people. Other than just the obvious nostalgia!
Anyway! For my final outcome this year, I’m going to make a short film depicting a day in the life of a telepath, who is able to dip in and out of peoples daydreams! Through this, I hope to explore lots of different styles, allowing me to test different methods of animation.
Those different styles are definitely important. From the reading I’ve done so far, the key to successful hybrid animation is to not force it. To use it where appropriate, and not just for the sake of it, because that will only serve to take someone out of the scene to look at the different looking animation technique. Like Treasure Planet and the Iron giant! Both incredible, and I love them so much, as anyone who is forced to read my academic essays will tell you, since I refer to them literally all the time. The key there, is line mileage! Basically if you were to stretch all the lines out used when drawing things like the titular giant, of Long John Silver’s prosthetic, all of those extra millimetres of lines that need drawn take so much longer to repeatedly draw, so it makes sense to use 3D to augment the hand drawn animation.
But back to my final outcome! I’ve started off by creating the two mood boards since I’m going to need to convey things like telepathy and day dreams without just being able to say them. So, I’m going to use two very distinct colour palettes, and I think I’ll use backgrounds as well to convey this change, with very busy structured backgrounds for the real world, to contrast with very wispy, abstract ones for the daydreams. Inspired in part by the way the live action movies depict Professor Xavier’s telepathy when using cerebro. There, its shown as a big misty black void, with the more solid figures standing about in it, and I think that would work well for me too.
Also! My first suitable use of hybrid animation! If I use 3D models or live action references and then draw over them in my 2D style, it would definitely make sense for creating my real world backgrounds.
I can’t wait to try it all out!
References:
O’Hailey, T (2010). “Hybrid animation: Integrating 2D and 3D Assets”. Florida United States, CRC Publisher LLC. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dundee/detail.action?docID=4689407 (Accessed 10thOctober 2023)
Sørensen, N (2013). “The Aesthetic Impact of Hybrid Animations of Human Characters”. Aalborg University Copenhagen. Available at: https://projekter.aau.dk/projekter/files/76694908/Master_s_Thesis_Niels_Henrik_Breiner_Soerensen_20082818.pdf(Accessed 9th November 2023)
X-men (2000). Directed by Bryan Singer [feature film]. America: 20th Century Fox