Tale in the Sting - Production - Dog Scene and Ending Still

Just a heads up, there are some personal ramblings in this post, so I hope you don't mind…

Animating Totto-Chan

I believed I spent quite a while finding the right walk cycle for this scene, it proved strangely difficult finding one that wasn't too upbeat or cartoony. While I did limit the animation for certain scenes, I still really was trying to make the characters move as realistically as possible, and zany movements definitely did not suit this animation. And so numerous times I found myself diving back into google and tumblr trying to find better references, and it was several days later did I finally find one I was somewhat satisfied with.

NO LITTLE GIRL WALKS LIKE THIS TO SCHOOL.
(Unless they had been watching the Minister of Silly Walks sketch beforehand)

After the umpteenth attempt, I had managed to find a decent walk cycle reference.

Next, I started adding in the details.

Before finally cleaning up the lines… her head is lolling about too much, I know… eurgh.

Oh god…

As usual I had use a couple of guides for her… I was pretty sure
I used far more than what is shown in this screenshot.

Other than that, the rest of her animation went along quite smoothly, the running cycle reference I had found was shown from a different angle interestingly enough, but I had managed to adjust it quite well to my character (And I honestly think it looks better than the walk cycle). The little bits such as her turning back and laughing were not all that difficult either, I did reuse a couple of frames for when she turns back (I just rearranged the frames) and I think I only actually did about 3 frames for when she starts giggling, that I was effectively able to repeat.

Animating the Doggie

I had spent my entire Easter break taking care of my dog who had been diagnosed with cancer a month or so back, those weeks had proven physically and mentally stressful as I was torn between trying to save her somehow and simply accepting the fact that she would leave me in due time… while also trying my absolute hardest to stay on track with this project… My baby passed away a couple of days prior to my return to Leeds.

As I mourned for her, it was then that I decided that the dog featured in this animation would be redesigned to have an appearance closer to hers (It also helped that she somewhat resembled an adorably small german shepherd)… And so during breaks, I would try to familiarize myself with this 'new design' as well as attempted to improve in my ability to draw dogs (Especially since I had never drawn many prior to this project). I was already feeling nervous about animating a dog many months back when we had first been briefed about this project, but I was willing to go all out for her...

I even ended up drawing her and my other babies in some GTA fan art.

Unlike that fiasco with the human walk cycle, finding references for a running dog cycle proved much easier, thankfully I had already saved up on quite a few a couple of months back before the break had begun… it was only animating the bit that broke out of that cycle that proved to be the challenge… as well as keeping the details constant.

A surprisingly neat sketch for once.

I would have to readjust the positions of each layer so that he wouldn't run so fast. And as expected, there were so many details I kept missing out on had I to check each frame over and over, such as the shading for his muzzle, paws, length of his fluffy tail… and even his collar for crying out loud!

I had almost scrapped this scene completely and made do with him simply running across the screen without stopping (Seeing that the running cycle was the only part completed at the time), but once again I reminded myself that I really had to go all out and so went back to working on this little segment (Obviously it's still easier than make him running a full circle around her). Humorously, I wounded up acting out that little bit to get an idea on how he should turn his body, especially since I couldn't really find any references close to what I want online.

The background was later on removed so to allow the clear insertion of text (It was definitely going to be really difficult to read regardless of what color or outline I used). I am also wondering now whether I should have given her eyes… I however found this to be the only scene where it didn't seem all that necessary (It also looks as if her hat is covering her eyes anyway), I could ask my lecturer later on and see if it bothers him, no biggie.

(Update: It didn't bother him all that much, but I decided to add in her eyes just in case, because seriously this is the ONLY scene where she doesn't have eyes, some people will definitely notice this, not just me.)

The white glow was later on removed in the final animation, it almost seemed as if she is walking out and running back into some dangerously thick fog, besides, the vignette added in later on will still give a similar if not better dreamy effect.

Ending Still

I decided to make the final scene a still image, it just seemed more suiting, after all the little animated scenes before, ending it with a shot resembling a photo just seems right to me… especially when it fades to white after the final credit is shown...