Overall I think the project was success in more ways than one, I learned a lot from doing an animation project from exploring new techniques and using new equipment to looking at previously used techniques and making them better from more knowledge about the software and the course. A huge learning curve for me was time management, of course certain circumstances prevented me from being able to do this to its full potential however if a project like this is not planned and kept on top of it can go down hill very quickly. Another thing I have learnt is that not everything goes to plan and backup plans must be made incase something you wanted to do or was planning to do can no longer be done and that is why planning is crucial for a project like this one. In terms of challenges there were many during the project, one being the amount of drawing that I had to do. Drawing over multiple frames is very time consuming and although I would have liked more of my project to have had the stop motion animation within it I simply did not have enough time to do so. Unfortunately due to unfortunate circumstances I started my work quite late within the semester and that is one thing I would do differently if I could, if circumstances would have been different and I started my project from the first week my current end product would have been better than my current one. Something else I would do differently would be to have a day of inviting people from around the campus to draw anything on a certain still from my footage, this would not only save time on me doing it myself but I personally think it would be a great way to interact with new people and to add another concept into my project, this would have taken a lot of planning however and that leads onto my final point that I would’ve changed which is planning. If I would’ve planned more in depth instead of sometimes going with a go with the moment attitude everything would have been done sooner and it would’ve given me more time to focus on the end product or if anything needed to be redone etc. I think I have achieved the module outcomes, some more so than others however all bases are covered and I am very proud of the product that I have produced. With any project you will stumble across problems, looking away from my circumstances there were quite a few problems like where I didn’t have enough footage or footage was lost. Not having enough footage is always a tricky situation and with the time frame I had and a deadline fast approaching I was unable to go back to my first location where I got the majority of my footage instead having to find filler footage that would still fit in with the theme and also the current footage I had already shot. I managed to overcome this by using different techniques within animation and also the use of the stop motion technique I was also using I made up for the footage crisis. Time was also a huge problem that I overcame, although I had an extension I was still on a very strict time limit to complete my work and complete it to a high standard, at times I struggled and my work was below par however I came away from it, brainstormed and started again or worked on what I already had and didn’t give up. My sheer determination to finish this project is the thing that pulled me through and made me complete my project and complete it to a standard that I was happy with. One of the biggest problems was missing meetings with my tutor, these meeting were crucial to track my progress, point me in the right direction and also give me tips and help on what i could be doing to make the project look better. Again because of circumstances getting to my tutorials was a struggle however I attended every one that I could. Although I am happy with my finished product I do feel that if more tutorials had been attended some of the rough edges could’ve been ironed out and my final product could have been better than what it currently is however overall I am proud to say its my work. Before researching into different techniques and effects I had many ideas that I wanted to have on my project, however due to time, money and lack of experience I was unable to do many of the things I wanted/was proposing to do at the start. Researching into the project ad everything that came with it from animation techniques to different types of shot types allowed me to come up with a realistic plan and would allow me to complete everything that I set out to do to a high standard instead of something that was impossible and that I attempted and never worked. Research is a key component within any product and that is why I have always tried to get as much research for a project as possible before actually starting to make it. Without research you have no idea what you can and cant do and what you should and shouldn’t do with certain projects. It is the foundations to any creative project small or large and without the proper research you’ll find things soon start to fall apart. Making sure the research is broad and extensive is also a huge benefit to a project, if you cover all areas then anything that arises further down the line you will know how to deal with it quickly. Overall the project in my personal opinion was a great success, with the time frame I had and the materials I had at my disposal I feel I have made a professional looking product that I can say that I am proud of.

With this project being so diverse I thought it would be a great idea to collaborate with another student on the course, to make my own brief just for some extra material. I decided to make a brief for someone to create promotional/advertising material for the video like it was the official video for Royksopp. A Design student called Molly Maddison decided to take me up on the offer and use it for one of her assignments. After writing up a brief for her and keeping contact to keep up with her process she finally sent me the finished products which stuck to the brief completely and were an amazing addition to not only her project but mine also.

The Brief:

“I am creating an animated music video for a song titled ‘Running to the Sea’ for the electronic dance music duo Röyskopp. The main theme of this music video is a sketch-style of illustration and incorporating bright/ vivid colours into the style so I would like this theme and style to reflect into all of the promotional work for the video. My target audience for this is primarily 18-25 year olds of both genders so the designs must be appropriate for this age range and conceptually thought about in terms of where the advertisements would be seen. The key designs that I would like for this brief is a poster and a CD sleeve, meeting the guidelines of an A4 poster and a full-length CD sleeve. Finally, the ultimate goal for this brief is to promote Röyskopp to an English audience that have probably never heard of them before to try and amplify their career and status in the United Kingdom as artists.”

The finished products:

 

I also wanted to try something a little different from what I had already been doing and so decided to do some mapping, this is where I would put two pieces of footage together within the same frame. I was going to use one stock piece of footage that I had filmed and one that involved stop motion to once again combine the two but in a different way. I wanted to use what I was going to create for the ending sequence as I thought it would be a great way to end the video. Firstly I worked on the stop motion part as this is what was going to take the longest, I had filmed a building with scaffolding around it and began to play around with numerous ideas until I settled for two. I first wanted something colourful to bring some colour into a very dark topic, continuing with the sketch theme I made lines go up and down the scaffolding again simple yet effective. I drew 2 versions of each frame so the lines would have some motion in them due to the background being a still frame. I then decided to add more colour by changing the colour of the back ground every time a new line appeared, below you can see some of the development:

After creating this and making it work I decided that I wanted to use this in another part of the video and started to think of another idea. After some messing around with ideas I decided that I would make the scaffolding into levels and look like the music was making them move up and down like when you are editing footage. This would be a better way to end the video as I could show the levels slowly going down as the music fades out. Using the same technique as the last piece I began creating it, with this piece i wanted a dull background so the colours would be more vibrant on the video, I also drew each ‘section’ individually so I could put the levels up and down however I wanted, below you can see some of the development process:

After finishing the stop motion part of the video I needed to complete the footage part of the piece. For this i simply made the video black and white to match with the background of the stop motion clip and cropped them so they could play together. Having the protagonist standing near the sea looking out at the levels going up and down gives the illusion that she is looking at this and not what was actually within the frame of the footage and ends the video nicely. Finished product below:

As said before I wanted stop motion animation to take up most of the animation side of my project as I would be able to create a sketch effect with it which would run with my chosen theme. After many hours work I finished the bigger part of the stop motion animation within my project, this being the random piece I took a screen shots of different times within some footage and drew over them using Photoshop (Ps). I was using a drawing pad to help my progress and to make the drawings a little more detailed however trying to stick with the sketch theme that I chose. After finishing all the drawings I put them together within Premiere, this animation has a great look to it and fits into the project perfectly, not only this but I incorporated moving footage within it so its not just a stand still piece of work. Overall the outcome is very good and gives a great feel to the project as a whole. Below you can see the finished product: