Task 1
Our first task was made of many small exercises. I believe the point of this was to understand how to use dragon frame and how we can manipulate the small pieces of paper to create the illusion of depth and perspective. This task taught me the importance of timing and introduced me to a new technique of creating animations which could prove quite useful in the future due to its flexibility.
Task 2
The next task was to summarise a film from the top 50 IMBD section in 10 seconds.
FINAL IMPRESSIONS: I really enjoyed this task, it was very fun to work with charcoal and create this animation. I like how it leaves a ghost effect. I also believed I was blessed with two really good teammates who helped make the process extremely simple and easy. I believe this animation wouldn’t have turned out as good if I didn’t compose it in AE as I often had to switch up the timings. I would say there could be much to improve but to be honest, for what it is, it is completely fine.
FINAL TASK
For this task, we had to create a short animation about a trip to the moon. We could use any animation technique as long as it was stop motion.
THE PROCESS: The first step was to create a mindmap to explore what the story would be and how we would go about animating it.
Then I created a rough storyboard of the story. For time’s sake, we focused on the most essential parts first just to make sure we can complete the story. I also created an animatic to get a sense of timing and direction.
Then Silin created the character designs which gave us a sense of the art direction. Personally, I am in love with them.
Next, I created all the assets we needed for the animation. This included all the elements such as backgrounds, objects, props, and characters.
We then created some test shots. This gave us a sense of how to animate and gave us an opportunity to experiment before actually creating the animation. Luckily some of the shots were able to be used in the final anination.
Then we animated. After the animation, I went home and composed it in after effects, altering the timing to make it more fluid. I also added sfx to make the animation more immersive. I created two versions, one without music and one with, just for flexibility.
FINAL IMPRESSIONS: I am happy with this rotation. It was extremely fun. I also was blessed with the best partners. Furthermore, I am really proud of the outcome, I feel like I can watch the short film over and over.
TO IMPROVE: When screening the film, a girl made a comment that the boil of the stars was too distracting from the flat Earth, which I agree with.