Research Project - Artefact 5

For my final artefact I wanted to explore the ability to convey character and emotion with a personified object. In the previous artefacts I had worked with humanoid characters that could closely replicate actions used by humans that convey certain emotions or characteristics. Having identified areas that seemed to be key for effective conveyance, I hoped to see whether testing the same methods on a character that lacked these areas would provide any new information.

Taking a simple cube rig I produced 3 short sequences of it feeling different emotions.

Showing these to the focus group it was clear that recognition of these was difficult and there was no conviction in the responses received.

To better understand why conveyance through this object was difficult I looked at a existing example of a personified object, Aladdin's magic carpet.

Taking 3 images of the carpet conveying emotion, I showed these to one group who were able to recognise what each emotion was with ease.

From past artefacts, hands had been a key signifier of a characters mood in several cases. The design of the carpet allowed the tassels at each corner to replicate hand gestures. Realising this I took these same images and, editing out the tassels showed them to a second focus group.

This group had much greater difficulty in identifying the emotions of the carpet, although had some inclination into the answer. This again seems to indicate that not hands, but appendages that can replicate hands are necessary in aiding emotion. Taking this further would be to research character design to see how it impacts the effectiveness of a characters ability to convey emotion and what existing methods are considered when developing a character.

Research Project - Artefact 4 Reflections

For my penultimate artefact I wanted to produce pieces that would begin to encompass the entirety of my initial research question - the effect of body mechanics in conveying a narrative. The clips I produced looked at showing a character in a situation that they were responding to.

The main key point of feedback from my focus group under consideration was that whilst the narrative was generally recognisable e.g. running from an overhead threat where staying low is safer, the specific details of the narrative weren't. This implies to me that body mechanics can be used to suggest a narrative, but without additional visual stimuli e.g. environments or props, the exact situation cannot be shown.
Other observations about the clips will provide other aspects to explore, one example being how one of the cycles featured the character hunched over. Rather than just implying emotional state as was intended it also had members of the focus group consider the environment as a confined indoors area. Another instance of this was the way in which a characters arms were spread whilst creeping. Due to them not being fully outstretched to aid will balance the assumption was made that what the character was walking on was not dangerously narrow, such as a tightrope, but still required them to be mindful of each of their steps. The fact that this minor alteration of the arms level of extension impacted the suggested environment in such a way gives light to the possibility that slight changes to a mere walk can have an impact on the overall narrative of the story, however without experimenting a comparison of a contextualised scene that utilises an environment and a non-contextualised scene, there is no clear way to determine the level of impact this has on the narrative.

Some final points related to the cyclic element of the clips was how in most cases, cycles of this fashion would be built for the purpose of conveying a particular story element within games or cartoons where they could be recycled when needed.

From the results I gathered from this artefact there are a number of other areas I could branch off into with further research. Looking more into the implications of altering a characters movement to imply an environment would be useful to gain an understanding into effectively showing a character within a specific landscape as well as the level at which how the character moves adds to the believability of a narrative situating them in a particular environment. Does this help aid an audiences understanding of the situation the character is in?

Research Artefact 4

It is common knowledge that within a walk you can convey a character. Their posture alone can connote their mood or emotive state, age and self-esteem, along with other aspects of their character. The timing and pace at which they move can suggest a destination or importance of where they are going, but is it possible to convey more elements of a narrative within the confines of a cyclic walk animation?

Rather than focussing on telling the audience about the character, can you give them information into a narrative looking at the world or situation they are in, without the visual context of a scene.

To test this I have experimented with producing different walk cycles looking at aspects that could be conveyed such as age and intent of the character.

The final set I am working with (below) are a series of walk cycles featuring the character reacting to the world around them to see whether conclusions can be formed on the world itself and the characters situation.

Basic Sneak Cycle

Basic Run Cycle

Cycle 1

Cycle 2

Cycle 3

Run & Walk Cycles

So many cycles...

Rigs :http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/alfred
        http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/ultimate-bony

Research Project - Artefact 3 Reflections

Having produced a third artefact and showing it to a small focus group, the feedback I received was generally negative or unsuitable for use in furthering my research. The main comment I got was just on the overall goal of the artefact - what it was aiming to explore.
Considering this and looking at the main my main project question, "In what way can the use of body mechanics in animation be used to enhance storytelling and can they effectively be used to communicate a story to an audience without the use of dialogue?", I realised that my focus had gone to far in the wrong direction, looking more at context than body dynamics effect on narrative.
With this in mind I intend to approach my fourth artefact differently, redirecting my focus back onto body dynamics and create a more relevant artefact that will hopefully gain beneficial results to continue with. 

The results themselves I gathered for the artefact, however had possible signs of meeting my intention, that of having context provide recognition to an action. The main issue I believe my artefact fell down on was the definition of context. When I produced my artefact I had some instances where context was the object/thing the character was interacting with, whilst in one scene, the one I feel was most successful, the environment was the contextual factor. This lack of continuity in terms of the context meant that so of the scenes of my artefact were in no way as effective as they could have been. Consideration into this during the development of my artefact would have led it to be more successful, however the key point gained from this was that context is able to in some way reinforce the understanding of an action, with it needing to have a more definitive identity within the confines of my artefact to be completely successful.

Research Project - Artefact 2 Reflections

Hypothesis -'I believe that if you give context to a characters emotional reaction the emotion will be easier to recognize than without it.

Looking at my hypothesis for this artefact I believe the results I got from the focus group were fairly successful.
With each set animations the answers for what emotion was being conveyed altered depending on contexts inclusion and in most cases became more affirmed in the latter scenes when context was added. The correct general emotion was recognised in all of the scenes however an interesting point I found was the specificity of said emotion changed depending on which context was applied. For instance, with the anger clips, the first featuring no context was read as being an internal conflict with building frustration. Adding the context of a falling ball gave a similar result of pent-up anger with the ball being suggested as the final straw in a string of angering occurrences. Finally, against the character based context clip, it was again read as pent-up anger, however now with the idea it was prior to a response or "release" of this anger, either directed at the other character or in some other manner.

The feedback I received on the format of my artefact is going to be very useful for the next ones as it gave some alternatives for how I could have utilised the different forms of context as well as a drawback to the three short clips way I presented it. The drawback, which also had a minor influence on the results, was how the responses for the third clip were "sullied" by the second, with people considering their answer for the second clip when answering for the third. This may have meant that the responses for the final clips of each section weren't completely unbiased, however I feel this is unlikely to have altered the results too much, having discussed each clip in turn as well.

A consideration for how to alter my artefact, which could both improve the results and avoid the drawback stated above, was to have the clips featuring the second character be effected by the inclusion of the second character. For example, by having the second character being the cause of the emotional reaction, the way it is conveyed will be different, with it being focused towards said character, rather than just being a general maintained action throughout all three clips. This would then feature the main character performing a different action, however still be conveying the same emotion just in a more suitable way for each form of context.

Research Artefact 3

For my 3rd research artefact I wanted to continue on from the context aspect of my 2nd, looking at how this can effect the overall narrative and inform the audience of events.

Hypothesis:

I think contextualization allows for more minor actions to inform the audience of the narrative and foreshadow its events.

To test this I have produced 4 small sequences featuring a character prepping to perform some recognisable actions, that has been slowed down to allow the audience time to consider what is happening in the sequence. 2 out of 4 of these sequences feature objects or environment set pieces that are key descriptors of what the character is about to do.

Research Project: Artefact 2

The four finished animation clips for my 2nd research artefacts looking at applying context to reinforce a characters conveyance of an emotion.

Clip 1

Clip 2

Clip 3

Clip 4

Artefact 2 - Hypothesis and Preview

Following on from my first artefact I am going to look at the conveyance of emotions when contextualized and whether this can have a greater effect on the audiences understanding.

Hypothesis: 'I believe that if you give context to a characters emotional reaction the emotion will be easier to recognize than without it.'

To test this theory my artefact will feature between 5-8 short animations featuring a character displaying an emotion in response to something. Each of these individual animations will be broken down into 3 duplicates: one featuring the character on its own; one having an object that the character reacts to; and the last one introducing a second character performing there own action that would trigger the original reaction from the main character.

My intention is to show these sets of 3 animations to a focus group pausing between each clip to ask what they believe the emotion to be, so I can gauge at what point the correct emotion becomes apparent.

A quick preview of an animation set to be used for this artefact:

Research Project: Artefact 1 Reflections

Looking at the results from the focus group and outside questioning I did in regards to my first artefact, asking people what emotion the character was conveying and what aspect of the character gave them this impression, e.g. a hand gesture or back arch, there were a few common occurrences around what people said.

Hands were a key point that people said directed their opinion of the emotion, with their placement being indicative of the characters emotion. Whilst this was a main response from those I asked I cannot be certain whether this has anything to do with the particular poses I chose, however I feel like it being the majority reason for a lot of people is something to look at.
A possibility to take this further would be to look at hand gestures on there own and see the whether they alone can convey emotion and indicate more to an audience.

One step during the focus group session I did was to use questionnaire forms for people to fill out rather than immediate verbal feedback. My reasoning for this came from an initial test of my images where people were influenced by others responses prior to giving their own resulting in multiple similar answers.
To avoid this the form meant people weren't 'copying' others answers and gave me a mixed variety of results or, more to the point, produced several matches of responses, strengthening the ability to state clearly whether or not a image worked in conveying the desired emotion.

In terms of answering my hypothesis, whether or not a still image can be used to convey the emotion of a character, the majority of images received the correct answer for the emotion, however the more positive emotions and ones such as shock or surprise didn't have as great of a result.
The main reason for this I believe is that positive emotions are more based on pace and the way someone moves rather than just the way the body is affected when static/held, like with negative emotions (sadness, anger) where the body slumps or stiffens in response to this. Shock and surprise are also like this due to them being motion based reactions, a quick jump or start in response to something, and can not be shown in a held form.

The next stage for my second artefact will be to move on to conveyance with animation, where I can look more in depth at the emotions that had a weaker result e.g. happiness, shock, surprise, and explore how motion has an effect on the conveyance, using aspects such as timing and spacing to experiment with different aspects.

Research Project - Artefact 1

As my first artefact for my research project I am looking at the conveyance of emotions through static poses, in particular, what elements of the body are the key indicators used when discerning specific emotions. I've produced a series of images using a faceless character, posed in an attempt to convey different emotions. Using a focus group as well as some other minor groups I will ask for peoples opinion on the specific emotion being shown and what gave them this idea.

The 14 images made for this project using the MooM rig (http://www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/character-rigs/c/moom-v4-0-3-by-ramtin) with a slight alteration to conceal the face:

Research Project - Laban Movement Analysis

Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) is a system looking at describing movement in a precise manor for the purpose of teaching and understanding different aspects of movement through observation as well as experience.

LMA states that every movement can be described through the following categories:

-Body

-Effort

-Space

-Shape

-Relationship

-Phrasing

Body

Looks at movement of separate body parts and their relationship.

Consider - Which body part initiates the movement?

               -In what way are the different body parts involved in the movement?

               -Are parts of the body being held?

Effort

How the body concentrates its exertion while performing movements.

The appearance and style of a movement can change depending on the characters inner involvement and personal preference. (Depending on how someone feels towards something effects the level of effort they put into a movement involving it)

Analysis and conscious use of effort is an important tool to observe, label and expand nonverbal expression.

Space

The location, direction and path of a movement. 

The relationship between someone and their environment.

Uses the five Plato solids as models for personal space (kinesphere).

Shape

The changing forms the body makes in space.

Observation of shape changes can lead to understanding of a characters affinity/disaffinity towards their surroundings.

For example: Extending a hand in greeting can have its meaning altered if the character were to lean forwards at the same time.

Relationship

The modes of interaction oneself, others and the environment.

The relationship between a character and others can be conveyed through how they position themselves.

Phrasing

In reference to the other aspects this is how a movement is structured and stressed by someone to discern a pattern. (Possibly give a trait to a character in how they move, making them recognisable to an audience?).

Looking at the LMA will be a huge factor when considering the different elements of my research project as it primarily focuses on expression through movement and uses methods to articulate and measure its effectiveness. 

Its breakdown of each area of movement will aid in the production of my artefacts, giving me more aspects to experiment with to give a different effect.

Research Project - Reading Material

In preparation for working on my artefacts and developing my ideas for them I have been looking into existing research papers and theses that could be of relevance to my work.

On posture as a modality for expressing and recognizing emotions.
http://web4.cs.ucl.ac.uk/uclic/people/c.jennett/BerthouzeHCI06.pdf

Creating Believable Acting in Animation. 
http://hig.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:533710/FULLTEXT01.pdf.

Recognizing Emotions Expressed by Body Pose: a Biologically Inspired Neural Model.
http://www.igp.ethz.ch/photogrammetry/publications/pdf_folder/schindler08nn.pdf


These mainly focus on the conveyance and recognition of emotions through body movements as this will be what my first two artefacts circulate around and will help when formulating the specifics of how I go about them.

I have also been reading other books that have more general information that will be useful:

The Illusion of Life - Disney Animation - Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas

The Animators Survival Kit -Richards Williams

Research Project Artefact Concepts

With my research project I have been considering my first two artefacts to produce. The main factor I want to focus on with these is the conveyance of emotions from a character, solely using body dynamics.

Looking at existing examples that focus on this concept such as the ‘Animation Mentor’ courses that have character posing as one of the lessons, producing strong, static poses conveying an emotion effectively as well as a research paper looking into the perception of emotions through static postures (http://staffwww.dcs.shef.ac.uk/people/D.Romano/ShaaraniRomanoACII07.pdf), I intend to produce my first artefact following on this line of static poses, feeling it to be a good starting point on understanding the basic elements of body dynamics.

My first artefact will consist of a series of images having a simple character, lacking a face to focus purely on the pose, being set into a variety of poses to convey different emotions. To get strong results I will mainly focus on key emotions e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear, but also include other more vague emotions to see how effective it can be at conveying these.

Some examples of static poses produced from the Animation Mentor Courses.

In terms of my second artefact I will want to evolve my original concept of conveying emotions through static poses into an animated form which will allow me to gain an understanding of how motion aids in giving of different emotions and also compare this with the effectiveness of how well they are conveyed in a static form.

This artefact will follow a similar vein as my first in producing a number short scenes each intent on conveying an emotion, again focusing on much more common emotions whilst also including less obvious ones.

I feel like the combination of these two artefacts shall be useful in understanding the effectiveness of body dynamics in how much they can be used to convey a character and their feelings to an audience as well as look at if the form in which they are placed alters the effectiveness of this.