Cogs & Stuff - Lot 1

Here I am looking into cogs and mechanisms to see how they work and interact. I am trying to get a range of small to big mechanisms to see how simply or complex I can go. Although with mine I may have a little backstage magic going on but with some key parts and close I will have to have working like it should do to keep it looking real(ish)... and appealing. I have also been looking at how cogs and the machines have been made to help my understanding.

More of an explanation to the one above. I also like this for the noise of the machine.

The Project

After a good chat with Phil with all my ideas that my brain kept going around in circles with, everything seems a little more clear. The idea I will be taking forward and exploring more will be the idea of the lone screw and the machine that does not work with out this single screw.

What the idea spoken was about a orrery or something similar (I think that is what they are called) type construction that contains bees and wild life etc instead of the solar system. This machine would not be working until the small lone screw is placed. 

For this idea Phil showed me some things I could use as influence such as the soundtrack of the flight of the bumblebee and ways in which I could animate in regards to the screw, I.E instead of a character putting the screw in place, the screw places it self like in the video below.

First Day On The Job Idea

This idea is quite simple but I found to be quite fun.  It is about a man on his first day of work. He is shown where he is about to work which is full of unknown buttons and levers. Then all of a sudden a button begins to flash. After a while he hesitantly goes to press the button. Nothing appears to have happened. The button begins to flash again consistently. Getting a little annoyed he begins to repeatedly begins to press it. Cuts to a picture of the world with a little explosion. 

An adaptation  of this could be with the window on the side. When he presses the button you see someone fall just out side the window. He heres a scream and looks out of the window. Seeing nothing (as the guy fell past the window before he looked) the button begins to flash again. Like before he begins to press it which ends up with a pile of people outside his window.

Card Tower Explorationg

Going on the idea I had about the card tower, I thought I would sketch it out and see how it looks. This is somewhat different than the one before (in the post before)  being based in the living room where it falls when he goes to get the camera. This is due to that, in my mind and with my scene of humor, I found this idea of it falling while he is almost finished more to my scene of comedy which ends with him climbing down his ladder, picking it up and walking out of the shot, turning the light off as he leave the room.

30 Second Shorts Ideas

After my chat with Alan about the possibility of making some 30 second animations I have tried to come up with a few, somewhat comedic ideas. Upon trying this I have found out I am not built for or  comedic minded.  However I thought I would note some ideas down and see what happens.

All these ideas have the theme of little things make big things happen and revolve around one man.

Card Tower

This idea is based in our characters living room. We enter when he has just finished building a tower out of cards. Pleased with what he has made he leaves the room to get a camera. While he is out of shot, a bee enters through the open window and lands upon the top of the tower. The tower then falls upon the characters re entree with the camera in hand.

Big Red Button

Set at work, the guy is at his sat bored at his work place which is surrounded buttons and leavers. After a while a button begins to flash. He then hesitantly goes to press the button. Nothing happens. He then repeatedly presses the button as nothing happens yet it still is flashing. It then cuts to a picture of the globe which then shows a little explosion.

The Big Screen

Set at home, the guy is just finishing placing his new plasma TV on the wall. He  then goes to plug it in but finds its a little short. It then shows him trying to pull the cord to get it into the socket. After a few attempts he manages to get it into the socket. When he flicks the switch to turn on the power and TV falls off of the wall.

Animation Short Research

After a little chat with Alan about my project, the main bit of advice was to get an underline theme rather than just than just little things make big things happen and that I may be over thinking it. We also spoke about how it could be from real world, small animations and how it could be that it is the bee that connects these small clips. I am looking at small little adverts and animations to get some ideas around this.

Connection Idea Exploration

I had this idea stuck in my head but couldn't quite see it. As it wouldn't go away I started to have ago at visualizing it which from the 3 images bellow show. It was going to be a conveyor belt that would bring along new connections. I was not a fan of this.

 While doing the images above, an image popped in my head and thus I changed it up with the following.

Chicken and the egg

A dog always has his day

You cant have Ant with out Dec

A flower and pollen

Pollen and the bee

The Lone Screw

This passing ideas is of a massive constructed mechanism that would have some sort of odd function like forming words or simply to make a smoothie. A little generic but I had a little giggle with the idea when thinking of how things are made In my house. By this I mean the neglect of the instructions and that one piece that we always seem to have at the end. So the idea was to view the unopened instructions and then machine working. It would then fail and explored for some unknown reason. It would then turn to the lone screw still on the side. It would then have a the message about how its the little things that keep everything turning which would then be related back to the bees in the comparison of the screw and the bee.

Children's Toys Idea Exploration

I liked the idea about the children's toys, safe guards etc and thought I would visualize and hopefully in my head explore it a little more.

While I was thumbnailing this out I was able to get more of a gist of how this could work. It may need a little narrative but would be like a baby advert. It would go from one image to the next (cam may be still or slowly moving on each image) showing all the little things to care for a baby child, toys,cot,safe guards etc.It would note all these little things and how they all add up to make a big thing, the loving care for the child. This would then be interrupted by a  dead flower in the babies room. It would be here that the key message would come up about this and then relate to the child in some way. Maybe like don't miss the small things and then relate to the Bees?  The flower would then be changed to a new healthy flower and end on the flowery garden with some loving pollinating Bees.

Paper Plane Idea Exploration

To explore the idea a little more so that I can work out how it would play out, I have done a series of images to  explore it visually. I like this idea and now I can see it a little more how the plane would fly and go from very large constructions slowly getting smaller and smaller. Then finally ending on the bumblebee pollinating a flower and then flies off while some pollen falls off of the bumblebee.

Brain Storming Continues - Lot 2

Continuing the brain storming, I have written down some ideas that came to me while watching the film Bee Movie. Some are less structure and are just a simple notion of an idea that has popped in and out of my mind.

Idea List:-

- The Goldberg Machine
- Old Film
- Sums
- Children's Toys
- Bee Facts
- Flying Pollen
- Paper Plane

The Goldberg Machine:

The Goldberg machine is a contraption that is overly complicated to do something very simple. (like the car advert from before: Here)*/

This could be a way to show how a lot of small things can turn into big things and then end by planting a seed or something like that.

In not quite sure how this would play out but I though I would note it down.

Old Film:

This idea is based on photos and film from the present to the past, graying out and becoming more dirty and dull.

It starts with lush fields, flowery meadows and full of life. It would then move on to show a decline in flowers and houses/buildings one by one coming into shot. As this transition happens,  the screen and colour become grey and dulled, like old tea stained film. In other words, nature and the flowers are pushed away as developments begins and the natural life/colour fades away.

Im not quite sure how this would end. Something along the lines of a single seed or particle of pollen falling and landing on something and then colour and life comes back.

Sums:

An idea I had while thinking of math is of a narrative piece, which tells and shows how things are connect to one another. Also how you can't have one without the other. This is meant to be somewhat comedic in a way. An example of this could be you cant have Dick with out Dom, Sweat with out Sour and Chips with out Seagulls etc showing how one comes hand in hand with the other.  This would then lead to the Bumblebee, pollen, flowers etc.

This would be shown in an empty space with things flying and popping in and out.

Children's Toys:

A collection of  shining  images of small toys for children and safe guards around the house like child gates etc. This would be with a narrative saying it is the little things that children love and how its is the little things that keep our children safe.

It would then turn to the future of the child, where they play etc, slowly making its way to the garden. It would say about trying to save the garden and to fill the garden with love so then the child has a bright future full of wounder in the garden of something along those lines.

Bee Facts:

A mix of narrative and images. As the narrative speaks about facts and interesting theories of the  bee, like how it shouldn't be able to fly etc, it will have little images that follow along. It would also say how the bee are important and how it would effect the food chain if they died out.

Flying Pollen: 

A Cam follows a bit of pollen flouting in the air. In the back drop you see all the things that relate pollen and how they help with. Leading to the result of pollination/food chain. an example could be a cow eating flowers or human crops etc. Finally, shows Bee moving the pollen and pollination fruit, veg and flowers.

Paper Plane:

The paper plane fly's out a window into an empty space. Random things pop in and out around the plane like flower meadows etc, then finally the bees pollinating them.This would end with a message of its the little things that go a long way. 

Brain Storming Ideas-1

Going from the idea of Little things make big things happen, I have been trying to think of a way to show this while also using Phil's suggestion of the possibility of it being metaphorical.

I have been trying to think of a main point are argument for my work for a little while now. And as I have not heard back from the bumblebee conservation trust I have decided to go with the theme of habitat lose.

This is one of the biggest threats to the bumblebee but I also found an interesting figure. In the UK gardens cover over on million acres which I think is also going to be apart of this idea.

Idea one

Im not sure if this is or if it could become metaphorical in any way.

The idea is based on the news channels like the weather etc.

Based in a sphere room, the camera turns around the room, viewings TVs and other such things. What is being shown is very much like a normal news channel but their stories have ties to the Bee in some way. 

An example could be the weather channel suggesting how the weather is looking grim with the development sweeping in from the west into the main land, taking more land and habitats or something along those lines.  

It would show a few of these, hinting at what happens if they decline and then brighten up, hinting at ways on how you can help the bumble, like planting flowers in your garden. An example could also be shown in the weather channel with little red dots appearing over the UK to show gardens helping the bumblebee by planting flowers for them. This then could slowly sweep over the UK as to show all the gardens doing this over the UK.  (Little things make big things happen)

The camera still turning would the end on a doors. The door wood open to show a garden full with flowers and wildlife.

Little Things Make Big Things Happen

I thought I would post these as while I'm experimenting with style I am also thinking about what and how I am going to convey some sort of message. These were shown to me as ideas on how I could show or explore my idea rather than the simple, here is a bee, now here is so info written down. I quite like the idea of lots of little things happening to make something big happen, like the domino effect, which in the case of the bumblebee, would happen if the bumblebee was to die out.