A fantastic opportunity has popped up for me to take part in a live brief!
I got a call from Chief Productions in Salford -- a company whom I have worked with before in the past -- to work as animator on a commercial for Jessops camera shop. Obviously I snapped at the chance.
Usually on these jobs I am provided with a storyboard, but as this was a last-minute job to be broadcast in time for Christmas shopping, there was no storyboard this time. Also, I usually get a prep day in the studio, but again this was not possible because it was a low-budget job with only one day in the studio. All I was informed was that it would involve a present unwrapping. This made it rather nerve-wracking for me, as I was unable to do any preparation.
Upon arrival at the studio, I spent some time talking through the concept with the director to get some idea of the format of the commercial. I had two short shots to film.
That's a wrap
The first shot involved a present wrapping itself up. The obvious solution to this was to shoot backwards, because it would be impossible to animate wrapping and finish up with a perfect-looking present. The director also wanted the wrapping paper and ribbon to magically appear from underneath the present, for which I decided to cut away slices of the paper frame by frame. However, because the wrapping paper was patterned, I couldn't cut the ends of the paper, because it would reveal my trick! I therefore decided to cut away the part of the paper that was hidden behind the present, which would keep the pattern at the ends of the paper the same
In terms of animating the paper, the director initially wanted me to use hidden aluminium wires. I tested this, but the wire was not strong enough to hold the paper in a curved position. However, I was able to locate some scraps of black wrap, and therefore rigged up a much more effective solution by sandwiching the black wrap between two pieces of wrapping paper.
The present, once wrapped, was to be picked up by one hand model and passed to another. I suggested that this should be done via pixilation, in order to make the difference between the two sections of the shot less jarring. We tried this out -- and got to experience my first time directing actors! -- and, although it was very straightforward and turned out well, the director decided that he didn't like the pixilated effect and shot in live-action instead (which involved changing the camera and trying to match up the framing exactly -- glad I didn't have to do that!)
Animation of this shot was quite straightforward, except for having to constantly replace the present in order to cut paper from behind, and then put it in the exact same position. Luckily, I had the set dresser on hand to help me with this.
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again
The second shot was more complicated: a photograph had to come out of a cloud and float down to Earth realistically. This really was a situation where I needed preparation time that I didn't have. My initial idea was to use fishing wire, one piece attached to each corner, and have someone puppeteer it while I direct it. We did have a go, but it was just not possible to achieve given the limitations of a set (someone had to stand on a ladder and lean over the backdrop, and there just wasn't enough room for him to manouevre).
My next solution was not to animate at all, but to just drop the photo, shooting on high frame rate, and slow down the footage. We gave this a go too, and it went down like a lead balloon. It would have worked out, perhaps, if we had some fans, but given time limitations it was not possible to go and buy some.
The answer to the problem was to build a rig -- a huge, human-sized rig! The gaffer quickly cobbled something together from his collection of clamps and light stands. This was incredibly challenging as not only had I never animated using a rig before (even a normal-sized one!), but it was the last shot of the day, so I was under a lot of pressure from a crew that were patiently waiting to go home. I struggled a lot, and I had to delete a lot of frames, but eventually I got the hang of it. I was not incredibly pleased with the result, but it was the best I could do in a short time, and the director seemed pleased enough with it.
Below are my notes from the morning of the shoot. All that's left now is to wait for the finished commercial to be released!
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