Week 10a Final Video and Critique

Here is my final video again for critique in class:

Here are the comments I received during critique:

- Strength is in the details
- Elements are consistent
- Made changes that were recommended in previous class sessions
- During the "next spring" scene, it would've been nice to have the letters reflect spring. Maybe they could be green with floral aspects to emphasize the point.
- Change Persephone's arm so it is laying by her side at the end.
- Readability is compromised a little by having the constellation behind Taurus at the end.
- Worked well rhythmically.
- Story was easy to follow.

Week 9 Outside of Class

Over the weekend, I did 2 things: Made some final assets and finished the entire animation. Here are the assets I did:

I ended up deciding to do the voiceover. I didn't want the whole video to be narrated, so I chose key moments and left other moments to be shown through the visuals. I also changed what music I used so it fit better. Overall, I think I came up with a good solution. Here's the final video:

Week 9b

Today for class we were supposed to have our intro sequence made. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for audio. Professor Pannafino suggested a voice over. I wasn't too keen on this idea but I decided to give it a try in class. Here's the video with a voiceover. There is a blank scene because I would need to add another scene for the voiceover to work.

In this video, you can also see the refilmed scenes and intro. I think it works much better now.

Week 9a

Today in class we went over our first half of the animation. I got some critique which I plan on fixing. My critique was that I should change the destruction scene so there is more puffiness to the clouds, change the farmer so he isn't a silhouette, and keep the flames moving when the scene is transitioning. Also, Professor Pannafino thought it would be better to have the opening title with cut paper words instead of chalk and I agree, so I am going to change that later.

In class I cut out all the letters:

Later I took out the farmer and just had two sheep:

I will have to refilm almost all of my scenes, which I will try to have done by Wednesday.

Week 8: Outside of Class

Over the weekend, I worked on getting the animation 1/2 way done. I had some trouble doing it and had to do scenes over a few times. However, I think it is off to a pretty good start. Here's what I accomplished:

I think I want to add one scene before the one where the bull is destroying the houses where he is just running through an empty field as an establishing shot of just the character. It also will help add that element of surprise when he goes in and destroys the village.

Week 8b

There was no class today due to weather.

Week 8a

Today in class I worked more on creating my assets. I still have a couple to do. The only ones I need to finish are the bull with Persephone riding on his back, flowers, and some background. Professor Pannafino also wanted us to do a test of our animation. I did this after class, but I think it is still appropriate to put here. Here is my test:

What I learned from doing this test is that I need to focus on lighting more. Also, I need to be much slower in filming, in that I need to take into account that 24 pictures make up one second. This is more difficult to grasp in this medium than in rotoscoping. I think this is because it isn't laid out the same way as a fully digital animation. Finally, I learned that I just need to be very careful and thoughtful about my movements. Thankfully, the onion skin effect helps me do this.

Overall, I think it was a good practice round and I have a better idea of what I need to do for the final animation.

Week 7 Outside of Class/Spring Break

I had some time over spring break and I did more research on ideas. I started looking more into Greek myths, but less popular ones. I wanted to make sure I picked something someone else wasn't likely to do. Then, I came across the story of Taurus and how he became a constellation. I thought this was neat. I decided I will take this story and create an animation for it. So, here is my rewritten narrative for the animation:

A long time ago, there was a bull named Cerus. He wandered throughout the land, without a specific home. Nobody was really sure where he came from. He was a unique bull, in that he was very large and powerful. He also had a bad temper. Because of this, he frequently flew into a rage and destroyed villages and anything that was in his path. He was so large that nothing stood a chance against him. This left people terrified of the bull because there was nothing they could do to stop him. Instead, they ran in terror, hoping to escape. Cerus didn't care and continued to do as he pleased, destroying things left and right. However, one day, while he was trampling through a field of beautiful flowers, a woman appeared in front of him. She had a peaceful demeanor and didn't seem afraid of Cerus. It turned out to be Persephone, the Goddess of Spring. Without speaking a word (as he is a bull) she calmed him. Almost magically, they gained an understanding of each other. As a result, they formed a strong bond and Persephone taught Cerus to control his emotions and his strength. Instead of bursting into rages, Persephone encouraged Cerus to be freer in spirit and kinder. With Persephone on his back, Cerus ran through the fields, this time with flowers growing in his path. At the end of every spring, the two return from whence they came, Persephone to Hades and Cerus to the sky.

I also created a storyboard:

The animation begins with a black screen with the title "Taurus" coming in. I plan on using a chalkboard for this part. Then, stars fade in forming the Taurus constellation. The next scene comes on in by sliding up. I'm debating on using the chalkboard as a background and then having the characters and some of the other objects as cut paper. I want to give the appearance of a puppet show, but obviously in 2d. I am thinking I will attach the characters to popsicle sticks so it looks like puppets but it is still 2d. This will also make moving them easier. The scene that follows the opener is the bull running through the village, trampling it, leaving it in flames. He then runs off screen.

Next, he is seen running left again, this time chasing a crowd of terrified villagers off screen. Finally, he is seen running through a field, trampling flowers in his wake. He is then stopped by Persephone, and his demeanor changes. He becomes calm. Then, another scene change happens.

The final scene shows Persephone and Cerus riding through the fields, flowers growing in their path. The animation ends with a black screen with the Taurus constellation coming up over the previous scene. The Taurus constellation is then shown fading to black and the animation ends.  

Week 7b

Class was cancelled today due to weather.

Week 7a

We had a short lecture in class today before we were able to do some work on our own. We were assigned our next project as well. For this project we have to create a 2 minute stop motion animation based on a myth or imaginative story. During class, I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do. I decided to just do some research.

I looked at a lot of different kinds of myths from different countries, and even from video games. However, I still wasn't feeling very inspired. I think I will have to think more outside of class. Thankfully, I have a lot of time to come up with something.

Week 6 Outside of Class

For Saturday we were supposed to complete a stop motion name reveal. I decided to do mine on graph paper with colored Sharpies. I made each letter come in one "block" at a time. Here is my final video:

Week 6b

Today in class we learned about the different types of apps you can use to make stop motion animations. We were also given an assignment for the weekend to create a name reveal. I think I might use my iPad to do this assignment, since it will be easier to balance on things because I don't have a tripod yet. In class, we were told to sketch out some potential style ideas for our names. Here's some that I sketched out:

Week 6a

Today in class we had a critique. I got a lot of valuable critique on my video. Here were some of the comments:

- light yellow in words at the end was too light, looked white, maybe add another color from before
- office scene is too dull in terms of coloring, other scenes had variety of color so it seems offputting
- good quality rotoscoping with consistent boiling
- make the word bubble at the end larger so it is more readable
- consider making the bubble and words boil at the end

Week 5 Outside of Class

This weekend I finished the rotoscope in full. Here is the final video:

In the final scene, I initially did the flickering effect with the words at the end, however, after multiple attempts, I just couldn't get it right. Therefore, I decided to keep it still. I brought in some colors from the other scenes but kept the rest of the scene grayscale to enhance the idea of a corporate environment. Overall, it was a lot of work but I think it turned out well. 

I'm looking forward to critique and seeing other people's projects. 

Week 5b

Today in class we continued working and also met with Professor Pannafino. We discussed my final scene and what I needed to do with it. He suggested making the "dream bubble" imperfect so it kind of flickers. He also suggested hand-lettering the font. I agreed with these suggestions and looked forward to potentially implementing them. As far as progress goes, I am still doing the line-art. I am about a third of the way done. This scene is about 150 frames long, so it's definitely a lot to do. This weekend will be crucial for completing this project.

Week 5a

Today in class, I continued working on my third scene. In this scene, Aaron comes into frame and sits down at a desk. He is at work now. Once he is sitting, he will pull out a pillow from underneath his desk and lay his head upon it. I'm imagining the color scheme to be more dull and bland since it is a work environment. The desk will also have a computer on it. I am thinking about maybe putting something on the wall behind him to make it seem more like he is in an office or cubicle. My ideas for this are either some pictures or a calendar. But otherwise, keeping it more sterile. To end the scene, I imagine a "dream bubble" coming out of his head.

This will be a lot of work, as this scene is the longest. I will be interested in seeing how it all comes together.

Week 4 Outside of Class

This weekend I worked on finishing my second scene in its entirety. Here is what the whole animation looks like so far:

I changed the background of the first scene. I think the colors look much better now. For my second scene, I did the animation and coloring. It took a lot to do the full scene. Drawing a whole person is a lot more involved than just the hands. So I had to keep checking for consistency. I look forward to getting more feedback as time goes. I just need to add a few more keyframes and do the background for the whole second scene to be complete.

Week 4b

Today we didn't have class, so I will be working on a lot outside of class.

Week 4a

Today in class we did a critique. I got a lot of good feedback. Some of the comments I received were:

- oversaturated background
- good use of detail
- fluid movement
- maybe include movement in the background
- some boiling

Overall, the critique wasn't too much and I plan on changing my background so it looks better and less saturated.

Week 3: Outside of Class

This weekend we were tasked with completing one scene of rotoscoping. I did my first scene, which is where the character (aka Aaron) turns his watch ahead an hour. Here is the scene:

I think the animation itself is going well so far. However, I am not sure about the background. I wanted a more graphic feeling, however, I am getting MS Paint vibes from what I have created. I think the hands themselves work with the flat style, however, when combined with the background, it just feels off. I think I would like to do it so the background has no color and it is just line art. I think this would fit the illustrative, graphic feel better than all colored in. The character would still have color, just not the background. 

Also, that gray splotch on the lamp in the background isn't supposed to be there, and it doesn't show up in Animate. It only shows up after the video has been exported, so I don't know what that's about.

Hopefully, I will get more insight into what I can do to better my project in class on Monday.

Week 3b

On Tuesday, I refilmed my videos. I tried to keep them short and sweet for the sake of ease when rotoscoping. Then, I began rotoscoping. It is a very long and tedious process. Below is what I got done Tuesday evening. I plan on working more on it today in class if able.

Week 3a

Today in class we learned how to rotoscope. My footage ended up not working out, so I have to change it for next time. The process doesn't seem too difficult, but definitely time-consuming. I plan on meeting with Aaron to film everything on Tuesday.

Week 2b

Today for class we had to have 4 scenes sketched out for our storyboard. Here are mine:

In class, we continued to work on our sketches to have them completed by Friday. I actually finished mine in class, for a total of 9. So, here are the rest of my sketches:

Over the weekend I will hopefully receive more feedback to really finalize my idea as a whole.

Week 2a

Today in class we further discussed our ideas and I got more feedback since I was one of the few who received less feedback on D2L. I got several new ideas and took some notes. Here are some of the ideas:

- The character gets up, puts on clothes, and gets back in bed using jump cuts to separate events.
- Any phrases used could be in a dreamlike or pillowy typeface or could appear as though the character was dreaming about them.
- The person could fall asleep at desk, zoom out to reveal a whole office building/school of people napping.
- The character could spin around in an office chair to reveal them asleep.
- The person could wake up to set the clock, then cut to them at work falling asleep.

Out of all of these suggestions, I like the last one the best. I think it would be doable and get the point across. My new storyline is basically that the character gets up to turn the clock ahead, gets ready for work, and then at work takes out their pillow to take a nap. Then, a dream bubble will appear above them saying something like "Happy National Napping Day".

For next class we have to begin our sketches, so with this idea in mind I think I am ready to move forward.

Week 1: Outside of Class

I finally decided that I would go along with the National Napping Day idea. This "holiday" takes place the day after we change the clock ahead (Spring Ahead). The premise of it is that everyone should take a nap to catch up on the lost hour from changing the time. I think there are some fun things I could do with this. Since we had to post our ideas to D2L, I will also put them here. Here are my ideas:

1. A person getting into bed, laying down, and closing their eyes for a nap. Simultaneously, the phrase "after setting the clock ahead, get in bed!" or some other phrase to go along with it.

2. Another idea would be someone falling asleep and then napping at their desk at work/school. Maybe a phrase could pop up saying "celebrate National Napping Day no matter where you are". 

3. This idea is similar to the second one, where it shows people in many situations napping in precarious places. Basically, it would cycle through a few different people in different poses while there is a phrase around them. The same phrase, "celebrate National Napping Day no matter where you are" could also be used.

I also got some feedback on D2L for my ideas, which was helpful. 

Week 1b

Today in class we started thinking about rotoscoping ideas. We were tasked with choosing a holiday. Thankfully it could be more obscure holidays as well, which was good for me as I wasn't feeling very inspired by the "mainstream" holidays. Initially, I picked National Hug Your Cat Day, because I love cats. However, I realized I have done too many cat projects in my time here, so I decided I would think about some other holiday ideas. Right now, I am thinking that National Napping Day would be a good alternative, but I have yet to decide for sure.

Week 1a

Today was the first day of class. We discussed the syllabus and requirements.