First Cut is the Deepest

Just wanted to share with you roughly 2 minutes of a cut we did this weekend! Enjoy and critique!




Village of Kepuhi Introduction: Final and Test Animation from Haley Monson on Vimeo.

-H

Time Keeps on Slippin'

Kepuhi Sequence 03 from Haley Monson on Vimeo.

Today kind of felt like an off day but I'm hoping we can still use the footage I animated. Even my waves felt out of place but I think this was partially due to my plastic fork breaking- meaning it's time for a post about tools!

Although you can animate almost everything in sand with your hands, sometimes it helps to have tools to make patterns, textures, and achieve a certain aesthetic. For example, the waves are always created with a plastic fork. I used a metal one today because my plastic fork broke. The only problem with this is that plastic forks allow more pressure sensitivity, as odd as that sounds, so the waves weren't what I was looking for. 

Also, I always make sure I have a cup on hand because then you can just add/subtract sand off the light-table in a very efficient way.

Other good tools I used a lot when I was beginning were toothpicks, plastic spoons, and plastic knives. 

We have about a month left so I'm hoping we can get more studio time to finish up in the coming weekends. We have 14 shots done which sounds iffy but I think we can do it!

Have a good weekend!
-Haley

Excerpts!

Here are two excerpts from our short film, Village of the Eel, I would like to share with you! Enjoy!

Kepuhi Sequence 01 from Haley Monson on Vimeo.

Kepuhi Sequence from Haley Monson on Vimeo.

I am very happy about our progress and excited to see what Mee and I will accomplish next! Hope you are all having a wonderful spring break- or are about to!
-Haley

Another One Bites the Dust!

Chief: Final Shot 09-10 from Haley Monson on Vimeo.

Hello All! Last week we finished another scene! We have decided to try to get two shots done a week and Chris drew up a pretty nifty production calendar that I'm not sure I fully understand but it's all about learning right?

In this scene we are introduced to the chief of Kepuhi. I really wanted to complete the scene this week because it is short and Mee and I did not have a lot of time this weekend.

As I was staring at this storyboard, I realized I had no idea how we were going to make the sand dissipate. In post production, a cross fade would have sufficed but that's really not the point of this exploration. I tried to make lines come off of the chief but nothing was really working for me so I just tried to run my fingers through the sand which proved equally disastrous. 

While Mee Choe was animating the final cut of his staff raised I realized we were approaching shot 10 in timing and I asked her what she thought of us blowing on the sand. We tried to find a way to test it but were already in on the shot so we decided to wing it! I do not advise this as mentioned in my last post, if you screw up a frame in one scene you've ruined your entire sand shot. But Mee was game so I was too! And the blowing on the sand effect came out really fabulous! We just had to be careful about not laughing at each other because it looks really ridiculous blowing sand around on a light table...

-Haley

Animation from Object Animation class

This is work done last year in Object Animation class. The current effort will be new and improved, benefitting from things we learned the first time around.

Trial and Error

Hi there! There was a ridiculous amount of snow today in Philadelphia so I thought sand animation would be a good way to get out of the winter rut. Unfortunately, the shot I was working on was just not fitting the aesthetic which leads us to the title... trial and error.

Sand animation is pretty interesting in that you animate straight ahead with little planning and then your shot is done! It's time consuming to make but once it's done, it's done. Traditional animation consists of keyframes, inbetweens, and then inking and coloring. If one of your frames gets messed up you can always redraw it and pop it in to the animation but if you mess up in sand the whole shot can be ruined. This has led to me doing a lot of "test shots" and then bringing in Mee Choe to discuss. She is really great to work with because I can't always execute what I want to happen but she sure can! Today was a little rough and although it didn't result in progress, at least I have more practice.

Last week I was doing a test of the eel shot to see how the composition would work and how I wanted the seaweed would move. The one above has more of a serpentine motion (to which someone asked- are those his little eel friends? No.) as opposed to a flowing motion. I did not realize how SLOWLY I would have to animate the weeds to make them flow- they have to BARELY change in each shot. Also I took out the bubbles. You can see how different the two turned out and the importance of testing and practice! 

stay warm! 

-Haley

Everybody's Working For The Weekend

Eel still by Mee Choe

Here's some preview and behind the scenes images from the film we worked on over the weekend!

-Haley

short motion test

Christopher Magee, animator

Hello!

I teach animation at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, PA. My classes include technical and content-oriented foci, and, as the child of a mixed race couple, I have a keen interest in using animation as a vehicle for exploring cultural difference and cultural assumption.

Having grown up in Hawai'i on the islands of O'ahu and Maui, I would like to use my skills to investigate Hawaiian culture through visual and audio representation. Hawai'i is a beautiful place, and one realizes this even more when one leaves it after having grown up there. My aim is to provide workshop participants the opportunity to dig beneath the surface, still often trivialized, of indigenous culture, its values, aesthetic, and traditions. In addition to visual research into Hawaiian imagery, we will be seeking local musicians and cultural representatives in an effort to create a short film that is authentically informed, and the scope of which goes beyond mere entertainment.

Christopher Magee

Haley Monson, animator

Introducing Haley Monson, one of two student artists working on "The Village of Kepuhi" sand animation. Haley is a third-year Animation major at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

When I began to research for a fuller understanding of the story "The Village of Kepuhi," I first looked at Ellie Crowe's and Elan Penn's wonderful book Hawaii: A Pictorial Celebration. I immediately fell in love with the landscapes and wanted to learn more of the history. While researching costumes for the Kahuna, I was particularly struck by the gourd masks. I tried to incorporate their designs into the sand as best as I could, which is another aspect I love about this project - the sand. The initial challenge of using sand is slowly becoming an easier (or harder, depending on how the day is going) task. I find it really interesting how the medium relates to the cultural context of our subject, and also how it represents a great exploration into new forms of storytelling. I am looking forward to learning more of Hawai'i's beautiful culture and exploring this very tactile form of visual storytelling.

Haley Monson

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! Currently, two students (Mee Choe and Haley Monson) and myself are working on a revision of "The Village of Kepuhi," a Hawaiian legend we are animating in sand that we hope will serve as an example of the possibilities using animation as a tool for cultural education. Please read the "About" page for more information, and stay tuned to this blog as update it with posts of our work process.

~ Chris