I have done two different outlines for my animation to start planning out the scenes, i found that i improved on the second one because i spent a lot more time on it. But also because i did it a slightly different way to the first and i found this made a big difference. instead of just watching the video i was using as a reference i took screenshots of each frame i was planning to draw, this really helped with separating the video into individual drawings, i could draw it a lot easier and i didn’t get overwhelmed by the movement. i also found it easier to animate the figure in the second drawing since there was a lot more fabric so the illusion of movement is easier to capture.
i was originally planning on rotoscoping the difficult animations to save time, but i have decided i will reduce the amount of scenes if time becomes a problem.
These drawing are not done yet and i still have one more to do, but once i have finished the sketches i will start colouring them by the Easter break.
These are the completed consent forms to make sure the people in the reference photos and videos agree to have them used in my project.
WWW-it is helpful how I have figured out a more productive way of animating alongside my refence pictures, this is a big improvement to my project.
EBI-since it did take more time figuring out how i will draw the animations then expected i didn’t get as much done as I hoped, this will result in a knock on effect to the following weeks.
These sketches are a collection of some ideas i have for the activity’s happening in a few of the windows, however i am waiting to take my reference pictures that i will use for my final animations so these are not accurate. I am mainly using them to practice and figure out the colours for each window, since i would like each one to be different. This is also important because the videos will be taken from the same floor of the flat, so i can’t use the colours from the original video because they will all be the same.
I have also made a consent form for my sisters flatmates to sign so i have permission to use their photos and videos for my project. I have chosen to use my sisters flat as a reference
WWW-i like how ive planed out colour combinations, i think this can help when I get further in my project, not just for a contingency plan.
EBI-it would help if i had the reference images to use for these sketches, because it would help me plan more appropriately and save me having to draw something different.
I started of by doing some sketches to plan out what i would like each section of the animation to look like. i also plan on developing these into there own concept piece if the animation isn’t finished in time. I think this will be a good contingency plan as it is still basically the same idea just not animated.
I have been researching how i am going to execute my animation and i found rotoscoping animation. This is where animators trace over motion picture footage to make the animation as realistic as possible without having the study anatomy. I don’t plan on using this for my final animation, however it could be helpful to use footage as a reference as i am not familiar with animation yet. Since my animation is a basic day to day concept i can film videos of me and people i know to get a range of experiences to draw.
To collect primary research im going to have a group discussion at my sisters uni flat as this is a diverse range of people all living in a flat together, I think this will link to my idea well as im trying to portray a range of people investing time in their personal projects and this will be an easy way to find people to interview. I am also able to take inspiration from the layout of the flat, since my animation is through windows it will be helpful to get reference pictures and videos of rooms that are all the same size.
Having people doing different activities is very important since this will communicate the point I am trying to make. The idea of existentialism is that you are responsible of creating your own purpose, I see this as a link to innovation because this freedom encourages people to think independently. And you are independently constructing your life through the decisions you make and the activities you partake in. This is a form of innovation of meaning in your existence overall.
This is an updated schedule now that I know more on how I will go about creating my project. However, since this is my first time making a proper animation I am not 100% sure how long things will take so I have created contingency plan . I also plan to look at tutorials throughout my project on certain tools on animate that I haven’t used within the course yet. I haven’t chosen to do that this week since I don’t know if ill manage to get to the editing part.
WWW-I managed to create an updated schedule that I think will be more helpful to the progress of my project and much more realistic since I now have a more logical idea of what I’m going to do
EBI-I think my research this week would be more efficient if I managed to record the group discussion so i would be able to refer back to it later in my project.
Feedback– Have three ideas, your slides are very text heavy. Aiming to do animations as part of your project. I would advise doing animatics and moving into more refined work as this will help you do a full animation.
You need to give us an introduction to innovation and what it means to you to demonstrate that you understand the context.
Be sure in what you are saying, a lot of “maybe” makes it seem like you have not done enough initial research even though you have.
Where are evidence of surveys for initial research. Make sure you have a contingency plan.
You have provided evidence of time management. Overall you have some good ideas but it is important to show more than just these ideas. Also justify what your final idea was and why.
Reflection –
If i did my pitch again i would have used my research on innovation from my week 1 post to make an introduction on what innovation is so it could link to my ideas easier . It also would be important to make surveys to support the ideas i have chosen , then make that clear at the end of the presentation.
research–
since I’ve chosen to use my first idea, i need to start watch tutorials on animation and figure out what style i will be going for, i also need to story board my animation even though it will not be a linear story i need to plan out the different windows and what they look like before i try and animate them. i am also planning on focusing on animatics as a contingency plan, just in case i don’t finish the animation in time
this site was really useful with examples of animatics and why they are important. something that will be really important in my animation is the small expressions from the characters as they wont be in the main focus for a long time, so i will take inspiration from early cartoons that needed really expressive characters to get their feeling across to the audience.
I also collected some photos for inspiration on what i want the building to look like. i have gravitated more towards bigger windows since then it will be easier to see the animation and there will be less of the building to draw. i also would like it to be an apartment complex so it would be possible for people to be completely different even though they live right next to each other. i would like my animation to be panning up the building and end when it reaches the top, i think this will be easier then going side to side.
Nick Jain. (15/07/2023). What is Innovation? Definition, Types, Examples and Process. [Online]. ideascale. Available at: https://ideascale.com/blog/what-is-innovation/ [Accessed 25 February 2025].
simone de beauvoir. (1947). what is existentialism?. france: philosophical writings. pp.1-117.
Erik Johansson. (2007). Projects 2007-2025. [Online]. Erik Johansson Surreal Photography. Last Updated: N/A. Available at: https://www.erikjo.com/work [Accessed 8 May 2025].
context– i think i am working at a merit for context since i can use context of a subject to understand it further and fully analyse the themes and why it would be important, however i could improve this skill further but going into more depth and utilising different sources in the beginning stages of a project.
research– i think i am working at a distinction for this section as i can utilise both primary and secondary resources to aid in producing valuable ideas, i can also gather an eclectic range of sources depending on the aim of the project.
practical skills– currently, i believe i am working at a pass for this section as it depends what the skills are. i think i have some specific developed skills, however i would like the focus on diversifying my skill set to add more multimedia into my work.
evaluation and reflection-i think i am working at a pass for this section as my reflecting throughout my portfolio so far could go into a lot more depth ,and i then could use that to improve my work and take action on the things i need to improve in.
SWOT analysis
strengths– i am confident in a lot of my creative ability including visual art such as drawing painting and illustrating. Also in my creative problem solving, this being important in identifying the problems when making something and using my acquired knowledge to fix it.
weaknesses– i think my weaknesses include a lot of the written aspect of a project, such as my grammar being poor and not explaining my processes in depth. This meaning i would usually struggle with the evaluation and reflecting part of my work.
opportunities– i am looking to develop different creative skills such as animation and digital art as most of my knowledge now involves physical art with a pen and paper,and i would like to diversify my skills by learning new ones.
threats– this could possibly be the amount of time it usually takes to create an animation, since this is a skill that requires a lot of practice, if i decided to create my project around animation there would be a lot to learn in a restricted amount of time, adding additional stress to my project.
Innovation
The creation of new ideas, and general progression. Also improving an existing product, adding your own ideas. innovation can be group progress as in humanity, but also personal as in how people progress throughout their lives by adapting the principals of innovation to their personal lives, this can be shown through an individuals personal growth or even through their general thoughts, since everyone thinks differently each thought can be a new innovation. Innovation can also include evolution, creating new organisms creating diversity or growth to improve someone’s life overall.
my ideas–
innovation through existentialism-An idea i have is to focus on personal innovation, and how people prioritise there own personal projects. This idea has come from a book I’m reading on existentialism by Simone de Beauvoir. Existentialism is generally defined by focusing on someone’s personal free will and distinguishing whether it even exists. But the way i have chosen to interpret it is how people determine their own development, this is also talked about more towards the end of the book. This stimulated the philosophical idea that what ever personal endeavours or projects you have happening right now is what’s giving your life meaning. other peoples definitions of existentialism would be when a person makes decisions about their life, follows through, doesn’t follow through on decisions- this begins to create their ‘existence’. I would also like to use this idea as it will be easier to link to the skills I have. This includes drawing and painting people, so a project biased around people would be easier for me to produce especially with the limited time. Starting a new way of drawing may be challenging. However i have not made an animation protect that is telling a story, so this will still be a new skill i am able to develop .I would like to animate a 2D short animation or video biased on these ideas.
Innovation of music-this idea will be portrayed by the radio being invented allowing people to listen to their own style of music, showing innovation by a product being invented but also people using it to partake in their own culture or interests . this may be difficult however as im not sure if i can use music in my animation. but if i can this would make this idea relate to my personal interests, giving me more motivation to continue
Innovation of dreams– Especially during the hypnagogic state out minds are more open to unconventional ideas. Dreams can also be a specific type of innovation as we think of our own dreams but can still be surprised by them. This is something I’m interested in biasing my project around as it is confusing where these ideas come from. My animation could follow a characters dream and how there perspective or life can change after ideas are presented in their dream. This could also give me the opportunity to explore different art styles by drawing the dream section of the animation completely differently, this will also make it easier to follow and understand the story I’m trying to tell. i could also take inspiration from surrealist artists.
These are extremely informative animation videos and the tutorials are in depth, and are at very high standards considering this is free to watch. These creators manage to engage their audience by incorporating humour and light-hearted dialogue in between the information shared, this makes the tutorials easier to watch and seem a lot less educational. I have also personally learnt a lot from this video specifically, i also appreciate that they inform you on what is difficult and time consuming about animation, even for professionals, so there audience can understand that struggling with certain aspects is okay.
This creator in not specifically educational however recently has done a few videos explaining the history of animation, this is helpful for understanding the art form and also the fact that all of his content is hand drawn. This almost makes all of his videos entertaining and a lot of people would watch just for the art alone.
To make this animation I first started with a sketch of each frame, which I did on layer 1 to plan out the basic movements of the figure. This was more difficult then I thought since I’ve never drawn someone walking before, so it was difficult to figure out the movement in stop-motion. This only took 7 frames since I looped the animation to make it look like a continuous cycle, and if I where to do this animation again I would make the figure move across the screen so there would be some sense to them walking.
www- i managed to make the walk somewhat realistic.
I’ve added kill zones into my game for the player to run into, to make the game more difficult to play. I’ve done this by adding a new node in the top left next to node 2D and named it kill zone, using the collision drop down menu, changing the mask on the inspector tab on the right too 2 instead of 1. Adding to the script, going to the node tap on the right and selecting the right signal this is the long list of red arrow keys .In between the blue and pink text on line 15 I added on_body_entered so that the character that is stated as body by the engine will collide with these zones and reload so when the character for example falls off the map the game will reload and won’t crash which was an issue ive had before.
After this I added the kill zone node to the note 2D with the instantiate child scene icon so they would interact with the rest of my game. So now there is two more nodes beneath the other ones as area 2D and collision shape 2D.
I can change the shape of the collision blocks by selecting the node on the left and going to the shape tap on the right and selecting the shape I want, if I want the game to reset when the player falls off the map I would use the shape at the top (new world boundary shape).
PORTFOLIO 