The Schedule/Production Log

Production Log

The Director: Oli, because I thought of the original Idea
The Producer: Connie, because she can supply the face paints needed for the project
The Animator: Luli, because she is the best at drawing in our team
The Camera/Lighting Person: Andy, because he has a good eye for a picture
Chief Editor: Oli, because I am more acquainted with editing programs

We will be shooting outside on the grass in the field, the camera will be right above my arm facing down so the angle is flat and the E4 logo and the animation which takes place on the arm can be seen properly. I want it done on a field with grass in the background so it gives a theme of friends being outside on a field together, and because we are outside it gives the animation a good natural lighting, this means I will not need to get any permission to access my shooting area. The reason I am using the grassy field is because grass will be the background of my animation.

We have found audio for the animation, it is a simple track that gives a light mood and happy feeling, and is the same style as E4’s music. The music has already been taken and can easily be edited using Audacity to fit our animation’s needs.

Putting this animation together will be easy, the simple style and story of the animation means only one scene is required, the only thing we'll need to edit and add to the animation will be the audio, this is simple because all that will need to be done is cutting the track to the right length and fading the beginning in and the ending out.

It will only take about 40 minutes to an hour to shoot because of the lack of props required. Apart from the face paints to draw with there is nothing else needed for the animation so between each frame all the animator needs to do is draw a little bit on, this means less time between photos and less time overall, Connie will bring in the face paints as she already has them at home.

The only problem I see is with the location, as we are relying on good weather, if it rains we will be unable to shoot because the paint will run and the grey sky won’t give a good light. To shoot the animation we need a camera and tripod, both are booked from Scott in the photography department ready for shooting, so everything is ready to go.

Evaluation and Feedback

After finishing my animation I should now evaluate it, and look at how I worked throughout the weeks.

There were alot of issues with members of the group not being in, and they all had important roles that were needed for the animation to be produced, however I think that under the circumstances I had I worked well. All of the Pre-Production documentation was finished quickly, so this meant that when the whole group was finally in we were able to do the animation without worrying about anything else.

I think I could have planned ahead more with the actual production of the animation, as I was relying alot on the other members of the group being in. Next time I have to do a group project, I will come up with a back up plan just incase my group are unable to come in and I need to produce something with half of my people gone. On the documentation side I worked well and finished it all quickly and to a high quality which allowed me to focus on the animation once the group was in which made it better.

I think that the overall quality of the animation is decent, with the fact that it was forced to be last minute as it took time to get the whole group in to do it, this could have been avoided if I had come up with a backup plan and done the animation sooner, as there would have been less need to rush and get it done quickly. I will see what other people say about my animation before writing it off completely, as it is still a decent animation. I will start by showing the clip to my class, as it would be good to hear what they think, i'll then wait for others to view my video and get some input from people who don't know me, this input will perhaps be the most valuable as it will be completely unbiased and what they truly think.

At first I showed the video to the class, there was only one comment about the animation, which was raising the point of the grass moving in the background, however, the grass was meant to be moving in the animation as it gives it an outdoor feeling, this was the only feedback I got from the class so there was nothing to work with. I then posted the video on Youtube and Facebook for a broader range of comments, the general feedback was good from facebook was good and they didn't have anything to say about how i could improve the animation, although there weren't that many people overall. I showed the video to people in person and the majority thought it could not be improved on, there were a couple of comments however, regarding the E4 logo at the end, it was a bit blotchy where the animator hadn't filled it in before starting doing the white, this problem although minor had a big effect on the end of the animation, as the whole point of the sting was to show the E4 logo and it was blotchy. Next time i'm doing an animation with a group I will make sure to remember this and make sure the animator draws everything correctly, and make sure the camera man is keeping an eye out for mistakes rather than just rushing and taking the photo as soon as possible. This has been the most useful feedback as it's the little things like this which can have the biggest part of the overall feel of the animation.

The audience response from class and from the internet was all good, this is a good thing, although isn't very useful when trying to find faults and see if there is a way to improve. Showing the animation to friends in person did get some good feedback and has helped me see what I've done wrong, which will stop me making the same mistake in the future on a bigger project.

Our group got a distinction with the animation and overall i'm happy with the quality, even if the logo at the end isn't perfect.

My Finished Project

Unfortunatley the video AVI isn't uploading directly on here, it's uploaded to youtube though so here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmQXzFGCAkE&context=C260a1ADOEgsToPDskI5wMYSrv9iJPs2V6LMtedk

Producing my own E4 Ident using stop motion animation

For my college project I am to make an E4 Ident using stop motion animation techniques, it has to last about 10 seconds which means around 200 photos, i'm working in a group of 4.

Week 1

I started storyboarding my idea last week and it went well, i have decided after careful thought to use face paint for the design so it can be easily washed off. The arm that is going to be used is going to placed on white paper so there is a clean background, we are also going to use custom lighting, this is because we can beam the light down on the arm and film it in any location as the light will stay consistent.

Week 2

My group has finished the production log and we have all decided which roles we are going to take. We have no face paint at this time so we are unable to start making our animation, we have however planned to take some test photos to see what lighting we'll need to give our animation the best look and feel.

I hope that next week we can start making the animation, it shouldn't take long as there aren't many props required, all we need is the paint and some cleansing wipes and it should go pretty smoothly.

Week 3

Today one of our group members who was responsible for drawing wasn't in, so we sorted out our paperwork and what we wanted to do for a set so when she's back we can easily start the animation and get it done quickly and smoothly. This was our last lesson dedicated to the animation so we will have to do find a lunch break to do it in before next thursday.

Week 4

We found a lesson we could use to catch our animation on camera, we finished it in 40 mins, we have got the images off of the memory card and on to the computer, resized the images, and put them in to flash.

We then found approriate audio, edited it in Audacity, and put it with the animation, the timing is perfect.


Animation finished!

E4's Target Audience

I’m looking at E4’s target audience, and what they do to get the attention of their audience, and what they show to cater for them.

E4 has a wide variety of programs, from comedies and sitcoms to dramas, they play programs like “Scrubs”, “Hollyoaks”, “The Big Bang Theory”, “Skins”, “Friends”, “Glee”, and “Misfits” although I have listed a lot of programs you can tell if you watch them they are all aimed at a young target audience, around the 16-25 maybe even 30 mark. You can also tell by their idents, they tend to be strange, humorous, and goofy which is intended for younger people.

E4, BBC 3, and MTV Television Stings

A “Sting” is a short animation featuring a company’s logo to make the viewer more likely to remember them, this is because an interesting animation is more easy to remember then a picture because there’s more to catch in the mind, almost all television companies use these stings on their channels to imprint their logo in their viewer’s minds, I’m going to be looking at 3 examples of E4 stings, and then after I’ll be looking at a BBC 3 and MTV sting.

Sting 1

This sting features a purple monster eating a TV and then the E4 logo appearing on his stomach. I like this stings because all the colours in the sting are E4’s colours, purple and white so it’s more relevant to the company. I also like the monster’s lazy, design similar to that of people who watch a lot of TV, this gives it relevance to people and extra humour. This sting is only in 2D which isn’t as good as others, but personally I think it doesn’t matter for this animation as it’s nice and simple, uses all the right colours, and gets that E4 Logo in the mind. Here is the video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4LBGb7TY00

Sting 2

This sting is very basic and doesn’t really have much going on, it features the E4 logo moving position on the screen with a rather plain background, one upside to this sting over the first sting is that it’s 3D other than that though, it’s nothing special. Although it’s a bad sting in my opinion, it still uses the company’s logo in the animation which is what stings are for, so it can’t be completely discredited. Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giAw7FLjS9c&feature=related

Sting 3

The last sting I’m looking at is very strange, it features elderly people riding purple and white vehicles over a hill and then falling off the other side, it then zooms out to reveal a big pile of purple of purple and white vehicles next to the hill, this hill happens to be the shape of the E4 logo, the hill and ground then change colour to purple and white and the animation ends. Although this animation isn’t entirely relevant to E4, it does use weird situations and themes that get the image of E4 caught in our minds, although the animation isn’t the best it still does a very good job at being a sting. Link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-yHkmpnk0A&feature=related


BBC3 Sting

I am looking at a sting for BBC3, BBC3 tends to have the same kinds of viewers that E4 does, yet their stings are different, I’m going to be talking about why, and how effective it is.
The first sting I’m looking is very wacky, featuring a little planet with a lot going on, as well as a lot of bright colours, this shows that BBC3 has a very mixed range of programs on its channel, as well as giving a happy and calm atmosphere for the viewer. Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agv370oHGdU&feature=related

The reason BBC3’s stings are so bright and colourful is because although the BBC’s logo itself is black and white, the channel’s logo “Three” is supposed to be bright and pink, although unlike E4 the colour doesn’t normally make up most of the scene, they go for a more wacky and crazy animation designed to show a range of TV programs, and then always finishing off with the BBC3 Logo, to show that it’s all shown on that channel. This sting reaches the target audience by being bright, cheerful and relaxing.

MTV Sting

The MTV sting I’ve chosen to right about is called “MTV Where Your Heart Is” I think it’s a good sting as the animation shows the MTV logo being made out of a human heart. I think this feature is good because a lot of people get very passionate about the music they listen to and hold it close, for others it’s even a way of life, which relates it to the audience. This sting shows symbolically that music runs through the veins of the people who listen to it, and means a lot to them. Video link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eLbV4Vh6dY

Developments of Stop-Motion Animation

Developments in Stop-Motion Animation

Object Animation

This is the first form of stop motion animation, called object animation, this involves taking a photo of an object such as a model character, moving it slightly to a new position and taking a photo, repeating over and over until the end and then running the photos quickly in succession, not showing the actual replacement of the objects and giving the illusion of the objects moving on their own. This technique takes a long time to do, especially if there are multiple moving objects, each with their own individual motion path, as the animator would have to move every single animated object a slight bit between each shot. This method can be seen as very frustrating as the animator knows exactly where the object has to go but he cannot simply put it there, he has to put it at every single little position in between, unlike today with the use of things like “motion tweening” in Adobe Flash where you put an image at a starting position then at the end position, and click a button and the middle is filled in. This method of stop-motion animation is very time consuming, and very easy at the same time, until multiple objects are involved and different paths and movements are needed for each when it becomes more complicated.

The first example of object animation was a film made in 1898 called “The Humpty Dumpty Circus” although this film is lost, and only information about the film can be recovered today. The next film that is around today is called “Fun In A Bakery” (1902) the film involved a baker using dough to make faces in a kitchen, this cartoon is very basic and is made up of the sort of humour that was widely enjoyed in those times, because of this I can tell the target audience was very wide, ranging from young children to adults. At the year of it’s release there weren’t that many other shows like that around, which means they had the market all to themselves and had a much broader range of viewers, this also put it on the list as one of the biggest steps forward in animation history. This film was made by Thomas Edison’s company, the same person who brought us the light bulb, video link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sXhJjDo5S8&feature=player_embedded

Direct Manipulation Animation

This process of animation involves drawing a picture that can be easily edited (such as an image on a blackboard), taking a photo of it and then erasing and then re drawing a slight part of the picture, such as a smiley face’s mouth going from sad to neutral to happy, without changing the rest, the reason it cannot go from sad to happy in one go is because it will just switch in less than a second and appear to snap to the next movement, animators want the movement to flow like it does in real life. This technique can be use to save time, as the whole object doesn’t have to be moved, animators can be clever and choose individual parts to move, this technique was used primarily when stop motion first came around, and it’s use continued due the money and time saving factor, which made it a favourite technique among small animation companies where budgeting was vital.

This technique lead to the famous animation “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces”, made in 1906. The film involved chalk faces moving around and doing strange things. The way they did it was simple, the animators were drawing a picture such as a face that was sad, erasing the mouth and re drawing it slightly less sad and repeating until this was happy, taking photos in between each new face, this eventually leads to the photos showing the face seemingly moving from sad to happy on it’s own, this animation is considered a very important step in animation production and is still used even in more advanced computer animations today due to it’s massive time saving impact. This film had a big audience as it was one of the first of its kind meaning it was loved by young children, all the way up to elderly adults meeting good reviews and very high popularity with the public. Although the film’s story is basic, it was still highly popular as it showed a new and amazing form of short film which made animation entertaining, new, and fun to watch. Video link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8vsKALmjsc&feature=player_embedded

Pixilation

Pixilation is similar to object animation and direct manipulation animation, except that instead of just objects or pictures being used and changed, people are used alongside objects. For instance a man could be standing on one side of a stage, and then next to him a model could be moved and then a picture is taken, this process would be repeated many times, then when the pictures are played back it would show the man standing there, while the model next to him would appear to be moving on its own as the animators are out of the shots, this opens up loads of opportunities for films and TV shows. This technique although fun to watch can be very physically demanding for the actor in one of these films, as they must go through many poses to simulate something extremely simple, like walking or even just lifting an arm, because a photo has to be taken between each position, also any other objects that are moving in the shot must be moved as well, and the actor must wait until everything is ready and the photo is taken because he can move again.

This type of animation is popular and interested a lot of people when it first started being used because it looks more realistic and weird, as if a person is there moving around whilst there is a bizarre creature or object moving in the shot as well, it makes it seem more realistic and brings the audience in. This form of animation makes things a lot more bizarre, because at the time it could give the illusion people were levitating and doing amazing things like moving things without touching them, which was new at the time. One of the main techniques which is still widely used in adverts today, is to have a person lay down on something like a drawing doing a pose, and then move the drawing between each shot, if t he picture was a town from a bird’s eye view it would look like the person laying down was flying over a drawn town, I have seen this technique used in music videos on occasion. One of the first films using this type of animation is called “The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb”, released in 1911 I think this film’s target audience is adults, as from the beginning the ideas put across in it are quite mature and can’t be understood as a child. Video link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3YKBOkfmbU&feature=player_embedded

Claymation

The most well known form of stop motion animation, claymation has been around since 1908, the use of clay in animation meant film makers and animators were able to make any interesting model they wanted out of clay and change it however they wanted, at this point though it was very time consuming as once the clay dried it would have to be completely re made because it dries solid. Popularity for Claymation suddenly rose when producers realised that plasticine (invented earlier) could be used, plasticine is essentially clay that doesn’t dry and can be moulded easily, this meant film makers could produce Claymation films even faster than ever as a new model wouldn’t have to be made each time, original would just have to be adjusted which takes mere seconds due to the plasticine’s stability and solid structure combined with it’s flexibility.

After the discovery of plasticine use in films, a new technique was developed, this involved making wire skeletons for the plasticine models so they could be bent and moved with more ease, allowing for faster film making and more complex movements of the models without risk of them breaking, this meant that producers would start making longer films which meant more complex stories alongside the animation could be achieved which is a massive step forward from the simple 5 minutes – half an hour features around at the time. All an animator has to do between shots now is bend the model to whatever position and then the picture gets taken. This saves time and money, and the plasticine models give a nice feel to the animation. Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers is a very well known movie, entirely made up of clay animation this film is wacky and funny, and allows Wallace and Gromit to do spectacular and funny things, Wallace and Gromit is a family film aimed at young children and their parents as a group, it can easily be told from all the colours used and the subtle and gentle language that is used, and from the animation technique used, they are one of the most famous duos in the world. Below is a link to a scene from the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6zbY8i4_8