Final Animation

Pre-production documents

Animation Evaluation

                                                       Animation Evaluation

During this assignment I was required to work to a brief and produce a 15-30 second long stop motion animation. Throughout this assignment I was aiming at developing some skills in the production of stop motion animation, using traditional frame – by - frame methods to animate 3D materials such as objects, puppets, clay figures and other models. To start off the assignment each member of the group was asked to create a blog, this is so that we are able to publish any of our work online for a wider audience to see. Once everyone’s blog was set up, we then moved on an introduction task with our teacher to help give us a better understanding of what stop-motion animation was. This was one in the TV studio as there is enough space to animate our own bodies.

One the introduction in top stop-motion animation had been done we moved on to task 1. This task had been done individually which helped everyone explore stop motion animation techniques including persistence of vision, stop-frame, frame rates, and their development up to the present. I also had the chance to explore the techniques and development of stop motion animation investigating pioneers and contemporary animators, and the genres and forms developed from the past to present day, in my case I had looked at Jan Svankmajer who is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media.

Dimensions of dialogue is one of Jan Svankmajers most recognisable piece of work out there. The film is split into three sections, ‘Exhaustive Discussion’, where Arcimboldo-like heads reduce each other into bland copies; ‘Passionate Discourse’ a clay couple merge and dissolve in love-making, only to eventually disown and destroy each other; and ‘Factual Conversation’ two heads fail to communicate with each, presenting various objects with their tongues, none of which match. The animating of this was quite basic. Jan animated this with a set that he created, perfect lighting and good sound techniques.

As I had done my research on him, he had helped influence me into creating a basic but efficient looking animation. The techniques that he had used were all simple this may be because his animations were created in the past and technology has now improved. So now that I had the some research into stop-motion animation I then moved on to posting some useful and important stills and clips from animations which have been significant in the history of stop motion animation. Moving on to task 2 of this assignment I had planned and one some research on ideas and techniques enabling me to produce a stop-motion animation film of 15-20 seconds in for a TV advert, a website such as YouTube and/or a festival for example the Leyton Sixth Form College Oscars.

So starting of task 2 I had written up a treatment identifying the content, audience and screen contexts of my proposed animation. I had defined my audience for my animation by age, gender, interests and viewing context. Identifying the audience was the toughest part of this task as I was not sure whether to target my animation at a younger audience or an elder audience. My final decision was to aim my animation at a younger audience as they would have a better interest into stop-motion animations. I had then pitched my proposal to the class and my teacher as this would give me a wider opinion of what they think I should have and not have as well as some sound track choices and sounds. One my treatment and my pitch had been completed I logged what I had received from them onto my blog.

 

Once all research, treatment and pitching had been done I moved on to the pre-production of this assignment. I had compiled a portfolio showing that I have considered the use of possible formats such as stop-frame techniques, time lapse photography, Claymation, using found objects, modelling, puppetry and combined formats. It had also included preliminary animation work, ideas and pre-production documents. Documents such as concepts of my animation, whether it would be a subject, characters or visualisations. Production ideas and designs, this would be the set, background, audio and storyline. I had also included some introduction to stop-motion animation work into the portfolio as well as a mood board, storyboard, lighting and colour.

As extra help on of our teachers had helped us create an armature puppet from scrap. Using the model that I had made I practised some stop-motion animation to have more practice and a better understanding on how to use the hardware and software. Once I had completed the pre-production I moved on to the production of my animation. Production was simple as all I had to do was get straight into building my set which was fairly easy. I then started animating my object moving around my set. This was quite time consuming but I would say it was worth it. Using hardware provided by the college this had helped my job be a lot easier.

My animation was around 12-15 seconds long excluding an intro and an outro. I had decided to add a calming but enjoyable soundtrack as background music to give it that groovy feel to it. This had also helped gather a wider younger audience. Production took me around 3 days. Once I had completed the animation using IstopMotion I moved my final piece to final cut to add some sound effects and the soundtrack. Sound effects I added were of a flying plane and a bird squeaking.

Next up, once I had edited and finished my animation I had collected and analysed audience feedback from my class as well as feedback from people who have been on my blog. To help me gather all the information needed I had tried by best to get as many answers relating genre, content, style, narrative, character, techniques, aesthetic qualities, creative qualities and technical qualities. I had also gathered responses from discussions, reviews and feedback from online.

To gather the best audience feedback possible I had asked my class and other audiences some questions. I had also gathered some feedback on my blog as I had posted my final animation onto blogger to receive a wider feedback whet it would be positive or negative. Question that I had asked my class were the following: Who is the target audience? Where this would be screened? Technical qualities? Strength and weaknesses? And areas to improve in? Starting off with my feedback, I had decided that I should record everyone’s feedback individually just so I could go back and listen to it when I write up my feedback. I had received some positive and negative feedback overall. Starting off with the audience I had been told that my animation would suit best for a younger audience aged between 5-10, overall the responses I had received from this question were expectable as that is the age range I was aiming for when creating my animation.

Next up was where would this be screened? The feedback from the audience for this question had been different, many said that my animation should be screened on the web as it is a fast best and quick animation. Others said that I should be on TV channels such as cbbc and Disney channel. As an animator I was expecting these responses as I knew that my animating was targeted at a younger audience which then has to be broadcasted on channels that appeal to a younger audience.

 

 

I had also received feedback regarding the technical qualities. The answers that I had received from this are about the camera, editing and the animation overall. Concerning he camera the audience said that it was good and that the high shot that I had was used well, some didn’t like it but overall I believe I should have created a different set so that camera could be placed in a better position. The editing on the other hand I had received was all positive, the sound was good, the cuts were sharp alongside with the transitions and the speed of the clips. As an animator who enjoys editing I believe that I would have produced and edited a better version of this with just a bit more time, but whatever has been done is done now. The strengths of my animation had to be the editing as this is what the audience had enjoyed the most but as of the animation overall I believe it was poor. If there were any improvement opportunities I would have decided to start over again with a different set and objects with the same storyline to the original.

Overall I believe that y animation had tuned out to be what I was expecting of all of the planning I had done beforehand. This assignment had helped me have a better understanding to animation with the research I had done and the help from teachers on how to animate objects of characters whether it would be models I created or toys that I had bought in from younger siblings.

As i had not created a story board, instead i had filled out a dope sheet full of the different shots, techniques and a quick synopsis of the action that my final piece would have. whilst filling out my dope sheet i had also adding the type of sounds i will have and the amount of time it would take.

Equipment & set

 Camera Used to shoot low scenes.

 Mac & camera placed on a tripod.

Set with perfect lighting on.

Some work me and my fellow group member kadar did using some Russian dolls and a stop motion software called IStopMotion.

 

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                                              Stop motion animation in TV

What is stop motion animation?

In animation stop motion animation is a cinematic process, or technique used to makes static objects appear as if they were moving. This technique is commonly used in Claymation and puppet-based animation. The objects are brought to life by breaking up the figure's motion into increments and filming one frame of film per addition. Stop motion animation can also be thought of as just a series of still photographs put together to make a moving image. Stop motion animation is almost as old as film itself. Film makers needed a way to animate objects on screen and the technique was devised. The first instance of its usage is credited to J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith for bringing a toy circus to life in Humpty Dumpty Circus (1897).

How are stop motion animations created?

Stop motion animations are commonly created using objects such as clay to build characters, they are also created by building a set for you characters to move in. a camera and an editing software. When animating using a camera the first type of shot has to always show the entire frame as this helps give the audience a better understanding. The camera must be placed so that it is sitting steadily and cannot shake as this makes you photos very blurry and not in focus. A good source of lighting is needed. During the early years of animation most animators had to use the natural light of the sun, but as time progressed many animate in dark rooms with a lamp of a flashlight over their sets. Once the lighting, set and camera are all ready, the movements sequence would be the toughest. Moving the figure or character bit by bit in very small movements each time making sure you do not lose control of you character.

  

Where can you find stop-motion animations?

Animations can be found almost everywhere you look, from websites to games to films. Many animations are placed on the web on websites such as YouTube and Viemo, these are the sites that have millions of user’s online every day. They range from all different skill levels and artistic styles. They are also found on TV channels such as Cbbc and Disney channel kids as these channels are aimed at a younger audience that appeals for them.

 

Stop motion animation on you TV.

Dominating children's TV stop motion programming for three decades in America was Art Clokey's Gumby series—which spawned a feature film, Gumby I in 1995—using both freeform and character clay animation. Clokey started his adventures in clay with a 1953 freeform clay short film called Gumbasia (1953) which shortly thereafter propelled him into his more structured Gumby TV series. As many different TV shows have been made for the younger audience with the use of stop motion animation for many reasons one of which is that these appeal to young kids. From 1986 to 2000, over 150 five-minute episodes of Pingu, a Swiss children's comedy were produced by Trickfilmstudio. In the 1990s Trey Parker and Matt Stone made two shorts and the pilot of South Park almost entirely out of construction paper.