Storyboard

This is my first idea of a storyboard. I did it in colour and using really characters not stick men because I think these are very important aspects of this animation and gives a better idea of what it will look like.
I really want is to be colourful as i have found out that this is engaging to children. They also seem to react better to warm colours so I plan to use a warm palette. Found here: http://jrscience.wcp.miamioh.edu/nsfall01/FinalArticles/ColorPsychology.Childrenv.html . And also it Mexico is a very vibrant colourful place/ culture and I want to show that in my animation. I also think it will be useful to track the time of day using colour as it goes from mid afternoon to night time.
 I think some of the shots are a bit flat but I like it overall. Update: Comments from Annabeth have really helped with making the shots more interesting. Here is what she said:
 - When the bird goes out of shot on page 4, make the next shot a birds eye view where the bat starts off small, flies round the screen and comes towards the camera looking really happy.      
- When the condor is introduced, show his size by having the bat in the foreground and the condor large in the background and pan up to his face. Then when the condor is looking down on the bat, make the bat really small and from above with a shadow of the condor around it. 
-She also said to look at tv shows to see how the frame characters in conversation.

applied animation

Today I started drawing my assets, the first being a tractor. Then Mat showed us how to make things interact with real backplates in Maya. so he showed me that i could also do that with my 2d assets making them easier to move and look like they're moving through 3D space. This is such a good idea! and will really cut down my animating tie hopefully!!! :)  Here is my 2D drawing in maya. It makes it look more real too cause i can add shadows and reflections so it will look like its really there!

Drawing styles

 This is just the cutest picture ever. aw! I like the style though its nice and simple and i like the use of gradients in the colour.








 The next image i believe is by the same person as it uses the same style. I also like how where the grass is it comes from nowhere but it just gives that effect of ground so the frog isn't hovering in mid air. 

I really like the colour palate used in this image, I think it is really nice and soft and I think could look a bit more realistic on a photographic background than bright colours would. The drawing style is also very cute!! Im not really sure cute is what I am going for I don't really have any characters in my animation. I just like the softness.

I am finding it really difficult to actually find images of objects that are in a nice style that I am looking for. These seem a bit more 3D than I had thought of but I do like the simplicity. I like the shadows and highlights as it would maybe bring it into the right world but I think everything is just a bit too perfect and rounded.

I quite like this style, I like the hand drawn aspect and it still had shadows and highlights in it but in a more natural way. I think this kind of style possibly mixed with the colours and softness in the characters above could look really nice. 

 I think this style is quite nice and simplistic but still has a bit of realism in it however i think its a little bit too flat maybe? and seems to be quite a bright colour palette.

I really like this. Its cartoony mixed with realism with some movement in it and it doesn't look flat its got lots of natural looking highlights and shadows. I think this could look quite nice as my animation style. I think it would fit quite well with photography. I would obviously have to make sure the images don't sink into the background but i obviously want them to match the right kind of tones. 

2.5 D

THIS IS AWESOME!!
Just learnt how to make something look 3D but its actually just 2D layers built up!
You have layers on photoshop and you put them into after effects,Theres a cube button which means 3D layer, you click that so theyre all 3D layers then you play about with the positioning so there is space between the layers.
Then you click layer, new, camera, and that gives you a camera and you can key frame where you want it to go.
I also moved the smoke across the screen using simple key framing

Tests/learning

I learnt how to create a parallax today. First you create your layers in photoshop, then you click filter, other, offset, and fill in the bits where the edges look wrong.

Next you import the file with layers into after effects. in there you click on the layer you want to move then click effects, distort, offset. You have to make the back move a little and the front move a lot. (i did it backwards to start with)

I could use this to do my background layer for responsive so it is constant.

Applied animation storyboards

Okay so this is my storyboard for my idea. I haven't decided yet whether I will be using voice over or subtitles. I will be researching more in depth the statistics of what i am showing so it will be factually correct. I think this will work okay. I may do pixillation for the human eating a sandwich but again, that is undecided. It may look nice with film. I plan to make my drawings of a much higher standard and more professional and aesthetically pleasing.

examples of documentary aniamtion

1) This documentary animation is about human right in Zimbabwe. It tells a story through a womans perspective that actually went through it, using her own voice. I think this makes us have more empathy because its like we are there. The simple images work well with the voice over as she describes what happened and the images just back it up. There is no need to show graphic details as it is hard hitting enough without being grousome. Doing an interview with the person who's story you want to tell and recording them is a very good way of getting factual information. It comes straight from the source and you can't stray from what they have said. This reminds me of a visiting speaker we had who showed us their animations from the holocaust using real peoples voices and animating their story. I think this is a fabulous way of evoking empathy and sharing a story.

2)This documentary also has a voice over. It is very clear using language that everybody can understand. This time, we see animated diagrams to back up and explain what they voice is saying. This really helps let what he is telling you sink in and you are more likely to understand it. The pace is very slow and peaceful with nice music playing quietly in the background. I found this very interesting and i think the use of diagrams is a very good way of explaining information given orally.

3)This is an inforgraphic/ motion graphic. It uses type and diagrams to put forward facts and information. There is no voice over on this one but it has a music track with no words. Personally i like the visual style of this animation as it moves nicely and looks clean and is something I would like to learn however I found it difficult for the information to sink in in this format because there appears to be a lot going on sometimes. With this style you would have to guide the readers eye to where you want them to be looking and reading. I think this is something to consider for the future but not for this project.

examples

Some examples of using 2D animation with live action footage include who framed roger rabbit (1988), and space jam(1996). 2 very successful, very popular movies. I think the secret to making the two things look like they interact if probably the use of shadow and reflection, making it look like the animated thing is actually there. Also the acting of the characters is obviously very important, having the correct eye line. Another factor would probably be lighting. If a scene is set in a low light situation and the live action stuff is really dull, then you don't want your animated characters looking like they are in full sunlight.

test for applied animation

I decided to do a tester for my animation technique. I think I can get away with just photography in the background because from this test I can see that I can make my animation interact with the photography. I can do a really wide photograph and pan across it giving it the illusion of being a video! This means I don't have to worry about the fact I have never done film before, I can just use my photography skills. Here is my quick tester animation. I actually quite like it!

Idea generation

Who is my audience?
People that don't know about food waste and where food actually comes from

What do i want to tell people?
I want to tell people that when they throw food away, they are wasting more than just that piece of food. we are just buying food to throw it away which makes suppliers think that we need the food so they produce more meaning there is a strain on resources and more energy and water etc is used to produce all these things that just go in the bin. I also want to show them exactly what goes into making one thing like a sandwich and how much stuff your throwing away.

What style do i want to use?
I want to try and do a hybrid style of film/photography mixed with 2D animation


Why?
Because I am interested in photography and I think it gives it a nice aesthetic when you mix the two. I think this will also show that this is a real life situation because I'm using a real life background. I want the 2D to interact with the background too. I think I might be able to do this with just photography but that all depends on my idea.

Research

This animation is pretty cool. It's a documentary about basically peoples views on food. But they voices are dubbed over animated food so it looks like the food is talking. I think thats a pretty cool way to go about it. It makes it sort of an interview process but it's actually just animation.

Another different way of showing food wastage is this animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioCzxxqgLf0

It uses a story line to get its message across which I think is actually a really good idea. It makes it relatable and engaging and actually less fast paced so the information actually goes in and makes you think about what you are doing. This makes you think about the simple waste of 1 beef sandwich and what went into it to make it and how much waste has come from leaving just this 1 sandwich. I really like this idea and I think I might use it. Possibly not the story idea but the taking one simple thing and dissecting what has gone into producing it.

Research

I like how this video ends with ideas on how we can make the world better: reduce waste, reuse leftovers, redistribute surplus.

I also like the way this video ends. It tells us that the amount of food the first world wastes, is enough to feed the third world. Now thats crazy and it almost makes you feel like its our fault that the third world hasn't got enough food!! I also like the simplistic design of this how its just 2 colours. And i am a big fan of when you zoom out it makes a picture though I felt it was a bit obvious in this and it kept panning between lots of different parts of the image rather than naturally progressing like the RSA on I have seen.

This video is also saying about how we could help the 3rd world. I think it is a very good point. Why don't we figure out how much food we need minus it from what we actually produce and give the left overs to a third world country. Ship it straight there for free as we would have been throwing it away anyway. This would end world hunger surely? But it wouldn't stop the drain on the resources of our earth though...

Class research

animateddocs.wordpress.com

poetic mode- subjective interpretations to the subject- little dialogue
expository mode- the voice over/authoritative voice, rhetoric
observational mode- simply observing, not interpreting, fly on the wall
reflexive mode- the documentary aware of itself or process-like a hand drawing it
personative mode- the director is in the middle of the subject- the thing is experienced by the director


The first ever documentary was The sinking of Lusitinia by Windsor McCay. They had to explain at the beginning of the film that this was not real it was just a recount of something that had happened in the past.

A is for atom- an educational style of animation.

victory through airpower-

Teeny little super guy- this is a crazy little animation I would never thought of rawing a guy on a see through cup! so clever!

charlie says- extremely creepy but this was used to inform children of dangers

every mothers nightmare
cant find the video but it was weird about a baby falling out of its pushchair, its pretty creepy.
rail safety- dumb ways to die- informs about railway safety in a fun way

did i say hairdressing? i meant astrophysics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIcWzLQW004
war story- Ardman- still technically a documentary but this is done from the first personas perspective

studio  aka- they do lots of different animations but the link is to one about meth use. I think this series of them is really hard hitting and clever but done in a poetic way.
http://www.studioaka.co.uk/OurWork/themethprojectcampaign
story corps- nature of war- a very fun flash based but documentary animation

creature comforts- not actually strictly documentary as nothing said is very factual. 

sensory overload- I really like this how its shown how this kid is feeling. I actually got that he was autistic without being told which proves its good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEg6uFMy_RQ
waltz with Bashir- a feature length animated movie about a man who tries to find out who he is.

Research

I found a website that explains some food wastage but its a lot of words making very little sense.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf



Luckily I found an animated version by the same people! So much easier to digest! Which shows the need for these kinds of animation. I like how this animation flows and is simple and to the point. There are also some good facts on there that I could use in mine for example: Wasted food emits 3.300.00.00 giggatonnes of green house gasses. If this were a country, It would represent the third largest emitting country in the world.

Luckily I found an animated version by the same people! So much easier to digest! Which shows the need for these kinds of animation. I like how this animation flows and is simple and to the point. There are also some good facts on there that I could use in mine for example: Wasted food emits 3.300.00.00 giggatonnes of green house gasses. If this were a country, It would represent the third largest emitting country in the world.

This video is a sequel to the first and actually is more relevant to what I want to talk about. In fact it talked about EXACTLY what I want to say. In this video they used money to show wastage. I don't think i will do that to the extent they have but I think i will throw it in there somewhere.

Some facts I took from this were:

30% of global food production is lots after harvest or wasted in shops house holds of catering services, which represents $750,000,000,000 worth of food every year. in retail that number is $1,000,000,000,000

Research

I put together a Spider diagram of ideas to help me get thinking about what I want to do my animation on. 

I think I would quite like to do something on the purple bit what is like substanance and how much we actually need to eat in comparison to what we actually eat because there is a lot of wastage and that isnt just a bad thing because people all over the world are starving and cant afford food but because we are killing these animals to use as food and then they just get thrown away, meaning we killed them for absolutely no reason. Also that means we have to create new life to replace the animals that have been killed for food which costs money to feed them and look after them and it just seems a bit of an expensive way of doing it.

Research

I was thinking I would quite like to do an animation that is live action mixed with 2D animation. I have no idea how or what right now but that is what I would like to do.
Anna found this video and shared it with me and it's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of! It is really simple which is important not only to get the message across but because I have never done this kind of thing before so I don't want to over complicate things.

Plan of action for 2 weeks

WOW-Thats a lot of work to do in a short amount of time! I have decided there is no way I will keep this all in order if i don't write it down. I also feel like I'm already getting behind after being ill for a week. So here is my action plan, for the next 2 weeks I have written down what i need to get done on a daily basis. I will tick off what i have done and in the notes section I will write what still needs to be done or any problems I encountered. I think if i try and stick to this plan as best I can, in 2 weeks i will be caught up and well on my way and know what I am doing will all of my projects. I will try and do this every few weeks.