LAUAN402 - Study Task 6 - Non Fiction Animation

The LEGO Story

  I chose this animated documentary because LEGO is a very important part of my childhood, and so I wanted to learn more about its origins and how it came to be.

Genocide

I chose this animated documentary because it describes in great detail the horrors and war crimes committed against Poland during World War 2 and during the Cold War, accompanied by a detailed and gruesome animation.


Nowhere Line

    I chose this animated documentary because I appreciate the animation that went into it, and I love the art style. While I don't wholly agree on some things this documentary presents, I do think it's very well made.

Of Stars and Men

I chose this animated documentary because of how contemporary the art style and animation feels. I also enjoy the message it's conveying.

Victory Through Air Power

I chose this animated documentary because I have always been very interested in aerial technology and planes, as well as the pioneering age of animation shown through this documentary.

Sinking of the Lusitania

I chose this animated documentary because it is widely believed to be one of the first ever animated documentaries, even one of the first ever documentaries ever to be published.

Richard Twice

I chose this animated documentary because it explores something I'm very interested in - Music. It describes how Richard Atkins progressed through his musical career through one incident after another.

Ungvár

I chose this animated documentary as it is not a contemporary documentary in that there is a narrator explaining what happened, rather that the visuals are being used to tell a story.

A Conversation with Haris

I chose this animated documentary for similar reasons as to why I chose "Nowhere Line", as it is a personal story of one refugee fleeing Bosnia during world war 2. I also chose it because of its interestingly made animation of hand cut-out objects and glass paintings.

German Shepherd

I chose this animated short documentary as it utilities rotoscoping techniques in order to tell a story about one jewish man's thoughts and feelings towards Germany and its people after being told stories by his holocaust-survivor mother.

LAUAN402 Study Task 5 - Power to Persuade

In this study task we were instructed to find 10 different animation advertisements from 10 different countries.

Erse Bank - First Christmas

Country - United Kingdom

I've chosen this animation because I really like the aesthetics and character designs of the animals, as well as the musical accompaniment that helps this advertisement hit home for many people, including myself.

Google - Project Sunroof

Country - USA

I've selected this animated advertisement because it's simple and gets the message across effectively, using different colours and visuals to explain why getting a sunroof is a good idea.

McDonald's

Country - Japan

I chose this advert because I think it has a lot of charm and heart put into it, and really displays how working in McDonald's can be useful and enjoyable, as well as eventful.




Christmas Lottery - #Justino

Country - Spain

I selected this advert because it moved me a lot while watching it, due to the music as well as the overall message and story. The animation is very smooth and fluid, making it easy to watch.





Costazul

Country - Brazil

I chose this advertisement because it seems to efficiently attract its target audience (children) with cute visuals and a catchy jingle.



Der Sieger and Das Wunder

Country - Germany

I chose this advertisement because I appreciate the pioneering era of animation. This advert was created in the 1920's, making it an extremely early animated advertisement.






Oasis Drink

Country - France

I have picked this commercial because of how crazy the animation as a whole is, with its bizarre looking 3d modeled characters based on fruits.



Heinz Beans

Country - Australia
 
I chose this animation because I really like the character design and how ridiculous the premise of the advert is.



 Sonic Heroes McDonalds Games

Country - Pakistan

I chose this advert because of nostalgia, as I used to personally own a few of these sonic games. However, I also chose it to contrast with the other very well made animated commercials, as this one is quite mediocre and ridiculous.

The Witcher - Killing Monsters - Cinematic Trailer

Country - Poland

I chose this advert because it's of a game that has reached critical acclaim in recent years. The animation and 'realistic' art style of this advert makes it a memorable and effective commercial.

LAUAN401 - TASK 3

In this study task we were instructed to create a bibliography of all our sources from Study Task 1.

In this process I have learnt that creating a bibliography requires a lot of pre-planning in order to make the process of citing and linking smoother. Thankfully, I kept all the links to all the sources I included in Study Task 1, and so I did not have too much trouble creating the bibliography. However, in the future and for my essay I should be wary and should be more organised in order to save me a lot of time.

LAUAN403 - Task 7 - Evaluation

Evaluation

In this introductory module, I believe that the purpose was to develop my knowledge and understanding of the 12 principles of animation, and how to utilise them well in my projects and animations. I also understand that it was used to ease me into the process of different techniques and tools used to create animations, for example, stop motion and hand-drawn animation. This module felt very experimental, which leads me to believe that this module was meant to give us the freedom to experiment with these different techniques to find out where our strengths and weaknesses are.

In the process of this module I have discovered that my strengths lie in 2D hand-drawn and digital animations. A majority of my animations were created using these formats, and I feel that my abilities have developed in this area greatly since the beginning of the module. 

First Project

Final Project

Due to this development of my abilities throughout the module, I think that my final animation is my "best-work" as it stands out against the rest of my animations. The time and effort put into my Study Task 6 Final animation was far greater than my previous ones due to the detail and editing that went into creating it. Everything in this animation is a great improvement from the negative points of each of the previous animations, and so I believe it to be superior to every other animation I've created.

5 Areas of Success Within my Work in this Module

• Great creativity and diversity in my animations and character designs (Study Task 2, Study Task 6, Study Task 4)
• Improvement on drawing skills from the beginning of the module (Study task 1 - 6)
• Well planned and executed Storyboards (Study Task 2, Study Task 6)
• Good use of different animation techniques and arts styles, combinations of animation formats (Study Task 5) 
• Good use of the different principles of animation, such as squash and stretch and exaggeration (All Study Tasks)

3 Areas of Improvements Needed in my Work

• Organisation and Time Management in general.
• Line work needs improving overall.
• Less focus on 2D Digital Animation and more focus on other forms of animation (E.G Stop Motion)

In conclusion, throughout this module I have learnt that animation requires a lot of focus, effort and hard work in order to do. I have developed my skills in animation and learnt new techniques that may help me in the future, such as Photoshop and editing skills in Premier Pro. I have learnt how to create fluid animations and delete certain frames to create good timing. Through my peers I have taken criticism to heart and have attempted to improve on them, which I believe can be seen in the development of my different animations throughout the module. However, I do believe that I still have plenty of room for improvement, and I shall work on these improvements in the module and years to come. In the future, I will keep to making predominantly digital or hand-drawn work as i believe it is my strongest format of Animation, however I will try to broaden my skills by attempting more Stop Motion and maybe even 3D Digital Animation. I will try and improve my drawing skills by sketching more in my visual journal to keep my skills refined.

LAUAN401 - Study Task 2

Image Analysis

In the space of this image we can see multiple dynamic poses and designs for the character 'Cuphead' which utilises nostalgia as a selling point due to its 1930's cartoon-esque design. The character is sketched from multiple angles and sizes, each with its own expressions and emotions. There is no background to these sketches which gives me the impression that this image is concept art for Cuphead. This is also true with the colours used, the grey scale palette tells me this was created with pencil on paper, cementing that this is indeed concept artwork. The character is taking up almost all of the space on the image, which shows that they are, of course, the main focus here. We can see some lines drawn that direct the vision of the character, for example the sketch of Cuphead at the top of the image in the center, however we also see another sketch of Cuphead looking directly at us, showing that this character can break the fourth wall. The way Cuphead is designed in these concept sketches gives us a good indication of what his character is feeling, thinking and doing at that moment.

LAUAN403 - TASK 6 - SECONDARY ACTION

In this study task we were instructed to create an original animation which includes Secondary Action, as well as including various other principles of animation.

I began by creating model sheets that will be included in my animation.

Model Sheet

Expressions

Dynamic Poses

Story Board

The Animation

After my development I began the animation. I separated it into three mp4's and edited them together using Adobe Premier for the final animation.

Linework

This is the first development of my animation. This is the first three scenes of my storyboard.

Coloured Animations

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Final Animation

For the final product I edited the clips into Premier and added effects, both visual and audio, to create the final product.

Critical Analysis

What Went Well

• Good use of secondary action, with the hair movements, eye movements, dripping, walk cycle of the character and sweat drops.
• Somewhat fluid animation.
• Good inclusion of most principles of animations (E.G Squash and Stretch, Anticipation, Exaggeration, Easing and Appeal and Staging).
• Very good development for the animation with character model sheets and a storyboard.

Critique

• Door animation could be a lot smoother and fluid. 
• Perspective needs improvement.
• Less jittery movements on the hair in the walking scene.
• More shading in the backgrounds.

Visual Journal

LAUAN403 - TASK 5 - ANTICIPATION AND EXAGGERATION - FOLLOW-THROUGH - OVERLAPPING ACTION

In this task we were instructed to create an animation incorporating the principles of anticipation and anticipation. For this task I decided to use eye movements and expressions in order to create a sense of anticipation.

Pre-idea Sketches




I created these sketches of eyes to give myself a reference and idea of how I could exaggerate the eye movements and create anticipation through expression.

Anticipation Animation

The anticipation lies within the sudden eye movements and the eye progressively squinting more and more. Along with the sudden jumps of text, it creates anticipation that the eye is going to blink. I also added veins on the eyes and exaggerated the dilation of the pupils as an overlapping action to emphasise that someone is trying not to blink and is scared to, which also creates a sense of anticipation in the sense of feeling.

Follow-through Animation

In the final followthrough animation I added colour and sound to further emphasise the anticipation and the exaggeration, and also added a follow-through (E.G the eyes getting progressively redder, the sound of heartbeat, etc). I also added a plasticine background to contrast the "cartoon" style of the eye and to create mix media.

Critique

•  Line work has improved, but needs to be more defined and consistent.
• Good timing on the eye expressions and blink.
• Well incorporated colour palette that fits the mood.
• Some animated segments need to be more refined. (E.G, eyelids and tear duct.)
• Good inclusion of mix media (2D Digital and plasticine)