Inspiration = This project, Warning, is inspired by Jenny Joseph’s poem of the same title. What a journey this has been to transform a poem into an animation clip! I approached this project with vivid pictures of my grandmother taking on the role of Abigail. With each sentence in the poem, I associated visuals that would bring Abigail to life - one that the audience can relate to and laugh with. Abigail is the centre piece of this project and as her character evolved, so did the setting that was built around her. Various scenes were adapted solely on the way Abigail reacted, behaved and moved. To grow with Abigail has been a fuliilling experience. This is dedicated to my grandmother, Noorlia Noordin, for such inspiration, You've given me a childhood I can capsulize.Introduction aes Going into adulthood, we train ourselves to conform to society's expectations of us. We act and behave in ways that are deemed acceptable - No more splashing in puddles, no more dancing inthe rain, Our days are filed with ‘adult’ responsibilities, Along the way, knowingly or nat, we let our magical childite wonder go because we expect logical reasons for everything that happens. We forget what itis ite to experience something for the first time ~ to be awed by the simple curiosity, Jenny Joseph's poem demands that we embrace life and fun, casting off the age tag that we attach ourselves to. In creating Abigail, I wanted to mould « character who defies the stereotypical image of an old lady, whichis small and frail, Growing up with a fashionista grandmother who was bold in her hair colour choices has allowed me to relate to this poem as soon as I read it. My grandmother would dye her hair red, purple, magenta, whatever that suited her mood and fancy, Most of al, she never forgets to laugh, often at ather people's expanse. But this was exactly how I've learnt to laugh at life when it demands my attention unnecessarily, {draw large inspirations from my grandmother and sought to create Abigall as society’snon-conformist - A character whois full of confidence, ‘charm and trendiness while stil having positive body image and doing things perceived to be age inappropriateThe Poem > by Jenny Joseh When Iam an old woman I shall wear purple With aed hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. Tsshall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells ‘And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. shall go out in my slippers in the rain ‘And pick flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit, You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry ‘And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children, ‘We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.COLLABORATIONSVoiceover Artist Gayanne Potter Ttwas important to get a voiceover artist with experience and one whois able to ‘encapsulate Abigail's whimsical and fun character. Gayanne did a fantastic job showcasing her versatility to reveal Abigail's inner thoughts. With two decades of experience, Gayanne let her personality embody Abigail's and she produced this exceptional performance of Abigail www.gayannepotter.co.ukFoley Artist Martin Langenbach ‘Tknew that the sound effects would play a crucial role in setting the mood. ‘and pacing the story. Martin was exceptional in understanding the needs of every scene in this story and coming up with sounds concept that was, absolutely fitting. With twenty years of experience and as a reputable Foley Artist in Germany, I am grateful for Martin's skill and knowledge in crafting the setting for this animation. wwwigeraeuschemacher.deABIGAIL ———Abigail Influence MapTnitial Character Sketches the most suitable to bring out Abigal's ind developed, as she was seen as. tal sketches of Abigail. Sketch number 4 was chosen at the init character. These areMain Outfit DesignsCharacter Concept Artaa om dD.» =e 2 © »aYThe Unseen Art - nCloth Hat Abigallis constantly on the move and one of her main accessories isa sun hat. It has to flap as she moves. With this in mind, I chase to create an Cloth out of the hat to achieve this.Abigail Orthographic Drawing Floral OutfitHair Development {started modelling Abigail using the box modelling method. The challenge came when it was time to create her hair, Using a box sphere did ‘not achieve my intended goal I took different approach and used cinnamon ral as an inspiration to create the type of curls Thad in mind for Abigail, The result was spot on!The Unseen Art - Rigging ee * Abigail's rig differs slighty from the basic control of a character. For her, there are additional controls added to her rig Ths included the boobs Control and the end ofthe blouse controls, which would allow more freedom of movement for her when it comes ta animating the character.The Unseen Art - Rigging (No Pole Vector & IKFK Switc le with ed a no flip within the rig, I made an TKFThe Unseen Art - Sampler Info Node (Rim Light Shader) aramp y then plugged into the incand ight. Having rim light to the the lighting for the character within a scene and hen aura.Abigail Orthographic Renders Floral OutfitMain Outfit (Floral) Texture Maps. a | |\OMain Outfit Concept Art Character Render Character ClayPyjamas Colour CompositesAbigail Orthographic Drawing Pyjamas OutfitAbigail Orthographic Renders Pyjamas OutfitPyjamas Texture Maps Ne = Ne . - ve ve : .a Pyjamas Concept Art Character Render Character ClayCharacter Poses (Sketches)EXPRESSION SHEETSSketchesThe Unseen Art - Facial Rigging with Rivets Instead of creating phoneme and blendshapes based on emotions, I decided to create rivets as this does not restrict me to the facial ‘expressions she could pillLwve. Laudh. ww & j Love.SECONDARY CHARACTERLaura Influence Map rasLaura Orthographic Drawing @ Ee or ox éLaura Orthographic RendersLaura Texture MapsFacial Blendshapes VVV9 VIVO used a different approach to create Laura’s facial expressions, Tused blendshapes instead of rivets.Expressions ANAM aan aeENVIRONMENTTexture MapsStreet PropsWhen I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.Lighting TestsTexture Tests ‘when I was deciding how to construct my world and how my textures should be lke, Tested out by using outlines around the textures but soon realised that this was unsuitable,KM PO%>| LO a ¢ Oe oh 2) Ja Fey Je aAnd I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.The Unseen Art - Fur Attributes (Boa) ‘As Abigallis a fashionista, a boa is defintely part of her wardrobe. In order to create the boa, atrial and error ofthe fur settings was needed. Settings include the the tip width base and tip curl and scraggle.Texture Maps i) Ne ol Renders == of os eThe Unseen Art - Dynamics with Instancer (Money Rain) sm Outiner —_ {As Abigail dances with a botle of brandy and a glass in her hand, the money rains into the shot. In order to create this, I created an emitter and ‘added instances to the particles so that the notes emitted are randomizedsand satin sar a 2 Do ea owe ray OiT shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tiredDeleted Scene ‘The joke was not readable inthis instance and there was a change in scene.Notes She sits, sighs and hears her chewing the candies The line was better with visuals that shows her sitting down and panting,And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells.Deleted Scene There were too many close ups in terms of the shot sizes. Shot sizes were revised and instead of having Abigail walk towards the camera to ‘create the cut shot to the next scene, I have Abigail leave the shot instead.Notes Character walks into frame, candies traling behind her However, the camera shot sizes were not ideal, hence two cameras were added to the scene instead, cutting between the cameras. Doing so gives a better flow between the two shots,The Unseen Art - Dynamics with Instancer (Candies) {As Abigail runs out ofthe candy store, my plan was to have candies traling behind her. In order to achieve ths, I created an emitter and added instances to the particles so thatthe colour of the candies produced were variedAnd run my stick along the public railingsAnd make up for the sobriety of my youth.p= Prop (Ste Scooter) ‘The initial plan was to have Abigail dance in the rain with her umbrella, ut I wanted to showcase a more youthful side of her. In order to do that, shes seen here riding her skate scooter.T shall go out in my slippers in the rainThe Unseen Art - Dynamics with Collision Events (Rain) One of the effects I would like to incorporate within this line ofthe poem isthe rain. To make this possible, two planes were ceated. One of it was for the particles to be emitted from it surface, and the other was for it to bounce off.The Unseen Art - Water Splash with Bifrost Instead of creating the water splash with Maya's dynamic particles, I used Maya Bifrost instead. I favoured the outcome from using this method as it was able to create a realistic splash as Abigal gets in contact with the surface,Notes Abigail walks in the rain and a POV shot of her wearing her bunny slippers. Abigail is seen here entering the white space by jumping in « puddle ater. This works much better than the initial plan as seen in, the storyboard panelof, Over F ay % Fabulous .And pick flowers in other people’s gardensThe Unseen Art - gall sides through the grass, I wanted to have a slight movement After creating the grass with Maya's preset paint effect ted to polygons before creating nCloth out oft. Using nClothi trying to animate th reated anatural effect of Abigail interacting with them instead, Certain settings like bend resistance, rigidity and drag were adjusted to achieve the ideal outcome.Notes Abigail to gets on her knees and grabs @ bunch of flowers from a garden. She then walks away awkwardly with the bunch of flowers in her hand. She sneezes and the flowers fil the screen, Changes were made to this scene and instead of making litera, T decided to have Abigail enter @ ‘arden forcefully, and siding in the garden. Having these changes were necessary to stil keep her character of fun and michevious still tac.And learn to spit.You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fatDeleted Scene After executing the initial plan based on the storyboard, it was not visually interesting and is not able to bring out the best out of Abigal's character: Hence, a complete revamp to the scene was needed, The first development was to have her dancing along the street and she will -cen putting on weight. At the end of it, she enters a phonebooth. The phone booth did not serve its intended purpose and this scene was revised.c Notes The changes include having her taking her time to cross the street, and she grows fatter while at it. She is also seen wearing odd looking patterned tops. A car will also be in the scene as itimpatiently horns at her.And eat three pounds of sausages at a goNotes Te opening shot to this scene introduces a ple of sausages. Abigail's head peeks from the pile. She eats and then a close up shot of her mouth 1a she burps. However, the burp shot was taken out asit broke the flow to the next shot.Or only bread and pickle for a weekTexture MapsThe initial plan was to establish a shelf of food and the basket of bread and the jar of pickles of which it will start to flash. However, the plan was not feasible. Hence a development ofthat was to have the character into a room with multiple shelves of bread loaves and jars of pickles. Even with the development, Iwas not able to show her emotions, This scene was reconstructed and to make itvis- ually readble, shots of character's facial expression and her action was includedAnd hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxesDeleted Scene This is @ development ofthe storyboard. I fel that there was a need to link i to the previous scene. Abigail is seen with a picture frame of the shelves of bread and pickles. The aim was to showcase her as a hoarder, but this was unsuccessful in this instance.Topo Notes The initial plan for this scene was to establish Abigail looking bored but as soon as she makes an eye contact with her stationeries, she decided to pack them in boxes. However, I was unable to show that she's a hoarder and in order todo that, have place her in a room full of things and we see her packing,But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street And set a good example for the children.In continuation from the previous shot, Abigail will place her box of stuff on the edge of the table and walk towards her clothes rack, She then will ‘open a door which she will ext, anditis her front door. Aesthetically, T was not pleased and I changed the scene completely. Ihave her clothes reeled on a clothes line asi enters the shotDeleted Scene ae a al TT ea Tn Twas not quite satisfied with the planned storyboard and decided to experiment with different shots altogether. The changes were promising but was not satisfying and tweaks were made.For this scene, the plan was to have Abigail tripping as she leaves her house and that annayed her. As she looks over her shoulder, she notices a gir observing her. She then signals the girl to come over and gives her @ high five, The resolved scene was a development ofthe deleted scene, ‘The resolved shots include Abigail happily skipping across the road, unaware of traffic and then a car jam brakes before herWe must have friends to dinner and read the papers.Texture Mapsat Th MT To keep the scene simple yet effective, Ihave decided to have the dining table assembled and a spread of food laid out on the table, Food includes roasted chicken, pies and few glasses of drinks.But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.Deleted Scene t ‘first step in developing this scene from the storyboard, I thought I would have Abigail entering the room from an invisible door and start to act, within the space. However, it needed more content so this scene was given a reevaluation,Initially, [had the idea that Abigail should enter the room through an invisible door and she will proceed to act out in this space. This was not feasible since it would look sparse and break away from the established norm, This scene has been re-evaluated and revised.