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Final Storyboard

Animatic of final storyboard

Authors own

This was the first time I had made an animatic for any of my animation projects and I found it really helpful. I was able to get a better grasp of time and how each sequence of my storyboard will plan out. In turn, I was able to see what would in fact work well and what would not. I decided that I no longer wanted to include the candle stick as it seems too clunky, and instead just a lone flame. Also, in a critic with my tutor, he mentioned that the London bombings springs to mind. In order for me to avoid that connection I have to think about the nature of the flame I decide to animate. Will it be erratic? Will it dance? Will it throb gently? Also, what colour will it be? And how do I extend to insinuate the idea of fire? I am leaning towards the idea of using materials found at the train station such as, a newspaper. I now plan on studying the movements and colours of different flames to see what kind of emotional response they provoke.  

Freedom & Liberty: Experimentation

Screen shot of walk cycle GIF

In order for me to understand the movements involved in walking I read a section of the book 'The Animators Survival Kit' by Richard Williams. This allowed me to experiment with and experience making walk cycles. This will come in handy when I start to animate my character. I made this walk cycle on Flash.

Title Sequence: 'Kiss the Girls' Experimentation

Quick montage of my Kiss the Girls experimentation

Authors own

Experimenting with the style and medium of the title sequences was a great way of figuring out how to represent the mood and themes of the film visually, as all successful title sequences do. I found what worked well here was the chance to diversify not only the style of each experiment, but also the way the different typography worked or did not work. Some ideas I found weaker than others, because the text was not legible enough or it came across a little too erratic. 

Screen shot, working in Flash

Authors own

A made most of the arms using paper cut out or drawing and scanning them into flash. I then added the typography in on flash, either drawing it digitally or modifying existing fonts. If I were to redo this process I would have tried out more software, like After Effects, to see the advantages or extra effects it could have brought to the style of the title sequence. 

Metamorphosis: Final Animation

Authors own

This is the final animation of my story, which I entitled 'Gregory's Soul' that explores the concept of metamorphosis through life, death and the spirit world. Overall, I am pleased with my outcome as it evokes the emotions I was aiming to strike in the viewers. I think the choices I made during production, e.g.  choosing to make it in black and white, the music I chose, the idea of inverting the tones once we entered the spirit world, were the prime reasons the mood of the piece was so well received. If I were to improve this animation I would of taken care to include more frames and movement, as in some places it does seem a little static and incomprehensible. However, these are points I can take on board and carry forward for my next animated projects. In order to avoid this happening in future projects I could make animatics before I start final production, making sure all transitions and keyframes work accordingly. 

I made the animation by hand using a lightbox to aid me. I then scanned each image into Flash and put them into sequence.The inverted colour frames where scanned into Photoshop, where I edited them and then imported them into Flash. Once this was done I add fade out transitions and small movements, such as blinking and the bug sprat entrance, using Flash. I then exported the file into iMovie where I added a glowing effect on the second half of the animation and included rolling credits at the end. 

I was surprised at just how time consuming the animation process is and how much there is to consider. In order to help my future animations, creating a check list would really help make things run more smoothly. 

Time Capsule Burial

This photo marks the ending of the burial and the scar that the process has left on the landscape.