Workflow: Lipsync

Life Drawing: Female Character Exercise

(The drawings below did not show up in the scanner, so I had to take some quick low quality pictures)

Filmic Language: Animatic

To create this animatic, I cropped the images from my storyboard and placed them in a sequence in time with the dialogue for my piece. This will provide a rough outline and a good guide for my animation.

Filmic Language: Storyboard

I used my personal reference footage to create a storyboard. I went through the videos and paused at certain poses that I liked and felt as though they expressed each moment of the dialogue well. I kept the design of my storyboard simple and grey scale so that it was simple to understand. I had received criticism in the past from tutors, saying my storyboards were far to detailed for this stage of the production, so with that in mind I made sure to keep it simple, bold and legible. I used red arrows to indicate a change in movement and I used small symbols such as '?' and '...' to depict confusion and shock.

Next, I will use this storyboard to create an animatic. That way I will be able to visualise how each movement and camera shot would fit within the scene and the timing of the dialogue.

Acting: Character References

I was puzzled at how to begin animating my characters as there are so many ways to interpret a piece of dialogue, and due to the nature of my piece it needed to seem natural and not too exaggerated or unrealistic. Therefore, I decided the best way to understand how to deliver the lines naturally was for me to deliver them myself. I set up a camera on my desk and filmed myself multiple times for each character. I chose my top two pieces of footage for each character for my blog to show what reference I was using to better grasp how to animate the scene.

First of all, I played the dialogue and reacted without speaking to the words. This allowed me to understand the emotion of the piece and forced me to think about body language more when I can't rely on the dialogue to convey my message. I found this to be useful as I didn't rehearse beforehand and just threw myself into the role of each character- this allowed me to react naturally to the lines.

Firstly, I did this as the interviewer:

And then as the interviewee:

After this, I turned the audio off and had the script breakdown on the screen in front of me. I read off a small section of lines at a time, in juxtaposition to the previous exercise where my body took control of the scene. Here it was all about how I delivered the dialogue. I found that as I was speaking the lines, my body naturally reacted to the words. I also tried each line multiple times in a variety of interpretations. This allowed me to think outside of the box and understand the motives of the characters a lot more.

Again, firstly I spoke the lines of the interviewer:

And then the interviewee:

Although at first I was embarrassed to film myself and act the lines out, I realised that this is an invaluable reference that I will use to make my character performance better, more believable and true to life. 

Chosen Audio Clip: Character Synopsis

I decided to first identify the clip I intend to use before creating my characters with the Morpheus Rig. I didn't want to create my characters firstly, and then fall short on the quality of the clip because I've limited myself to a specific criteria of character. I am happy with my chosen audio piece and therefore began constructing what characters I imagine would be in such a scenario.

The interviewee character has a very youthful and quirky voice, therefore I decided to create a young adult female character for her part. The interviewer character has a voice that is far more mature and authoritative and therefore I imagined her character to look older in appearance than her co-star.

The chosen clip does not make much sense to an audience on its own as it is just a small section taken from a whole scene between the two women. Therefore I thought it would be best to create my own character synopsis for the main character to imagine my own scenario and unique take on the scene. I've decided not to write a character synopsis for the interviewer character as she has limited number of lines which only act as a contrasting rebound and driving force to the big personality and comedy of the first character.

Character 2 (Interviewee)

Born into a family of wealth, Character 2 has had a rather spoon-fed life. Living glamorously from her parent's generous allowance,  she is a socialite who loves to have fun and doesn't take life too seriously. However, her mother and father have taken great care in giving her the best education to set her up for the future, knowing that some day she will have to stop relying on them and prove her own worth.

Quite the mathematician, Character 2 has a bright future ahead of her, although her lazy ways leave her at a disadvantage of becoming an independent adult and a working young woman. Her charm and cunning had kept her living comfortably thus far and safe under her father's radar, however the strain of watching their young party-girl put her knowledge and talents to no use had gone too far. In fear that she would not change her ways, her parents felt that the best thing to do was to cut her allowance and arrange a job interview for her in accounting.

Character 2 is happy the way things are, and she's not ready quite yet to leave it all behind. Reluctantly, and after much persuasion, the feisty heiress finally agreed to at least attend the interview, however she understood that this didn't mean she actually had to take the job. She is no stranger to getting what she wants and she knows that this time will not be any different. She will do anything, even sabotage the interview, so she can keep her perfect life. 

Chosen Audio Clip: Dialogue Script/Audio Timed Breakdown

Character 1: I have been uhm... looking over your resume and I have to say, I am very Impressed. 

0:12 - 0:16 (4 seconds)

Character 2: Oh, thank you.

0:16 - 0:17 (1 second)

Character 1: You know, actually I think, to be honest you are over-qualified to be an accountant. (laughs)

0:17 - 0:23 (6 seconds)

Character 2: Oh well that's okay, I don't intend to work very hard.

0:23 - 0:26 (3 seconds)

(3 second pause)

Character 1: Uh... Really?

0:29 - 0:31 (2 seconds)

Character 2: Absolutely. In fact, I only intend to show up when I feel like it. Which is good because I have a wide variety of extremely annoying personal habits and absolutely no sense of hygiene. 

0:31 - 0:42 (11 seconds)

30 seconds total.