Module reflection

Throughout this module I have really developed my skills in to Adobe programmes I have not been familiar with before and I have really gained an understanding of the end to end process of animation. As an impatient person I can conclude that creating an entire animation is definitely not for me! But I am very keen on the illustration element of this, so maybe this is something I will harness in  the future.


I feel much more confident and comfortable approaching a project of this size which is something I was really worried about to begin with.  I have enjoyed many aspects of this module.

Recent animation

Recently I have shown much more of an interest in animation. I have been watching Rick and Morty. It is one of my favourite shows! It is an adult animation. It follows a mad scientist and his grandson on their far fetched and hilarious adventures. I admire the aesthetic of  the show.

“The existential nihilist judges human existence to be pointless and absurd. It leads nowhere and adds up to nothing. It is entirely gratuitous, in the sense that there is no justification for life, but also no reason not to live.” explains the author DONALD A CROSBY. This is particularly evident in the protagonist Rick, an old mad scientist.

The show has a message which is that human life has no purpose, so we should just have fun whilst we are here. This is clear through the characteristics and attitude that Rick has. This is very funny. The aesthetic also reflects this with bright pastel colours and crazy random characters popping up throughout.

Rotating an item around an anchor point

I watched some youtube tutorials to help me figure out how to move items around a specific point so I could move Alberts arms without them become completely detached from his body. Firstly I had to select the item I wanted and to use the transform tool to modify the anchor point of the item to where I wanted it to rotate around. 

Then I had to use the rotation tool to choose where and how it rotates. 

Further character development

I have created different layers for when Albert is walking down the street, I followed a guideline from google and hopefully when i import the file into After effects I will be able to stagger the layers making it look like Albert is walking down the street

I have also made a new illustration for when Albert has a heart attack with multiple layers for his different arm movements and different mouth positions!

Making my protagonist (Illustrator)

I used a character from Up as an initial template as I wanted to to take small elements like the size and shape of his head and use them as a base for my protagonist

I used illustrator which I have never worked with before but I really like it, i prefer it to photoshop. Especially when it comes to creating illustrations (funnily enough). I used the old man from Up as my template on an initial layer and worked roughly from this to make a character of my own.

Creating different outfits and movements such as walking will be a different challenge!!!

KUBO

A recent piece of animation I watched was Kubo and the two strings which is a fantasy adventure film directed by Travis Knight, a 3d stop motion animation. I really like the aesthetic and style of this animatic piece. The quirky sound also works really well with the visual. It feels really original. The movement of this film is really visually pleasing and appeals to adults as well as children.


Stop motion animation is something that really appeals to me but seems far too ambitious for such a short period of time. I will definitely consider working with this kind of animation in the future!

I love the design of the characters!!

Final shot (information)

After researching I have decided to keep the information simple and take influence some of the facts from the Keep Our NHS public page. This shot will go at the end of my piece for 4-6 seconds depending on the whole things running time.

Visually it needs to be simple and bold. So I will use a colour scheme which reflects urgency; black, white and red

I am also going to use a placard image which has been used throughout my animation, on the leaflet that the girl brings to Alberts door as this works to reinforce the message of the piece.

I am also going to include a link to the Keep Our NHS Public page where the audience can find out more about the movement if they want to.

This is the finished piece, I have added the bottom line as a separate layer so I can fade it in.