For my Personal Project, I would like to produce a series of very short character animations of a high enough standered to amke up my show reel, along with one longer one which will be my main focus.

The smaller animation exercises will consist of things like the facial reactions of a character as he watches a scary film. I would also like to include a heavy lift, a lip sync and throwing a Ball.

The main product I would like to focus on, is a about a lab test squirrel determinedly making his way across an obstacle course. The bulk of the animation will be him running and jumping through, but upon reaching the end, he will collapse just after the finish line, too exhausted to enjoy his prize of a nut. As the camera zooms out we also see several other squirrels sprawled out, having done the exact same thing. I will be animating in Maya and use Josh Burtons “squirrely” rig, and the obstacle models themselves will be quite simple; so that I can manage my time and focus on the quality of my animation.

Squirrel Character Bio- The squirrel has been in the lab most of his life and has grown to be quite competitive. He has learnt that doing well in his “tests” yields rewards. His demeanour is focused and determine at first, but he ends up in a frenzy if motion. He is a high energy character, with allot of body tension and an outer power centre. His movements are skilful but become increasingly frantic as he tackles the various obstacles. In terms of animation the squirrel will have some anthropomorphic traits, combined with squirrel mannerisms. He will mostly run on all fours, and stand on his hind legs when still, as squirrels generally do. But, I would like to animate him crossing a tightrope, as a human would. His emotional gestures of determination at the beginning and exhaustion at the end will be shown through human gestures.
There are also a few tips that I have found whilst researching animating animals that i would like to keep in mind. Such as including stumbles and trips into my animation.

After Christmas break I hope to be finished with my planning and research, and begin animating. I will keep my animation plan flexible, so that i can simplify it if something goes wrong. I will divide up the amount of animation I want to do and allocate time to it. But will also take into account the complexity of each action. My priority will be the longer animation, so I will focus on that first.