IDEA DEVELOPMENT

 I thought the idea of blobs in a lava lamp a was a perfect fit for the brief. I would be able to give them emotion, movement, and a story line without having to use facial expressions or human features.

The blobs in the lava lamp want to morph together to form one blob, but keep getting separated. At the end they will finally use their little blob arms to become one, and create a heart shape, but then they get separated again, and the loop starts over.

I like the story line as it reminds me of the current lockdown situation and how we cannot be with our loved ones.

Subject/Story - Two blobs in a lava lamp who want to be

together but keep getting separated.

Style - Digitally animated, simple visuals.

Aspect Ratio - 16:9; The aspect ratio of a phone screen as that

is where it will mainly be viewed.

Movement - Create depth of character through the movement. Give the blobs arms/ limbs to personify them further but no facial expressions.

Why the phone? - There will be a phone in shot at the start, to represent how we can easily be distracted but if we focus on the little tings (like our lava lamps) we can find little stories in anything.

Sound -  use diegetic sounds such as phone notifications, and some exaggerated lava lamp sounds such as bubbles

Final Project

 I was really happy with the outcome of this course, and I am proud of myself for sticking at it and learning how to use complicated programmes such as adobe animate and after effects. While my piece could obviously be a lot better, for a first time animation i am really proud of both the concept and the production level.

I wish I could have made it smoother and added shading to the shapes to make it look more realistic, but actually the abstract style works well for the project and I think I have successfully portrayed the simple story line and characters thorough shape and movement. 

I Think the sound design really helps with the atmosphere and helping to create mood.

https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/1_h82v3l38

BREAKING THE RULES PROJECT WIP

 Work In Progress

Here is a plan for the breaking the rules Animation which includes techniques such as short boiling loop, smear effect, squash and stretch, and a pop, all resulting in one large loop. 

PLANNER

 Hand Drawn Planner 

Week 4-6 completed 

Animation 1A – Formative Reflection

As Animation 1A progressed, I became less worried that I was starting from scratch as I took my time to learn the basics first and had not been thrown in the deep end. I was surprised by my creative choices, as I immediately went for a more abstract style, which I rarely do in any other creative work. I found myself spending my time at the beginning getting my head around the software, and then realised it really helped to learn about the background and evolution of Animation theory. Learning about the Zoetrope and the first forms of animation helped me to think of film in a different way, like the FPS in animation and why we always shoot in 24FPS in film began to fall into place in my head. However, my limits in this subject became clear very early on, that my focus, patience and perseverance would really be put to the challenge. I think my ADHD is partly the reason I decided to do it on Adobe Animate, rather than by hand, as it is quicker and easier for me to stay focused in. 

 

There were a few obstacles which presented themselves, such as not understanding the field guide for a long time, but I decided this was okay to move on from as I was working on online software. Arguably, the most valuable aspect I have learnt so far is learning to work patiently and to trust the process. Once I allowed myself to relax and take time developing my skills and not jump into the deep end, I enjoyed creating a lot more. Furthermore, I documented my working process by keeping notes and working in a sketchbook before taking my ideas over to the computer. I am also going to now begin taking screenshots of my working process in the longer, final project in order to document the process. The blog has been really helpful to me as a reminder of how far I have come even though I am still only learning the basics. My favourite parts of the overall process was finding new artists and being inspired. This has allowed me to work in a new medium and learn to express myself in a new way artistically, which is always exciting. Watching myself learn a new technical skill which is applicable to my degree such as transferable skills in Adobe Animate and After Effects is really exciting to me. Perhaps a lot of this inspiration came from my additional research resources used, which included Linda.com, various YouTube tutorials, and artists such as Norman McLaren. Additionally, coming back into contact with TV shows I grew up on in the lectures such as Pig and Pog and other Aardman studios through the lectures was really exciting, and encouraged me to dig back through other childhood animations such as BOD, Rhubarb and Custard, and Captain Pugwash. 

 

Entering this elective with my film makers head on allowed me to both apply prior knowledge, such as roughly knowing the programmes, but it was also extremely interesting to learn about film and the moving image from a different angle. It was exciting to realise they both originated at the same place; photography. However, I regret not taking the time to learn hand drawn animation first if I had the time, (and money for the equipment), as I think it would have been extremely useful and transferrable. Although I didn’t start off with the drawn elements, I achieved more than I thought I would, and it is exciting to see ideas start to naturally manifest themselves in this new medium which I am learning. Even though it can be a tedious and challeneging process, I am proud of understanding the basics of animation and the software in just over a month and look forward to creating the new project and overcoming more obstacles. 

 

Primary and Secondary action first attempts

This was my first attempt at creating secondary movement. I used what we learnt from creating the bouncing ball and then added some hair/string to the sides of it in order to begin learning how the secondary action. It actually looks a bit like a weird bug. The movement is a bit jolty but i'm still happy with it. 

For my second attempt I just used one 'string' so I could focus on making it more smooth. I think this attempt came out better. However for my next attempt I am going to plan it more so the secondary movement looks for realistic. 

About me

Hello!! I'm Meg. I am a second year Film & TV student, and I am delighted to be on the Animation 1A course this semester, (and the 1B next semester, woo!) 

I am an aspiring artist and creator. I enjoy oil painting, sculpture and making films of course. 

I feel like there is a large gap in my portfolio and that gap is animation. Learning to animate, and understand the moving image, frame y frame, will be helpful for a lot of things I do. I have already found it very helpful for my Film course, as most theories are applicable to film. 

I enjoy surrealism, and weird things. I hope to use my imagination to create some strange and uncomfortable animations by the end of this year, but I have a lot of learning to do! 

My Website

Here's an Image of me and a recent work :)