Making The Visit - Character Animation

Oksana's father comes home and watches her scrub the floor. I am gaining a better feel for how to animate these characters. Notice the little touches of movement I am trying to put in for the father as he takes off his hat and stands there. The body looks alive by adding subtle hand and head movements. The character must always be expressing something. My next task is to add facial expressions to the father for this shot.

Making The Visit - Character Animation

Oksana's mother watches her scrub the floor while eating candy from a bowl. Here is an image from the animation. The shot is composed of multiple layers. The main components of the shot are a background painting of the wall and cupboard, the animated character sitting in the chair, and the table in the foreground.



Here is the background painting.


Here is the initial guide sketch drawn directly in Flash to provide a basic map of the image.


Click the button below to see this shot added to the animation.

Making The Visit - Character Animation

Oksana continues to evolve. She is patterned after anime characters because I think the technique helps give her a cute but capable look. Her eyes are becoming more definite and her hair is getting a lot of scribble added into it. Watch the animation below to see her first close-up animation.



Click the play button to watch the animation.

Making The Visit - Animation Test

Here's a color test of the opening of the film. You will see how the background art for the town and Oksana's house lead the viewer into the story. I am doing this because it is essential to give myself some indication of how the background art and character animation fit together.

Click the play button to watch the animation.

Making The Visit - Animation Test

Here's a new animation test of the shot near the beginning of the film where Oksana is scrubbing the floor at home. This work entailed painting a background that is loosely based on the storyboard sketch I did weeks ago. I used a paint program called ArtRage to do it. Then I imported that image into Flash 8 and set it as a background layer. Then I drew Oksana in four separate parts (hair, face, body, and arm with scrub brush). I then used Flash to animate each part of her. I had to draw Oksana in proper perspective so that she would fit with the room background.

Click the play button to watch the animation.

Making The Visit - Storyboards

My vacation is finished so let's get back to work on this movie. It's been difficult to sit down and draw. Sort of like starting an old car that's been sitting out in the cold too long. But once the pencil starts moving things happen. These two sketches show the inside of the old shack after Oksana opens the door.




I am beginning a series of model sketches for the Oksana character. This is the first of them:


Click the button below to see the two latest shots added to the storyboard movie.