#ba2a inanimate objects

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Inanimate Objects Evaluation

This project has been a long process, full of ups and downs but now that’s it’s finally finished I’m proud of how it came out. Whilst doing my experimentation reel, I realised that I did do something fairly ambitious in stop motion and I really worked hard to make it look the best that I could have made it. Even though I struggled with some of the stop motion animating, for example, forgetting to not cross over my rigs with puppets and their shadows, I think the timing and movement is better than my previous stop motion projects, so I can see that I am improving.

To be honest, I was a bit worried about this project when we were first briefed on it because it seemed like a task and a half, but in the end the restrictive aspects of the project made me really think through every shot, and practice my movements in stop motion because each shot was limited so important to get right. Alongside the Film Language lectures, this project was a perfect exercise to practice analysing each shot to so that you can make the next storyboard better than before and more appealing to your audience. What I am most proud of has to be my stop motion animation, I can see that I have improved my skills from last year which is not just reassuring to see, but also feels like I’m getting somewhere. I was able to show that I can create something cinematic, with different shot and angles that I haven’t played with before and do it well. However, what I loved doing the most must be my customised Looney Tunes plates, they were so simple but the icing on the cake for me.

From this project, I have found that I need to work on my animatics. Right now, I spend too much time making them detailed and look nice when really, I should be planning out every key move and shot that will set me up to make my final animation flow and appeal to my chosen audience. My animatic for this project wasn’t bad, but the reason why I struggled so much with the chase scene at the end of my sequence is because I put jumps into my Hat’s run that I hadn’t planned, so when it came to animate I didn’t know how to execute it well. If I was to do this project again, I would do a rougher animatic with more frames so that I can really get that movement and timing down for my final animation.

[ekniemisba2a]

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Inanimate Objects Weekly Summary (Week 7)

Research Sources

-

No research this week because I was just finishing off my animated sequence for submission and updating my blog.

Development

This week I did it, I finished my Inanimate Objects animated sequence! The sound effects worked out well in the end because I found a website called Zap Splat with a load of great free unlicensed sound. I also made a few alterations in the edit to improve the transitions and colour to make it look smooth and cohesive.  

Strengths

I am really happy with how the overall animation looks and combined with my plates at the beginning and end, I couldn’t be happier. I think the sound effects and music set the tone to create the tension I wanted from the second shot but also brought in the light-hearted fun of a cartoon.

Area for Development

The only regret I have is not fleshing out my characters more so that their movements are more driven and explainable. This way people might want to see more of these characters, which is ultimately what I want to achieve in all my animations as character is very important to me.

[ekniemisba2a]

I finally finished my Inanimate Objects animated sequence! I added my sound effects, my music, different transitions and made a few changes to the editing. I went for quite a bit of sound effects, for the movements and actions of my puppets, for example, the footfalls. This at times can sound a bit crowded in the audio or some of it gets a little lost, however, I wanted all these sound effects because in cartoons like Tom and Jerry, every move is followed by a sound and with hardly any dialogue, so I thought this was a good way to make my sequence resemble one of these iconic cartoons.

I decided that I wanted to try to change colour palette back to original for beginning and end, so that the Hannibal style palette is only for the suspenseful bit in the middle ie. when the Hat jumps for the gun, shoots (and the card gets hit with paint?). I wanted to do this because the palette is more grunge and noir which makes those shots look more serious and less looney tunes for more impact on that beat. However, I couldn’t work this out in Adobe Premiere, so I found a filter for the whole sequence that was similar to the Hannibal palette but not too intense for the Looney Tunes vibe.

In the end, I didn’t composite out last shot because somehow the test shot was different to actual shots I took, possibly because I introduced a backlight on the curtain in the second shoot and I forgot to turn it on or something. Anyway, you could see all the masks very clearly and on top of that I crossed the puppets and their shadows over with rigs because it was the end of a long day and I didn’t notice. However, I have shown that I can composite out rigs in stop motion because I did this with my two other shots.  

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Inanimate Objects Weekly Summary (Week 6)

Research Sources

YouTube Video: Chuck Jones - The Evolution of an Artist

This week’s research helped me analyse my sequence by understanding the workings of the director of many of Looney Tune’s cartoons: Chuck Jones.

Development

This week I started to develop my sound towards the sequence and I choose the music that I want to play with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to finish my sequence this week because I was focusing on updating my blog and my Motion Graphics project. I am determined, however, to finish this by the end next week! I know exactly what I need to do with the sound I just need to find the appropriate effects and then make them work to my sequence in Adobe Audition.

Strengths

I am not forgetting about finishing this sequence, I am still working towards it but just at a slower rate than I would have liked. I also still love the direction in which it is going, I just hope I can find all the unlicensed sound effects that I need.

Area for Development

I need to ask one of my tutor about compositing out my rigs in my last shot because I had a quick go with compositing it, and I was having some trouble with the background image and rigs crossing over with my puppets.

[ekniemisba2a]

This is the progress I have made this week on my Inanimate Objects Sequence. I started on putting sound and music to it and I quite like the unlicensed track I found as it resembles a Looney Tunes ques track with its string instruments and fun attitude. However, I watched this analysis video on the evolution of the director of a lot of Looney Tunes episodes: Chuck Jones. I wish I had seen this before I filmed my second shoot as this video breaks down some key elements of the Looney Tunes cartoon that I think I missed the mark on in my sequence. One of them being that I didn’t think about what my character wants, only the base of their personality which could of really added to the comedy of my piece if I had thought more about. However, I hope I displayed the sort of assumption and reality aspect that is a very key to a Looney Tunes cartoon in a fake shooting and comical chase.

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Inanimate Objects Weekly Summary (Week 5)

Research Sources

Information from our BA2a Film Language lectures (informing my edit)

Colour filter research for my Inanimate Objects sequence - YouTube video: How to create cinematic color in Premiere Pro | lynda.com tutorial

In this week’s research, the Film Language lectures helped me analyse my shots and create/edit something that would resonate more with my audience. The colour filter research helped me achieve the colour palette I wanted for my sequence on Adobe Premiere.

Development

This week I started to edit my sequence to include some interesting transitions and lighting, as well colour filters to extenuate the colour palette I was planning on going for, all using Adobe Premiere. I also designed and draw up my intro, title and outro plates on Adobe Photoshop, adding these to my sequence so far. I’m happy with how this sequence is progressing, everything is coming together nicely so far, and learning about film language along side this project is very helpful in producing something shot and edited well.

Strengths

I’m starting to use my new knowledge of film language and apply it to my work, experimenting with different ways of communicating to my audience a sense of fun but also suspense in some shots. Creating my intro, title and outro plates that are my own but heavily inspired by Looney Tunes that is recognizable to most audiences and communicates fun instantly. 

Area for Development

I’m quite far into my final sequence now so I would like to be finished this project by the end of next week, this is so I can fully focus on the new Motion Graphics project and my blog. This means finishing the editing, adding my sound design and music as well as compositing around the lightning in the first shot and compositing the rigs out in the last shot.

[ekniemisba2a]

I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made so far, I love how the plates look with the animation, coupled with the iris end transition, that is a classic for Looney Tunes cartoons, just completes what I was going for. I would like to put in a few more transitions, for example, a dissolve from the intro slate to the title slate. However there are places where those sort of transitions aren’t necessary, for example, the shot of the Hat picking up the gun to shooting the gun, I like it as is, with a quick cut on action transition that obeys the 180-degree rule.