Survey Results

Here are the results of the survey that I started just over a week ago. The plan was to look at OCD and what people's perceptions and understandings were relating around the topic. I got fifty responses. Below are the results. There are some interesting findings.

 

Please describe below what you think Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is.

This was number 1. Answers varied from "Becoming so obsessive about a specific thing, like cleanliness of an object, that you think if you don't do something about it something awful will happen to you. I assume this is because of underlying anxiety that builds up over time"

to "Not being able to function without doing things or having things in a very particular way. Very methodical."

"OCD is a disorder where individuals must complete certain tasks in order to relieve anxiety and move on to the next task. It is not a choice (i.e. I like to wash my hands after petting the dog, but a compulsion - i.e. I must wash my hands 5 times after using the restroom). It presents in a multitude of ways from simple repetitions of certain actions (such as turning the door knob 3 times before entering a room), to having to check 5 times to make sure appliances are turned off before going to bed, or having to avoid certain people, places, or events in order to avoid specific triggers."

with other answers being less knowing of the topic.... 

"I think OCD is expression of some situation when someone is obsessed witb something too much that body doesn't follow brain's order properly. For example, when someone is too obsessed with video game, they even do not notice directly that their part of body (like toe or something) is burning."

and   

"I think it's a combination of anxiety and panic. The brain takes over but people need to snap out of it. It's used everywhere now as an excuse."

These questions show the age demographic as well as the amount of people who feel they have some form of anxiety. It is a good base to have but at the same time, I feel that I could have revised this to find a way of knowing the age of those suffering. I may have a slightly biased age demographic as Facebook, (where i posted the survey) goes to my friends, most of whom are in their early twenties or late teens.

4) If you answered yes to the previous question, Please describe below the feelings and thoughts that you have in times of anxiety

A huge flaw here was the lack of responses. Most people answered no and so skipped this question. Here are some of the yes responses.

"Panic, fear, an overwhelming sense of dread and sadness. Sometimes anger and physical discomfort, especially if I cannot complete the complimentary action to an obsessive thought. Such thoughts are all consuming and tiring."

"This box is not big enough."

"I suffer from OCD that manifests through germaphobia. My main triggers are trash, bathrooms, and dirty things (diapers of my young siblings, trash cans, etc.). I generally feel like I’m never going to be clean and that I can feel the germs crawling on me. There tends to be strong pressure on my chest and I breathe like I’ve just run a marathon as my flight instincts kick in and all I want to do is get to a safe place that is clean, calm and quiet."

I can use these emotions to better get across the anxiety and fear when animating my character, therefore making it far more relate able.

Q5

Export 

How do you usually calm down in these situations?

Answers included

"Deep breaths. I try to process: did I actually touch something “unclean?” If so, where did it touch? Can it be cleaned? How “harmful” are the germs - not bad (snotty nose, someone’s used plate, etc.) or really gross (bathroom trash, dirty diapers, etc.). I “wash the germs off” using soap and water. If needed I will wipe with baby wipes or change clothes. I always keep hand sanitzer with me to help mitigate the germ “exposure.”

"Alcohol and drugs"

"Breathe heavily in square count, distract mind with other thoughts"

If you experience OCD then do you feel that you can talk to someone about the anxiety? If so, Who do you talk to? 

"I talk to my parents or some of my friends, hoping they would understand me and help me cope with it. They try to give me other options on how to go about the situation so I don't feel as though I'm stuck on a single method that doesn't seem to be working."

"I have honest conversations with those around me about my triggers and how they can be avoided. For a year when my OCD was out of control and I felt like I would never be clean I saw a therapist who helped me objectively look at my fears and provided suggestions as to how to move past them."

From this survey, I feel that I have gotten a lot of useful information that I will use to strengthen my project. 

    

New front and Side renders

These show the changes in body structure as well as the more human nature. The proportions are also much better than they were originally. Following this I re rigged, re skinned and created more blendshapes in order to animate once more. I think I made the right decision to restart the process, learning from my mistakes.

The reason for remodelling

Here is a still image of the issue that I had with my 3D model. The character had bow shaped arms and it was affecting the technical aspect of the animation very heavily. I decided to remedy this by going back and remodelling elements of the character. I fixed the proportions of the arms and body and thinned out the armpits, bulking the arms slightly in the process. I then re rigged and re skinned the character and in my opinion it looks much better for it. I also decided to add a few more blendshapes. I then started to animate again and using the previous attempt at animation as a stable platform, I began to build on that in an attempt to make the animation much better.

 This is Before
and This is after

Just noticed a small texturing issue on the right wrist here too which I will fix.

Snow Simulation

In order to better create the environment of the Arctic, I looked into snow simulation. Here is the result, created using nparticles. I plan to use this in my animation as may has a powerful interface for this type of thing, especially creating the effect of directional snow therefore making the illusion of wind.

Animation playblast 1

Here is the first rough playblast of the first 1300 frames of my animation. I found a lot of issues with this animation including the character having bow arms. What i do like is the breathing and the timing of the run and stop. After much debate, I have decided to go back to the modelling stage and fix any issues with the character.

Progress in relation to ice crack creation

Using Maya I began to test ice creation. I began looking at some tutorials as I did in the summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKYs1UXvTTQ by 3dtutorialzone is the main one that I was using. I first created a surface by manipulating a cube before using an EP Curve to extrude a crack through the middle of the surface. Following this, I created a locator and using the connection editor, I connected it to the crack and used a boolean difference. This should allow for the crack to be animate-able. 

 This is before the locator moves.

 This is after the locator moves.

 Strangely though, during the inbetween, the overall block vanishes and the crack appears alone.

    Just after this point, the cracked surface reappears as it did in the second photo. It is very strange but I plan to work on my animation as I figure this out. I will start animating the character now.

Another Quick pose test for my character and title choice

Emotion can be clearly seen on this character's face. I decided on Cracked as the title for my animation. The reason behind this is simple but effective. The said cracks refer to the cracks in the ice but also the cracks in a person's life. The definition of the term "cracked" is also played here, it being used to mean crazy or insane. This is a huge stigma attached to mental health related topics. Many people consider those with any sort of anxiety or mental disorder to be insane where in most cases the person suffering is in no way less intelligent or less functioning than a person without the anxiety disorder.

Now to work on Booleans and Ice simulation.   

Test Render of Staging, texturing and lighting

After looking some more at my ice environment, I realised that the reason it wasn't rendering so quickly was down to the fact that the scene was more than twenty times larger than the character. I scaled it down and imported it into the scene with my character, creating a quick pose to see how lighting and shading look. Overall i'm happy with the lighting but the texture still needs work in order to look more like ice. I plan to use this to test render time and bump up snow shading, ice reflection and refraction accordingly.

 

Environment creation

I started to create environments for my animations in maya using Arnold. I created an exterior front door scene which I am still working on and an icy Arctic scene which is currently being textured in order to get the right frosted glass look that ice needs to have. Here is a quick render of some of the scene so far. As you can see, the Ice is taking a very long time to render.

Zooming out, We can see the icy zone that has been created. The render time is already extremely high, taking 12 hours to render and eighth of a frame. This could be due to the sheer size of the scene as I haven't even put any snow shaders or much detail into the scene yet. This is due to a simple test render being the case here. All in all, in the future I plan to reduce noise and make the snow and ice more realistic by manipulating the bump mapping and reflection/refraction settings. 

Survey. Research for my project

Here is a survey that I created and sent out through Facebook in order to get responses about anxiety, OCD and what people's understanding and emotions are relating around the topic. I plan to leave the survey open for the next week or two in order to collect responses and build the emotion in my character around that evidence. I plan to send this survey to people with OCD and people without to collect anonymous responses.

Here is the link to my survey

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NWTTSTG

Blend Shapes process

Today I created Blend shapes using Maya 2017 and managed to create some very powerful expressions that I can use to show the audience the mind and emotions of my character. Messing around with Maya 2017, It turns out that blend shapes are now in fact named under the shape editor and allows the user to manipulate faces and vertices to add targets to the mesh rather than needing to create new head duplicates every time the user wants to animate the character.

Now that the character is rigged and skinned. I can begin working on my environments.

 

Ice movement in Ice age

In order to look more closely at my idea of ice cracking, I need to study further into the effective animations in which it was created previously. Here i'm looking at a Scrat clip from the first Ice Age movie, (2002) and looking at the animation from the 0:55 mark to the 1:30 mark. Here is 35 seconds of ice cracking but what makes it hold our attention as an audience?

 
First of all the timing is exact. The audience's eye can follow the camera as the cracks appear leading to the payoff shot that causes the huge ice block to come down. There is some really nice camera movement, especially in the 360 degree flip that takes place at 1:07. These little creative elements really work well and take what could otherwise be a very boring animation, making it interesting and full of suspense. The character can be seen to watch as the anticipation builds to the final moments of the scene. Keeping to a low angle long shot at first and zooming in on the cracks following this really adds context and life to the animation, making for a scene that is full of life and interest. The way the cracks turn and weave their way through the ice is very effective too and the length of the shot helps to establish the sheer scale of destruction that the character has managed to cause. At the climax of the ice cracking, we get a slight pause before the payoff which gives the audience a false sense of relaxation before the fear and 'oh no' element kicks back in.

        I plan to incorporate this fear and anticipation into my animation to fully capture the dread in the character. The OCD side of the character is important to be scared so I will work on that and try to express it through the movements of the cracks. In conclusion, the simplistic nature of the ice can be worked very well into something much more powerful through the correct staging and manipulation of the twelve principles of animation.   

Emotion Pose Render

Here is a render of the character in a situation of fear. I looked up images relating to fear and distress in order to find this pose.

3D model progress so far

I wanted to create an older looking character who was quite thin and wore a hood. I also decided that I wanted my character to be created using Maya 2017. Here are some screenshots of the modelling process.

First of all I began by modelling a basic head and body. Making sure that the topology on the character was how it should be, with no triangles and with accurate edge loops containing zero gaps. 

After this i got the two parts and merged the vertices together making sure that everything lined up properly and accurately. The topology still looked good at this point.

I combined the two halves of the mesh and fixed any sharp edges. I also used Mayas visor options to create teeth, filing them down to create teeth that would fit the character nicely. The character was created with the intention to be quite anxious and nervous and so I wanted him to be quite gaunt, spindly and sickly looking in the process. In order to fit with the closed off nature, something that would also go nicely with the Arctic vibe, I decided to add a hood to the character.  

Following the addition of the hood, I began to texture the character using UV mapping. Here is a front and 3/4 render of the character. Here is the UV map too. I like the idea of using block colours for a character as I am a huge fan of older comic book styles where solid colours were used in the stories. 

After this came the rigging process. I used advanced skeleton, the maya plugin to rig my character. Now I am moving on to the skinning process. 

My animatic

This animatic was created following feedback from my Supervisor. I cut out some unnecessary elements of my storyboard and decided to add annotations to the animatic, making sure to get the timing accurately for each shot. I also tried to think about music and sound effects to add to the overall fear and atmosphere of the animation.

Here are the video references for the audio that I used

Lucas King, Published 11th April 2014,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVTP0DOL_2Q
n Beats, Published 15th September 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdM1TwPNDRA
Bambalam 125, Published 12th February 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYj8ciqAPcA

First Storyboard with camera angles, sounds, directions, timing and emotions included

Storyboard Template by Andrew Hake, 2010

Production Schedule/ Google Calendar

Here is the production Schedule in the form of a google calendar.

Blog Update and Pinterest board

I have managed to get my supervisor selected for the individual project and will meet with him on a weekly basis. My idea for the project has also been given the go ahead which I am thankful about.


I have been looking at some designs for animation and environment/character designs and wanted a hooded character. Here is a link to a pinterest board where I have stored many of my visual inspirations.

 https://www.pinterest.co.uk/josephlearoyd/ocd-final-project-inspiration/

Task List

Here is a list of the tasks that I plan to complete throughout this project. This task list and description is also submitted as part of a deadline for the project as well as being beneficial to my production.

 This project is based around obsessive-compulsive disorder and aims to create awareness of the struggle that people go through on a daily basis. The project will contain research elements, modelling, animating and production via Maya, post production in Premiere Pro and possibly nuke before the final project deadline is due on the 12/01/18  (week 14).

           

Task                                                  status                   Due date                                        

  

       

Flick analysis

Published 5th July 2007, Bob Darwen,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_poqjXuthg

Here is an analysis of the short film "Flick" It relates to OCD and is a 3D animation. At first the animation seems quite simplistic and robotic, lacking the fluidity of motion that it should have. The characters look odd but the timing and pacing of the story works very nicely. The movement at the 1:30 mark is simplistic but manages to nicely reference the trouble that many have with OCD. This is something that I noticed when I was planning my ice idea. The small subtle things are enough in this animation to accurately portray everything that is going on. One event within this really stands out to me and helped me with my own idea generation. There was a major section in the short where the character manages to inadvertently cause a series of disasters to happen to his elderly relative. This takes OCD and analyses it by giving it deeper thought and visualising the irrational concept that little things such as stepping on a crack can cause disasters.

       The pacing of the overall story takes a while to build up but without dialogue although simplistic, the character's and their motivations are clear, the story being told very well through just emotion and character direction. Camera shots also aid this, zooming obviously in on things so the audience can clearly process them.       

In conclusion, this animation is a good piece to look at to see how others have tackled the topic of OCD through the use of animation. It seems common to take a harsh topic and try to create some understanding of it. That is my plan with this project.

Pitch for my idea

Here is a copy of my Pitch for the individual project idea.

I propose to create a 3D animation that relates to the topic of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. (OCD). OCD is a mental health disorder that happens when a person gets a series of unwanted, intrusive and distressing thoughts. This particular area is something that I feel passionate about as it affects me. It is something that I have to deal with on a daily basis and so with this project, my aim is to create awareness and understanding of the disorder. Animation and modelling is the area where I most feel comfortable and so, working in this area will be beneficial to me. Many children and adults don’t understand what OCD is nor how people affected by it struggle. I read into the theme and did some research on psychology, looking at cognitive behaviour therapy and different forms of compulsions before narrowing down the potential ideas. The books that I read are listed below and contain real world examples of OCD and its problems. Although I was unable to find a coping method or solution for the disorder, I was able to think of some aesthetically pleasing and powerful images that could incorporate themselves into an animation to deliver a powerful message about the pain of OCD. This animation would focus on a particular aspect of the disorder, not necessarily well known and explore it through a story of a character struggling to cope. My main idea for this is that of a man making his way through the Arctic only to fight for survival as the ice cracks around him. As he comes to the realisation that he is trapped within an area of ice, he begins to break down. The environment then changes to a household scene where the man is cowering. It is revealed that the ice cracks are in fact metaphorical for the cracks in the path outside his house and he is struggling to leave his home due to the cracks that he is unable to pass. This shows us the real fear that many deal with due to this debilitating disorder.              

            This concept of taking an OCD related issue and turning it into a much bigger situation is relatable as that feeling of dread happens to many sufferers as mentioned in the books that I read. I feel animation is a good medium to express this. Some video influences also managed to benefit me as there are some 3D cartoons relating to some aspects of OCD but not nearly enough. E.g “Flick” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_poqjXuthg, a short relating to the superstitions surrounding OCD. With regards to the technical side of this project, I have looked at tutorials relating to Booleans/cracked ice and fluid simulation which could be of use to the project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKYs1UXvTTQ

            Having researched into mental health in the past as part of film based projects and having a form of OCD myself, it is easier to relate to the concept and produce something that I feel is unique, that I am passionate about. This project will allow me to create awareness of a topic and work towards an awareness goal that can benefit many people who suffer in this area every day. 

Research into my final year project

The Final year project has begun at the University of Bradford. According to the module handbook, the brief is as follows.

  "You will develop your own project idea in consultation with an individual project supervisor, who will be a member of teaching staff in the School. The project is a substantial piece of independent study: you will determine the direction, content and implementation methods in consultation with your supervisor. The supervisor will advise and guide the decision process, but will not tell the you what to do or how to do it."

   

This project was available to us to choose our own ideas. First of all, I had to decide the medium in which I planned to create the project. I looked into the areas of animation, VFX and environment design and decided that for me based on Computer animation being my course, it would be best to create an animation. Next it came to creating ideas. I spent a long time over the summer brainstorming possibilities for the animation. Something that would be original. That was the most important thing. For me I felt that to hit Originality and individuality it was important to look at something that relates to me. I began focusing on myself before narrowing down to the topic of Obsessive Compulsive disorder, a disorder that I in fact suffer from and can relate to. At first I hoped to create a coping mechanism for people who are suffering and need a means to help them calm down. I read into the topic of OCD and researched through the use of quite a few books.   

 Clark, D. (2007). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for OCD. New York: Guilford Press

Gius, M. (2006). Living with severe OCD. Bothell, Wash.: Book Publishers Network.

Salkovskis, P., Oldfield, V. and Challacombe, F. (2011). Break free from OCD. London: Vermilion.

Veale, D. and Willson, R. (2011). Overcoming obsessive compulsive disorder. London: Robinson.

I looked at cognitive behaviour therapy, it being the only real calming method for the OCD sufferer. Instead of this, I turned my attention towards an awareness style animation/trailer. Many children and adults don't understand what OCD is nor how people affected by it struggle. I looked at different compulsions to relate to story ideas and came up with quite a few options.

 

   These ideas include a leprechaun that can't touch coins, a man in a biohazard suit who struggles to clean a room, a man who's wife is represented as a germ, a vacuum cleaner with a life of it's own and an ice related one.

I eventually settled on the ice idea which I will discuss in my next post.