I am much happier with my final animation than I was a week ago. I think it looks more professional and interesting, and the movement itself is much better. I have made a few small changes based on feedback and have added a grainy texture over the top to match with the rest of the animation. I think this effect looks really good, it creates an almost hand made effect. With this and the drop shadow affect I think it looks almost like paper cut outs.
My experimentation reel really shows how much has come. I feel I have learnt a great deal both technically (e.g. using after effects) and also working in a team.
This unit has been both informative and a bit of a struggle for me. I have learnt the importance of an online presence and a website for an animator, and it has definitely inspired me to play closer attention to what I am putting out there and the work I am producing. Looking into job adverts has really made me consider where I see myself going in the future and the skills I need to improve in order to get there. I am happy I have had the opportunity to ‘test run’ a website before it gets to the real thing and I am trying to find employment.
The actual research and design of the website hasn’t been my favourite part of this unit, as it isn’t really something I find hugely interesting, although I understand it’s importance. I think I have increased my skills in web design which was practically zero when I started, and my knowledge of how the industry works. My areas of development will be to increase the work I have, and I believe this will only come with time, as I found that most of my work wasn’t as ‘polished’ as I would have liked. I will take these skills I have learnt and use them when I leave university to make my professional show reel and website.
I have enjoyed this part of the unit, and I feel confident with the proposal I have produced as I feel it is a good starting point for my dissertation. I chose a topic that I am personally interested in and combined it with my interests within animation. I began with one idea and ended up with another along the same topic but slightly varied, and I am happy I made this change as I feel it is more suited to my skills and interests. I think my strongest skill in this project has been taking on feedback and using it to improve my work, and has taught me the importance of writing up a number of drafts. I think my research has been varied and I have found it very engaging, I find the blog set up a really useful tool to do this. I feel my skills with in academic research and writing have improved.
I think my areas for improvement will be to continue reflecting on my work and recording feedback, and to also research more generally rather than sticking to quite specific topics and look at the world more generally. Over the summer I plan to continue my research using books, films and online sources and build on my proposal. Once I have enough research I think I will be a strong position to produce a good dissertation.
Overall I have enjoyed this project, and I feel I have a stronger understanding of how animation is used in the industry. This project had a slow start creatively for me, I found it a struggle to get into the right mind set straight away. Of course I didn’t let this affect my group and I think we worked well when it came to collating ideas and storyboarding. I think we all had our own ideas and influences, but part of working in a team is coming to a compromise we are all happy with. This is why we settled on a motion graphics/ after effects approach as we all felt this was best suited to accommodate our ideas and strengths. Part of this was also so there was a sense of consistency and it felt like one animation.
I think we achieved this aim in some ways but less in others; there was a point in the project when we were all at different stages and I think this came down to lack of communication and leadership. I found myself becoming the organiser which I now realise is a skill I can continue with in other projects. It has made me realise I enjoy taking on a producer role, making sure everyone is communicating and on the same page. As a group I think our area for development would be better time management and to set goals that are clear and often so we stay on target. I also think we could have created a stronger sense of unity with in the animation from the start as it all became a bit of a rush at the end.
I have personally grown a lot as an animator in this unit. I found that I didn’t like the animation I had started, and I felt stuck with it. I made the decision to re do it quite late into the project, but I think this is the best decision I could have made as I feel it is much more professional and expresses what I know I am capable of. I have learnt that pressure and time constraints can be very useful. My area for development would be to settle on an idea I am truly happy with rather than sticking with something because it’s easy, as I understand that in the real world of work changing ideas at the last minute wouldn’t be acceptable.
I have created a rough CV as a sort of practice run, as I know I don’t yet have the experience or knowledge to write a full CV for a job in animation. I have tried to make it look interesting and reflect me as an individual. I have used some of the assets from my website to try and create some consistency between the two (I have not added my correct phone number or web address just because it is going on the internet). I have also linked this on my site.
Taking on the feedback I have been given I made some felt flowers in order to show that I work in both 2D after effects and stop motion. I also changed the font to a ‘hand written’ feel to match the heading. I think it is coming together to express who I as an animator. I have also added details of the images that show when you scroll over them, and a larger collection of videos. My only concern is that it might be too busy, but I personally quite like the style that has emerged as it is quite unique. I would like to get some more feedback before hand in so I can improve it further.
I also adjusted the design slightly for mobile use so that it is a bit more appropriate for a smaller screen whilst keeping the same feel.
From feedback and my own personal feeling towards the project I have re done my animation using mostly new assets, and although I know it is last minute I feel much better about it. I think the colours are more consistent, the movement is more lively and exciting, and it gives a clearer message reflecting the audio. Part of my reason for re thinking things is I found my own animation boring, it didn’t have any life to it and wasn’t particularly interesting.
I used feedback I got on it and created a rough story board that uses many elements from my previous animations but I have tried to put a more creative spin on things. I used some of the practical knowledge that Kris in particular helped me with on after effects and spent longer rigging and focusing on the movement, particularly the boy character at the start. Although not perfect I think it has improved from before.
From some peer feedback I will make some few changes, though with the time left I know that there isn’t loads I will be able to achieve. I will add a ‘drop shadow’ to the stars as every other asset has this effect so they look slightly out of place. Make more of the coffee spilling, perhaps have it fall on the desk. The biggest feedback was the end, perhaps it would be better to just have the end card fade up rather than the cape move forward.
I have made a lot of head way this week. I have decided to change to a standard essay and look into archetype theory, whilst still using greek mythology and story structure. I will link this to animation by talking about Coraline and other animated films. I have written my second draft and submitted this for feedback. I feel more comfortable with my proposal that I did before, and I think it will be really useful next year when it comes to writing my dissertation.
Areas for development
Use feedback to refine and polish my proposal so it is ready for hand in.
This week a created a new design for my website that reflects my work better, I have tried to keep to a constant colour palette and use hand written text at the top to show that I make my work practically rather than in CG as this was the vibe the previous font suggested. I created a banner and some assets to add a bit of interest. I think it is coming together now, although I have been given some feedback that I need to address.
Areas for development
Adress the comments made and use my research to improve the layout of my site. I also want to include more work that shows I work in stop motion and after effects. I also need to write up my CV.
I have continued to animate my section of the animation and as a group we have submitted an animating with subtitles for feedback. I wasn’t very happy with this submission as we are still in the same position as last week where some people still only have their hand drawn animatics which really doesn’t express how the animation will look in the end. I am having doubts about my own section as well, I feel like I might start again. We have sent an email to the client with some questions and this will hopefully lead to some feedback that I can use to improve.
Areas for development
Continue to animate, and begin to think about putting things together for hand in.
Maddy Caulfield Animation 