Cogs/Gears - Lot 4

I have a grate fascination with clocks with there mechanics and beautiful presentation. While looking at images of them I thought it would be good to save a few for reference on different styles and on how they do not always show all the gear as part of it is hidden behind something. This to me looks quite pretty and may be good for my machine to not show all of its mechanics but to indicate them.

Cogs/Gears & Stuff - Lot 3

Here are some quite nice formative videos that help show how gears react to one another. Also helped with understanding the teeth a little more and how fast they go due to there size.

Cogs & Stuff - Lot 2

Here I am still looking at different cogs and mechanisms, some small. some large, for reference and inspiration. 

Artistic Research

I could not help looking and W Heath Robinson work while thinking of creating my machine. Since Alan reminded me of Robinson my fondness for this work was reestablished. Although my invention will probberly not be as wacky his Robinson's, I thought it would be good to look at this drawings for inspiration on how things can work and interact out side the norm. 

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.