BA2a Character Performance Evaluation
This project was actually quite a fun one to undertake, it was quite free and allowed me to pursue another form of stop motion animation that I haven’t properly tried before. Initially, I wanted to complete my character performance in After Effects, as I very much enjoyed the character rigging tutorials with NUA graduate and Lambda animator Millie. I had also just finished the BA2a Motion Graphics project, which I surprised myself, by wanting to animate more with this software by the end of it. However, stop motion is the animation type I want to fully explore the ins and outs of while I have the amazing equipment, studios and technicians around me to help me discover them. Which is why, ultimately, I chose to animate in stop motion with the ball and socket armatures available for me to animate with to my heart’s content.
Throughout the process I have enjoyed looking at a variety of research sources that have helped me better understand not just stop motion animation but also puppetry and the importance of acting for animation, always thinking about what your character’s motivations are even if its character design isn’t needed. I think my understanding of the processes of animation has expanded, especially in the production of a stop motion animation feature. Preparing me for beyond university in what to expect as well as what they need in a practitioner. In terms of my final outcome, I can definitely see an improvement in my animation since my first year, which is really exciting to see. I think it was the best that I could do without re-shooting, I put a lot of time and effort into the shoot, making sure the set up was perfect from the beginning and being as precise and accurate as I could be with my puppet’s movement. My favourite part of the animation is where the speaking puppet says “Shakespeare” because more of their gestures, their expressions and the lip sync are perfect in that moment for me. I do also have a few critiques, which my tutor also picked up on when I showed him. The listening puppet’s head and hands move too much in the first half of the animation, this is because I was afraid he would be too static if I didn’t move him, but realising my mistake halfway through filming, I improved this somewhat for the rest of the animation. The other improvement I would make if I was to shoot this again would be to plan the gestures and body movement so that the viewer can see a clear action and reaction, without having to watch the animation over to catch the other person’s movement. Overall, I think this was a very successful outcome that I have proudly put into my stop motion animation showreel for a submission for work experience at Aardman Animations.











