comparison between planned production and final project
This is the difference between the idea I had for the window frame, it is obvious that my sketch changed, and I think this is because as my idea developed I found it would be more difficult to show what was going on in each window clearly if I had to move the camera from side to side. This is why I decided to only move the view up the building. I think my idea changed also, because I hadn’t drawn the scenes yet when I did the first sketch so I didn’t understand how long they where actually going to take. Because of this I wanted the individual scenes to hold most of the attention of the animation.
Project overview/ start to finish
Idea generation – At the beginning of my project I found it was easy to choose the idea I would go with because it was definitely the one I am most interested in and I found it was broad enough to aid my lack of experience in animation, by allowing me to animate seemingly simple activities. Although it was easier to convert the idea of existentialism in animation it was a bit more of a stretch linking innovation to it. I focused more on the personal projects involved within the philosophy, however there is a big emphasis on free will especially in the books i have read on it. I tried to demonstrate this idea by making the activities different and also solitary, I found that these conditions makes it the most accurate for these choices to be spontaneous, therefore producing personal innovation.
planning– my project is based in day-to-day activities so i thought it would be important to gather the reference pictures and videos myself, also since I would be using them a lot in the production process. This also helped me with research, because I was able to ask people in my sisters flat what they would actually get up to, which i think made my project more accurate at staying with the theme if existentialism. I was also able to decide how the references looked, and I wouldn’t be able to do this as effectively with photos and videos from the internet.
production – Throughout the production of my project I learnt a lot more about animation and especially the process towards the end of it, such as fixing frames in-between so the movement ran smoothly, and joining all the scenes together. This was the part of the process I struggled on the most and I think that’s because I have only made short animations and didn’t need to worry about different things happening. So adding a camera to pan up my drawings was difficult, this is also the first time i have drawn outside the stage and using the camera tool. Even though the process was difficult I am happy with how the final animation looks and I like how each movement is clear and in the center when they play.
I definitely planned for my animation to be coloured and completed when I started this project and I am disappointed I was unable to complete it entirely. I think the final animation would look a lot more put together if I was able to finish the colouring. I also like the sample I did in week 8, I like how the colours complement each other and I think this would be a good edition to my project overall. Looking back to my project schedule I have noticed I didn’t leave a time frame to get the colouring done and I just added that workload onto the drawing section and I believe that is why that part of my project struggled. I think if I where to plan and produce this project again I would set a timeframe for the colouring and also it would need to be longer then the amount of time for the drawing. I also found that even though my project is partially incomplete I didn’t feel the need to rely on my contingency plan of creating concept art instead of an animation. This is because I still wanted to push myself to create an animation since I hadn’t made one before.
Limitations-Since I relied on a lot of the work I was doing at home I had a lot of different files for the same animations, because I was switching between my laptop and different PCs, making it more confusing to edit. This is a problem I didn’t think of in the beginning, however staying organized with my files was surprisingly more important than I thought. Towards the second half of the project (after easter break) I began to use folders and naming my files appropriately which really helped.
Timeframe– Even though i didn’t set an appropriate timeframe to get the colouring done, I liked the organization I had with having specific tasks completed by the end of each week, I found this helped me stay on track and avoid burnout. I also found it helpful to remake my project schedule in week 3, this was definitely a more realistic way of using the time allocated.
In conclusion I think I have learnt a lot from the full process of making this project and I have enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to produce a full animation, I have been able to develop my skill in adobe animate and create an animation with a lot more frames then the ones I did through out the units of the course. These skills also extending to editing and refining the animation to the full playthrough. If I where to create this project again with the knowledge I’ve gained I would set more appropriate timeframes to be able to finish the colouring. I would also not make the movements with line art, I would block out the figure first, this is because I found it difficult to layer a background behind the figure, and ended up having to erase the background when the figure was Infront.
peer feedback– Its a very unique idea, obviously due to it not being finished that’s a negative. However this project doesn’t need color to still look good! I really like all the people doing their own thing because its really thought provoking for the viewer.
PORTFOLIO 