Filming issues

So far I have not had any issues with the actual filming of my animation until today. I had previously shot all of the sequences in the mornings at near enough the same time, and set up the rig to do the same today. However the camera seemed to be recording the image with a pinkish tint. This had not happened before and I was unsure as to what seemed to be the problem. I checked all of the camera settings and lighting and all seemed to be fine. I decided that there was not much point in filming the animation with the pink tint as it would not be of the same quality as the rest.

Colouring choices

After drawing out a sequence featuring the puppy, I found that the choice of colour I had chosen, would not be the best choice. I had originally wanted the puppy to be a scruffy light grey colour, however the pen that I had to use was too dark. This meant I had to choose a different colour which would also be appropriate. As I was already using a lot of brown, with the outside fence etc, the only colour that would look realistic was orange. The orange is much brighter, and happier than the grey which will be more appealing to my target audience and also fit in with the puppy's characteristics as being cheerful and happy.

Drawing, drawing, drawing!

I have now started the drawings for my final short animated story. These are, as anticipated very time consuming, as I am having to draw each movement and then colour it. I am only colouring the drawings in quite roughly though to give it more of a unique style like Roobarb and Custard, and also to save time. To make sure that my drawings remain organized and in the correct order I have allocated a plastic wallet to each shot number (taken from my story board) and am numbering each drawing for each shot.

Film review analysis

View more presentations from harrietmedia

Film poster research

View more presentations from harrietmedia

Production- Shots 31-33 with sound

I have now started the production of my actual short story animation. Just like filming, I can draw the animation in any order that I like. I started off by drawing out the scene of the weather changing, and the cat being stuck out in the rain. I think the rain worked really nicely. I only had a few drawings for the rain sequence, so I just looped them so that it rained for longer. I also sped up some of the animation to make it run more smoothly, making it look more effective.

I also added a small test soundtrack to this scene including some of the sounds which I think will be best suited to it. The first part of the sequence with the sun shining will have the sound of birds singing, however I have not yet bought this from itunes.

Running dog animatic

One of the most difficult aspects of making my animation is getting the movement of the characters just right. I have carried out a couple of tests of the movement of the cat, and decided that I needed to see how I can get the dog to move. I think this animatic worked really well as the movement is smooth, however I think that when I do the actual animation I will make sure that you can see all four legs.

Creating the soundtrack

The soundtrack to any animated film is very important. It's the sound effects which really make the film and add the cartoon qualities to it which makes them so unique compared to live action films. Most animations/ cartoons feature sound effects which are often very exaggerated and comical. These sounds could include things like the sound of a car screeching to a halt when a character stops.

When I started to search for suitable sound effects, I discovered that SoundtrackPro does not offer a large range of effects. Parts of my animation required the sound of birds singing. None of the effects on SoundtrackPro were right for this which meant that I had to get this sound from elsewhere. I found a large selection of bird sounds and other comical noises on itunes, which I am able to purchase for a small amount  as I have an itunes account. I also searched for CD's with sound effects on, however these are around £7.99 and don't include many tracks that I would find useful.

Running puppy test

After completing the bouncing ball test, I decided to test out the movement of on of the characters. I had already tested out the movements of the cat so I made a short sequence of the puppy running towards me. I think this worked quite well however I think that there may be a frame missing as the full sequence of the movement jumps a little and doesn't quite finish. I used a clip from Roobarb and Custard, to get the basic movement of the dog, as they had achieved it in only a few frames, giving it that unique style.

Ball test 2

The second animatic that I carried out with the bouncing ball, turned out much better than the first one. The ball moves much more smoothly and stays the same size. This is the effect that I would like to achieve in my animation.

Ball test 1

To try and improve on the movement of the characters I made a test animation of a ball bouncing. This test did not go as well as planned. The ball in the second part of the video moves far too slowly and changes shape quite obviously. Also when the ball hits the floor it sticks for too long, where it should bounce up again quickly. To improve on this I need to make the movements larger to make the ball appear to moves more quickly. I also need to make sure that when tracing though the ball, it remains the same shape and size. The video does appear to have a pinkish tint to it. This is because it was recorded without the light being switched on. It did not appear as pink as this until after I had exported it. I need to make sure that when I am recording my final piece that the light is on, to prevent the coloured tint.

Health and safety checks

Whilst carrying out the production of my animation, I need to make sure that the environment that I am working in is safe. One of the issues that I need to look out for is that the lamp used gets very hot very quickly. I need to make sure that I do not touch it when it is on, and that it needs to be left for at least 20 minutes to cool down completely. Another problem that I need to look out for is that there are a lot of wires connecting the camera to the computer, which need to be tucked under the desk so they can not be tripped over.

Colour test and opening sequence

When I coloured in the previous animation using coloured pencils I discovered that it was too faint for the camera to pick up, meaning that it looked almost like there was no colour. I went back to these drawings and coloured over the images in felt pen. This looked much brighter and bought the animation to life more. I also think that it adds a sort of style to the animation. I still don't think that the movement is quite right as the cats legs need to stretch out more. The other issue that came up from this animatic is that there may need to be more drawings per second or it needs to be sped up as it moves too slowly and not as smoothly as I would have liked.

How to set up the animation rig

Animation rig set up

View more presentations from harrietmedia

The process of setting up the equipment in order to create an animation, was something new to me which I learnt. I was shown how to set up the equipment by a technician, and decided it would be useful to create a presentation on how to set it up for future reference. This includes the functions of the camera, and briefly how to use the program istopmotion.

Story Board part 2

Story Board Part 1