The Future Beckons

Here it is. The moment I've been waiting for, and hopefully you too! My completed 2 minute animation, The Future Beckons.



I've had a few late nights during the past week as well as a small bout of sickness, but now it all seems worth it. Especially as I can look at my final piece and say " I did that!". Obviously I didn't upload the full quality version, instead this one was compressed using MPEG4 at 480x348 resolution.

I need to get some feedback on it a.s.a.p. so if you have the time please feel free to leave a comment about it. Enjoy!

Vintage Film

I finally managed to find a video with similar colouring to that which I want to use in my own animation. I found this a short while ago and meant to make this post before the previous one (better late than never).



Obviously I want mine to be a higher quality picture, but at the same time I want to capture this kind of feel. From what I've managed to create of my animation I think it's going well. Hopefully I can keep it up right up to completion.

Cel Animation

I've decided to use a form of cel animation for my final piece rather than any of the others I have researched. In this method, characters are drawn on cels and laid over a static background drawing. This reduces the number of times an image has to be redrawn (source). Disney were well known for their use of cel animation, but they stopped using this process in 1990. Their last film made using it was The Little Mermaid.

My method is slightly different from the traditional one. Firstly I'm not using acetate mainly due to budget. Secondly I will be using After Effects to place the cel footage on the background rather than shooting it. You may be wondering how I've managed to do the frames without acetate. I actually used normal plain paper and a home made light box to draw the sequences.

You may remember one of my previous entries showing the penguin animation test consisting of about four frames. Below shows the continuation of that test with about eight frames drawn for the penguin.



The finished scene, which will be used in my final animation, will contain multiple penguins. I'm really quite proud of what I've managed to create and I hope you like it too.

Animation Research

I've been looking at different animation styles that I can use in my final project, or in future projects.

I decided to make my own stop motion animation to form part of my research and looked for some examples on YouTube. I managed to find a very entertaining video (below). If you want to see the whole picture you may have to double click on the video to open it in YouTube.



I kept mine short and simple, using only an A4 piece of paper and a piece of cardboard to cut shapes from. I used an Olympus SP-500UZ camera to take the photographs. So without further ado, here is my first stop motion animation.



The hardest part of this animation was rendering it. I have several renders using different qualities and codecs. In the end I had to just export it from After Effects so that I could upload it. 42 photographs were taken in total.

Copyright Quiz

Just a short entry this time. Today I took the quiz which forms part of the unit, and am happy to report that I got 100%. I would like to mention that some of the questions could have been worded better, particularly the one involving a copyright agency.

The Future Beckons - Animatic

This is one step further on from my storyboard. An animatic is essentially an animated storyboard which allows you to check the timing for each scene and give you a rough idea of what your final animation will look like. Below is my animatic for the project. I took one scene out for this upload (known in this version only as 'SECRET') to keep it a surprise.



I find it's a bit boring to watch in this form but I can see why one would be required for a project such as this. I've included a rough soundtrack to give a better idea of pace and the atmosphere I'm aiming for.

Storyboards

I thought it was about time I put my storyboards up here. They didn't take long as I already had a firm idea of what I wanted to achieve.

I also created an alternate ending to my animation which I have also storyboarded. I actually prefer it to the original ending but it doesn't explain the world this is based in well enough.

If I have time I would like to make this ending anyway.

My First Stickman Animation

I've just followed a tutorial on YouTube showing how to make an animation in Flash using a stickman. This was the first time I had ever used Flash so I was expecting it to be a lot harder than it was. I expect some of the functions in Flash can get quite complicated but for now I'm happy with what I've managed to to.



It's not great I know, but it was made in the space of half an hour. At the end it looks like he's been dragged off stage by an invisible cane, but it's amusing at least.

Once I get more proficient with the layout and tools I believe I could make some very high quality animations with it, especially if I use it in conjunction with Illustrator.

I think Flash has a very distinctive look to it so I'm reluctant to use it in my final animation.

Production Documents

As with all things in todays world there is paperwork involved in animation. In this case we have been asked to create a Client Proposal Document and planners for our projects.

Though the timing between our pre-production and the 2D animation units was a little off due to the weather, I have managed to get an understanding of how pre-production works and how important it is in the industry.

I first set out to do the Client Proposal document. Using the information provided on Moodle I was able to create my first draft. I struggled a little bit with the abstract as I needed to find out what it meant, beyond the stylistic reference.
Yesterday I was able to finish this document, so all I need to do now is work on the planner side of things.

I have managed to complete a draft planner using the template provided. As usual with Excel spreadsheets I believe I can make it look nice as well as functional, so I have begun work on the new look version which I hope to have ready before final submission of this unit. I would like to think that I can use this new look spreadsheet in the future.
Getting back to the essentials we need to produce two of these planners for our projects. One is to show when we plan to start and finish aspects of the project. The other is to show when we actually managed to get them done.
After this we will be writing a short evaluation comparing the two.

I'm hoping to get all of these finished by early next week.

How'm I Lookin?!

Let's step away from the animation side of things for a moment and have a look at my blog... yes I know you're looking at it now! I mean the way it looks.

Blogger is customisable with different themes and gadgets as you know. So far I've had three different themes for my blog. The first one was the default look which was quickly changed to one of the many themes you can download from here. Thinking about the look of my animation I chose the one called One More Night. It looks nice and the colours are similar those I want to see in my finished piece. However, navigating around my own blog became a hassle, with some functions no longer working.

What you see now is the result of having got fed up with One More Night. It's simple, easy to navigate round and you can't really go wrong with black...

Changing the subject a little bit, you may have noticed my pet penguins to the right here (they're great aren't they?!). I quite often end up dragging them of screen and seeing how long it takes them to waddle back on. There are more gadgets available from aBowman (I highly recommend the Hamster if you're looking for one).
As you would have guessed I picked the penguins as they relate to my animation, but they are cute.

March of the Penguins

As you all know my animation is all about penguins, so it seemed fitting that I watch one of the best known documentaries of all time. Recently I purchased the DVD of March of the Penguins to form part of my research materials. It's probably the best source I can get without acually going to the South Pole (and I really don't plan on doing that!).

Having watched the film I can say my respect for these creatures, as high as it was before, has increased dramatically. It surprises me that they've not become extinct based on the hardships they have to endure. I really recommend watching it if you haven't done so already.

Anyway, looking at it specifically for my animation requirements the film provided me with reference materials for all of the Emperor Penguins I would like to include, and their movements.