Deadline, by Bang-Yao Liu

Deadline, by Bang-Yao Liu, is an animation made entirely of post-it notes. It is documenting the times when essays and work need doing, but you are distracted by the tiniest little thing. It shows somebody working at a desk, and the wall in front of them has post-it's stuck on it to create different scenes, such as a computer game, or various computer icons. This animation is actually my favourite out of all the ones we watched, mainly because of the material it is made in. The audience is probably teens to early twenties - anyone who can empathise with having to work, but being really distracted. The animation was made as a project - Bang-Yao Liu was a university student at the time. It is a stop frame animation, and the only technique was sticking post-it's to a wall, and incorporating himself where a human was needed. Colour is very important, as all of the post-it's are bright to stand out against the white wall. The sound is a simple song without vocals, but sound effects are used during the rain section and the computer game section. In my opinion, the sounds make it more effective. The main character is himself, and the emotions are most likely frustration and boredom. I think the animator was using everyday problems as inspiration. The piece seems very modern and up to date.

The Seed, By Johnny Kelly

A favourite animation of mine is The Seed, by Johnny Kelly. The animation is about the journeys a seed can make, and varies from being hand drawn to 3D paper cut outs and some forms of origami. It does not have a specific target audience, and the animation was made to educate and entertain. I found the story behind the animation very clear and easy to understand, and loved the part with the journey of the apple through the human body. The animation is a stop frame, and uses a variety of techniques. Colour is very important to the animation, with it regularly changing from being bright to simply being white pen on a black background. The sound isn't quite so crucial - it is a very simple and repetitive song with no vocals. The narrative is following the journey of a seed, and the only 'character' of sorts is the seed. There doesn't really seem to be a theme, or any emotions - it's quite a clean and scientific animation. The piece seems to be quite modern and clean.

I Missed Late Night Shopping For This - My Final Animation

Evaluation

I am fairly pleased with my completed work. I made many mistakes along the way, and there are loads of things I would change, but overall, I'm happy. My favourite section is the scene where the sun scrunches up to become a cloud, I thought that was quite effective. I would change the speed at which I actually started shooting, because by the time the deadline came around there were still a lot of sections I wanted to change or re-shoot. I don't have a clue how to decide if my final animation is successful, I think if I'm happy with it that's a big part.

Throughout the development process, I learnt to keep things simple, and not be such a perfectionist - I had too many ideas to fit in or create in the time, and I also overcomplicated everything. I had a very wide range of equipment available - industry standard software on the iMacs, and a large amount of art materials. We also had two experienced technicians available to help us, and an experienced teacher. It took a very long time for me to adapt to using the program After Effects, but I got the hang of Final Cut quite quickly. My ideas didn't necessarily develop, more completely change due to feedback. My original idea (in the 'Initial Ideas' post) was to have a walk in the park scenario to cheerful music, but I was told that the idea would be overly complex and time consuming, so I began to listen to songs I could use as a soundtrack to kick start the planning process. After listening to 'Wild Young Hearts' and reading the lyrics, I decided that I would illustrate them in some way. I then talked to my teacher, who suggected paper cut outs as a way of working that would suit me. I then began to research paper cut out animations, and decided that it would be right for me. I chose it because it's fairly simple and quick, and can be easily manipulated to create an animation sequence. There was also a huge supply available to me, in a variety of sizes and colours etc.

My final work doesn't portray original ideas and intentions at all - it's definitely not a walk in the park scene! It does portray my storyboard in some ways, although I had to do a lot of chopping and changing once I'd realised that I had tried to cram in way too many sections. The majority of the scenes were on the storyboard, although they tend to be longer and in slightly different colours or materials. I had to cut many of them out, so most of the time I elongated the other scenes to make up for this.

I got my ideas from the lyrics of the song mainly, along with some things that I'd seen in other animations and wanted to try or adapt, that still fitted in with the song and the rest of the animation (e.g. a beating heart like 'The Seed'). The easiest part of creating my animation sequence was any of the scenes that were simply paper cut outs of the lyrics, and the most difficult part was the flames scene - I really struggled to get to grips with the software (After Effects in this case).

The risks during the animation production time are varied - moderate risks are for example looking at a computer screen for over an hour can cause dizziness, tripping over bags on the floor, and paper cuts. High risks are; having liquids near electrical equipment, and electric shocks. All of them have been considered, and the staff and the students have taken steps to reduce the chance of them occurring. Professional working practices were also followed - we were given a deadline, and feedback, and then left to work at our own pace - it was our decision to do lunch times etc to ensure that we finished on time - it was not a school - like project. Above is a copy of my risk assessment form.

Overall, I am happy with my animation, and although things could be changed, the majority is what I wanted.

Copyright

To whom it may concern,
My name is Louise Rigby, and I am currently doing an animation qualification at school. I am writing to ask permission to use the music of one of your artists as the soundtrack to the final animation I have to produce in order to pass the course. The song I would like to use is 'Wild Young Hearts' by the Noisettes.
Also, I would love to be able to submit my animation to competitions and festivals, and to do so I need permission to use the song. It would be brilliant if you could get back to me, thank you.
Louise Rigby

"Copyright is the limited legal right, given to a producer to print, publish, perform, film or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same."

Above the quote is a copy of the email I sent to the company Mercury Records, to request permission to use the song I have done as the soundtrack to my animation. I am still awaiting a reply. Because it was used as part of a school project, and for educational purposes, I do not technically need permission for it's use, but because I want to enter my finished piece into competitions, I need to have authorization for it's use.

Developing Skills

What animation techniques have you used to develop your skills?
To start with, we watched some stop frame animations as a group. We then split off into smaller groups, and experimented using ourselves as models, to create an experimental animation. We started to understand the speed at which models need to be moved to avoid the animation being too jumpy. We had all had quick goes on Macromedia Flash before, during ICT lessons, so when Natalie Hinchley, a professional animator, came in to teach us lip syncing, it didn't take too long for me to grasp working with the program. Lip syncing itself was very different though.
When Stuart Messinger came in to work with us, he set us the task of drawing a 12 image piece of a character pushing or pulling. It had to also loop, to create a sequence. This was towards the end of the course, and was my first experience of hand drawn animation. I made the mistake of not separating the legs of my character, so it began to look like a worm! It was not very effective at all, but it was my first attempt and I learnt from it.

Storyboard Development Continued

How did you develop your script, characters and environment?
Before starting my final animation, I attended some sessions with professional animator Natalie Hinchley. She taught us about character development, model making, lighting and lip syncing, making me realise that I definitely didn't want to have to make models and lip sync them. I decided that if I didn't have a story, I'd have a lot more freedom with what I could do, and have plenty of room for adjustments if things went wrong or were not as effective as I'd hoped. I did want some guidelines however, and somewhere to start, so I decided to illustrate the lyrics of a song. This meant I did not have to create a character, or a specific environment, or script!

The Industry

To learn about the media and animation industry, Stuart Messinger, a production manager who has worked on a large amount of huge films ('Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire', 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory') came in and gave a presentation to us. He talked about the system, or 'pipeline' used in producing films that rely heavily on animation or CGI (computer generated imagery).

He then went into detail of each position within the animation based aspect of producing films, stating what is involved. He talked about the people in charge of data ops or wrangling, which is basically filing or sorting material on computers - an IT receptionist of sorts. This is a 24 hour job, which involves long hours and constant shift work, commonly given to people just out of university and wanting to learn about the industry. It's incredibly important, as the computers would not be able to hold the amount of data that is constantly coming in - it has to be transferred to disks and kept in a very organised way in order to avoid losing any work, and to make it easy to share with other departments.

There are also people that are in charge of prep or roto. People working in the prep department are responsible for the digital removal of tracking markers, light rigs, unwanted fixtures/fittings, and any other object that is not wanted in the scene. People working in roto use roto-scoping or roto-mation software in order to separate characters from backgrounds, or vice versa. These are required in compositing.

Lighting is also a huge area in the media industry. They are in charge of integrating a computer generated object into a filmed image, and making it look like it was always in the shot. The team need to have a deep understanding of how light behaves in the natural world. There is obviously a different lighting team used for the shooting of the film, who light the set or location.

The art department also play a large part. They develop concepts in order to provide final designs for characters, environments and effects. The team uses 2D and 3D tools to explore possibilities within scenes, and develop a range of ideas. They are given a brief, and present a the possibilities to the asset/build department, who's job is to create each object or character to the director's brief. The process is managed very closely from scratch to ensure that it ties in with every area of the 'pipeline'. They build the base for the asset, and then add the hair/fur, and facial features etc. Many assets are shared with merchandising and games companies.

The final step is the compositing department. It's their job to pull together all the department's work, to create a seamless final production. They match colours, key green screens and add lens warps, until the directors feels that the film is completed.

The starting place for the majority of people wanting any sort of position in the media inductry is a runner. They do what it says on the tin - run errands for anybody that asks - fetch drinks or food, deliver or collect items, and can even be on cleaning duty. They need to be polite and enthusiastic - no job is below them. Making a good impression as a runner often leads to promotion into one of the above positions. Many people on work experience take on the role of a runner, as it is a great way to gain experience and knowledge, and interact with a wide range of people.

Planning

Outline your plans and preparations for producing your animation sequence.
I plan to create an animation which illustrates the lyrics of the song 'Wild Young Hearts' by the Noisettes, in paper cut outs. After creating a detailed storyboard, I will begin to create the necessary shapes, words and objects. I will then create the graphics that need to be computerised, and also begin to animate them on the computer. After that, I will start to shoot the paper scenes, and work on my portfolio - I will try to do some of each every week. I will also begin to fit each finished section to music, allowing me to take out any ideas that are not so good, or will not fit in with the music and lyrics properly. Above is my production plan, which I used throughout the production of my final animation.

I will use the program iStopMotion to shoot the scenes, After Effects for animating with the computer, and Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create or edit images. The animation itself will be cut down and edited on Final Cut.

How has development work influenced your final animation?
The early work we did in groups (messing around with/studying/trying different techniques) gave me ideas of which techniques I definitely did not want to do. We also watched a huge variety of animations, ranging from 'Peter And The Wolf', by Suzie Templeton, to 'Charlie The Unicorn'. These animations gave me ideas of what was effective, and also provided an understanding of the techniques (for example, stop motion). I also browsed many art books once I had started production, to provide ideas for certain images and sections, for example the trees. Although I didn't use a specific image to develop, they gave me ideas. Most of my development was done through watching other people's animations (see the 'Initial Ideas' post).

The thing that changed the most was the amount of sections in my animation. In my storyboard, I planned for way too many things to happen in a short space of time. It wasn't possible to squeeze some of the ideas into such small time frames, and I simply didn't have the time to actually create and animate all the ideas. The one image that I did use to develop I found on google images, and I used it for my flames section. I used the idea, and then developed it to make my own flames.

I also had to change the style in which I wanted to have everything - at first, I didn't like the idea that not everything was going to be perfect, but realised that I simply didn't have the time.
Many of the skills I learnt during the development and production stages of animation were transferable - to ICT mostly, but also art. I got used to using iMacs, and got more comfortable with Photoshop and Illustrator, software I didn't have much experience with beforehand.

Storyboard Development

Here are my initial storyboard ideas. I started the planning process (after I'd done my research and made my design decisions) by printing off the lyrics to the song 'Wild Young Hearts'. I then played around with the images that the lyrics gave me, and started to plan what was going to happen in my final animation. In my storyboard, each picture also had a detailed written description of what was going to happen in each section, and an idea of the timings to make sure each section fitted in with the lyrics.

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas

Here is a video showing the time when I presented my final animation idea to the class and my tutor. It also documents the feedback I received. It does not, however, show the feedback that I received for the idea I actually went with.


Where And How Did You Get Your Ideas? What Research Have You Done?
I got my ideas mainly due to the animations we watched as a class (e.g. Stanley). I found that many of them were depressing and gloomy, and wanted to make an animation that was cheerful and happy. I researched a few animations on YouTube, but after getting the feedback and changing my idea, I studied an animation called 'The Seed', the Fleet Foxes' animated video for 'Mykonos', and the paper cut out 'Folk Routes' advert.

The Seed, By Johnny Kelly


Mykonos


Folk Routes


The Two Ideas That I Would Like To Develop In My Animation Sequence.
The one idea I really liked was the one of the heart beating in the animation 'The Seed'. I decided to add that to my animation, so when choosing a song to animate to, the Noisettes 'Wild Young Hearts' seemed to fit perfectly. The other idea that I wanted to develop was the material used - paper. Paper cut outs were also used in the other two animations I studied, but I decided to keep mine mainly 2D, to save time.

The Noisettes, Wild Young Hearts


Why Are Research And Drawing Skills Important To The Animation Development Process?
By researching, I got ideas that I then developed, using drawing skills. Research helped me decide the 'story', technique I wanted to use, and also choose the song I wanted to illustrate the lyrics of. By using drawing skills I played about with the images or ideas I developed from the lyrics of the song 'Wild Young Hearts'.

Factors affecting initial ideas and development work.
The first factor was the knowledge I had gained from the first year of animation, playing about with different techniques and watching professional animator's work. By having access to industry standard software and equipment, having an experienced teacher and two technicians on hand to help, and having lessons with professional animators Natalie Hinchley and Stuart Messinger, I was able to attempt a slightly more complex animation than I would have been in another school.

What Is Animation Used For Today?

Here is a mind map that I created to show the uses of animation today.

Animation Development - 1832 to 2010

Here is a timeline that I created detailing the development of animation from 1832 to 2010.

Damaged Goods Images

Here are some of the more important images from the animation 'Damaged Goods'.

Aspects Discussed With My Tutor And Feedback Received

What ideas have you presented to your tutor and peers?
My first idea for my final animation was a walk through the park scene, but after presenting it to my tutor and the rest of the group, I changed my idea completely. The feedback I received was that although it was a nice idea, walk cycles are very difficult, and also extremely hard to make look realistic. They also thought that there were not many things that could be done with the idea that have not been done before. After re-assessing, I decided to illustrate the lyrics of the Noisettes song ‘Wild Young Hearts’. My tutor agreed that the idea was good, and suggested the technique of paper cut outs, as he thought that it suited the way I like to work, and that it was a less time consuming method than many of the others available.

How have your ideas and original plans changed in response to feedback and changes in circumstances? Consider the resources available, time, cost etc.
As stated above, my original idea completely changed in response to feedback, but the idea I went with changed a lot due to time restrictions. Although I would have like to do a much more detailed animation, with many more scenes or sections, it simply wasn’t realistic, so after I had completed a storyboard, I was advised to choose the more important sections, or the ones I liked the most, and make them longer, therefore dropping some of the others. This meant that I had less to make and animate, which saved a lot of time. It also reduced the amount of resources I used, so therefore saved money.

The role of feedback and self-evaluation in the creative process.
Receiving feedback during the development process was crucial, especially because my practical knowledge of animating was limited. My ideas were all too complicated, difficult or time consuming to begin with, and without feedback I would have tried to create them, and most likely ended up with unfinished or bad work. Self evaluation was also important - did I know enough to actually create a walk i the park scene, and did I have time?