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