Ian Hubert is a visual effects artist from Seattle known for his work in Blender. He has worked on short films and YouTube content. His teaser trailer for the film Dynamo effectively uses lighting, tracking, and direction to showcase futuristic technology. Hayao Miyazaki is a famous Japanese anime animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli. His films are influenced by manga and explore a wide range of genres. Miyazaki believes animation should not be rushed and should deal with philosophical ethics. Chuck Jones was a legendary animator for Warner Brothers, known for characters like Bugs Bunny and Road Runner. He focused on defining what characters wanted and how they moved for comedy. He was master

1. Contextual Research And
Contextual Statement
Bronte Parsons

2. Ian Hurbert
• Ian Hurbert is an Visual Effects artist from Seattle, American. Ian mainly works in Blender and has worked on visual effects for
the short films Tears of Steal, Dynamo Dream, Dynamo, Project London as well as a variety of YouTube content. Ian Hurbert
as also directed and edited a number of short films. He started creating animations in 2004 and is still working until present.
There are no book about him or written by him but there is a an article about him in which he is interviewed on
Rokoko.com https://www.rokoko.com/users/rokoko-user-story-ian-hubert-filmmaker-vfx-artist-master-of-blender3d. The
article discusses his recent co-operation with the Rokoko company and how he is now using their Smartsuit Pro which allows
him to animate character using is own body movements which are automatically tracked "I now started to be able to think in
a way that I can just assume I can animate characters now or just animate things with humanness to them. I can finally
explore those ideas and achieve realism." I chose to study Ian because he mainly works on city-scapes and science fiction
vehicle, I will also include these things in my product. On Ian Hurbert's YouTube channel there are a lot of short Blender
tutorials which I have used to learn some Blender skills last year. In this project I will find his tutorial "How to make
apocalyptic cities in blender" https://youtu.be/qNba2oEij2c. These are screenshots of his work from 2006 to 2016 to show
how he has improved over time.
Visual effect work in 2006 Visual effect work in 2010 Visual effect work in 2016

3. Ian Hurbert
• The piece of work I of his I will choose his teaser trailer for his film Dynamo because it has a lot of different elements that I
can talk about and it has a short length so it will be easier to locate the points which I want to talk about. Here is the
source: https://youtu.be/qG31WSioSxk. The lighting looks very realistic and the shadows cast by objects very accurately
control by the light sources. The piece is pretty well directed in that beginning of the shot looks like present day but the
futuristic triple decker train suddenly passes by and more technology is revealed as the video goes on. The tracking is very
good as objects never pass through the green screened actor and her position realistically according to the movement of
the virtual camera. The lighting on the actor is the same as the lighting in the scene. However some object look as their
textures have been stretched and are sometimes too blurry.

4. Hideo Miyazaki
• Hayao Miyazaki is possibly the most famous anime animator and regarded as one of the best animators in history. He was born in
Bunkyo in 1941 and began his animation work at Toei Animation where he animation in-between frames in the film Doggie March
and Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon. He is co-founder of studio Ghibli and creator of classics such as Howl’s Moving Castle and
Spirited away. His artwork like many Japanese animators is influenced by Japanese Manga which is a “visual style based on codes
and conventions that differ profoundly from those employed by mainstream American cartoons.” (Cavallaro, D; 2006, P15).
Cavallaro talks about Manga placing more emphasis “on line over form. Lipless mouths, exceptionally large eyes, markedly plastic
and heart-shaped faces” (Cavallaro, D; 2006, P15).
• Anime tends to be more adventurous with it’s use of camera angles and techniques than american animation and Cavallero points
out they “overflow with tracking shots, long-view establishing shots, fancy pans, unusual point-of-view camera angles, and extreme
close ups,... in contrast with most american animation which tends to thrive in an action obsessed middle distance.” (Cavallaro, D;
2006, P16).
• Anime tends to cover a greater amount of genres and sub-genres than american animation which usually focuses Miyazaki is
particularly interested in science fiction/fantasy. It takes its influences from both “Indigenous lore, (as attested to by My Neighbour
Tortoro and Spirited Away) and western materials (eg Howl's Moving Castle and Kiki's Delivery Service.)
• Miyazaki believes that animation should not be rushed and that they should be serious works of art with a lot of thought put into
them and believes they should be philosophical and deal with ethics and e also puts a lot of emphasis on them being original and
not dictated by the anime industry itself. Cavallero makes this point when he points out that Myiazaki believes “many people in the
animation industry today seem to have no qualms in placing fashionable tastes above all aesthetic and ethical
considerations” (Cavallaro, D; 2006, P32).
• I think that Miyazaki's animations are very good at making enviroment thing such as wind blowing glass seem realistic and he
is good at showing characters emontion through their hair as he often will separate strands of hair and make them stand on edge
when a character is shocked.

5. Chuck Jones
• Chuck Jones is one of the most famous and iconic of animators. He worked for the Warner Brothers Studios between 1938
and 1962 "he directed more than 200 cartoons for Warner Brothers, 10 films a year 6 minutes per film" (Zhou, T; 2015) and
worked with characters that had already been mad such as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, but also created his own Road
Runner, Wile E Coyote and Pepe Le Pew. In 1962 he worked for Metro Goldwyn-Mayor and produced a series of Tom And
Jerry cartoons. He won three academy awards and was nominated 9 times.
• He is known for creating characters with, as Tony Zhou points out, "clearly defined wants" (Zhou, T; 2015). Zhou goes on to
say that “once you find out what the character wants you can figure out the next question – how does this particular
individual move?’ (Zhou, T; 2015) and as Chuck Jones himself says in interview, ‘the story should sell itself by the way it
moves.’ (Zouh, T; 2015). He is more concerned in fact by how characters move than by how they act, “What makes a cartoon
character significant is not how it looks, it's how it moves.” (Ward, A 1979) He is generally regarded as a comic master of the
facial expression in cartoons and it is noted that his use of facial expressions gets more subtle and minimalist in his later
work (Zhou, T 2015.)
• In his Biography Chuck Amuck The Life And Times Of Animated Cartoonist Jones talks about understanding the simplicity of
his character’s desires and how he uses this to create comedy, ‘Comedy is nearly always the stuff of the ordinary concerning
itself with simple matters and simple ambitions. With ordinary pursuits and ordinary ambitions. Charlie Chaplin often, and
the coyote always, is simply trying to get something to eat.’ (Jones, C; 1999; p28)
• "One of techniques Chuck Jones uses to create comic action is by contrasting assumption and reality." (Zhou, T 2015). For
instance when a character goes to hit a rock with a hammer we assume the rock will crack but instead the hammer cracks.
He often repeats this type of joke throughout a cartoon like roadrunner.

6. Animation Theory
• I found George Maestri’s book Digital Character Animation 3 useful for laying out some of movement in characters and having
a good idea of what helps the audience recognise movement and what makes it realistic. He talks about the important
relationship between motion and timing, “Good animation timing means knowing exactly when your character should react,
blink, or pull that mallet out from behind his back” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 105,). He talks about the relationship between timing
and the audience recognising the effect animator is trying to achieve, “A character stubs his toe, recoils, and then reacts, if the
reaction is too quick the audience will not have time to “read it”; the recoil acts as a bridge between the two main actions.”
(Maestri, G: 2006; P 1117,)
• He goes on to talk about the meaning of motion, “A character moves his body for a reason and these motions are very
important because they convey a character’s mood and personality.”(Maestri, G: 2006; P 105,). He talks about how one of the
things that makes a character more realistic is considering that when a character is moving they “accelerate into their motions
and decelerate out of them” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 106,). This will be useful to bear in mind when I am thinking about frame
rate in movement. Maestri also talks about “squash and stretch” and how we make the audience aware of the texture of
something on impact by changing its shape or not when it makes contact when it is in motion. He talks about “giving a ball
bouncing on the ground a rubbery feel by squashing it as it hits the ground and stretching it as it takes off.” (Maestri, G: 2006;
P 123)
• Maestri also talks about “anticipation” meaning the “body’s way of gaining momentum before an action begins”(Maestri, G:
2006; P 126,). He gives an example of how we “move our arms backwards before we jump. He talks about how anticipation
helps the audience see what is happening, “Moving the object in the opposite direction of its eventual motion draws attention
to the object before it makes the important move. When it does move the audience is watching so the motion can be much
faster without confusing viewers.”(Maestri, G: 2006; P 127) Maestri talks about the relationship between primary action and
secondary action. He gives an example of “a baby wiggling her toes while she eats” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 129) as an example of
secondary action and talks about how jewellery, belly fat, or clothes moving as secondary actions alongside a primary action
can “bring a character to life” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 129). He gives sound advice about being careful not to let secondary
actions take over though, “If they become too wild or noticeable they will become primary actions and detract from the shot”
(Maestri, G: 2006; P 129)

7. Contextual Statement
• I the main reason why I have decided to make this project an animation is because I will hope to be doing an
animation course at university so this FMP is a change for me to experiment with certain softwares that I am likely
to use in the future also I fine animating quite fun. Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions I am unable to do work
within college ground or in public. This also further backs up my decision to make an animation because I am able
to make an animation at home by myself as I will not need actors and I will not need to record footage outside but
only use myself as a reference as to how the character will move. I was influenced by a number of films. There will
a will human animal hybrids at the beginning which will take influence from eco horror films like Long Weekend
by Colin Eggleston or Tremors by Ron Underwood. I plan for one of my character design to be a mixture between a
gorilla and a goblin. When I was looking for inspiration for this creature and I found a untitled painting by Sascha
Schneider called To A Soul in which there in a round ape-like character which will act as my template for the my
creature. The beginning of my animation will probably start off in a group of farmyards fill with dead animals and
screaming hybrids this scene will likely look similar to the scene in El Topo by Alejandro Jodorowsky where the
protagonist finds a massacred village in that it will contrast extreme close ups with wide shots. I plan to Adobe
Animate for the movement, Adobe Photoshop for the close ups because as it is drawn on a pixel level so it will be
easier to create small details, and I will use blender for static interiors and large landscapes instead of anything that
moves.

8. Bibliography
• Anon (2020) Ian Hubert - Filmmaker, VFX artist, master of Blender3D (https://www.rokoko.com/users/rokoko-user-story-
ian-hubert-filmmaker-vfx-artist-master-of-blender3d) (accessed 12/01/21)
• IanHurbert (2019) How to make Apocalyptic Cities in Blender - Lazy Tutorials (https://youtu.be/qNba2oEij2c)
(accessed 12/01/21)
• Jones, C. (1999). Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. United States: Farrar, Straus
and Giroux.
• Every Frame A Painting (2015) Chuck Jones The Evolution Of An Artist (https://youtu.be/kHpXle4NqWI)
(Accessed 13/01/21)
• Ward, A (1979) Master Animator Chuck Jones: The Movement's The Thing United States: The Times
• Maestri, G (2006) Digital Character Animation 3 Berkeley, California: New Riders
• Cavallero, D (2006) The Anime Art Of Hayoa Miyazake Jefferson North Carolina and London: Mcfarland and
Company.
• Eggleston, C (1978) Long Weekend
• Jodorowsky, A (1970) El Topp
• Schneider, S (1904) Um eine Seele/To A Soul (he has made a another painting of the same name so
I will include the link) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sascha_Schneider_-_To_A_Soul.jpg