In the final project for this semester, we were told to do a number of things-- incorporate our own original footage, audio, and animation as well as the concept of elapsed time. I originally planned to do some sort of chalk animation but couldn't find a concept I was happy with, so instead I turned to using appropriation instead.
I didn't stray too far from my proposal afterwards. I decided to use commercials from the 50's and throughout the decades to represent time passing/elapsing, and then I really wanted to explore and see if I could "stop time" by mixing the audio and video with past and present commercials. Unfortunately this did not work in the slightest, and instead just looked like a very poorly edited video, so I decided not to do this immediately.
This left me with the problem of trying to figure out how to "stop time" without pausing or stopping the video. My solution to this was not necessarily that I would stop time, but it would no longer be linear. As the video progresses, the commercial clips are shortened and are no longer played chronologically. The space between each clip becomes shorter and shorter as well until it becomes a chaotic and unorganized flow of commercials, mimicking much to how we lose track of time watching commercials between television shows.
The problem with all of this is that I think while I achieved my goal of passing through time then stopping it, it's a concept that's really hard to pick up as a viewer, especially if that viewer is unaware of what I was trying to do or what the assignment was. To help guide the viewer's mind toward what I was trying to show, I placed three slides (one including a title) of text about how we, as a culture, tend to lose track of time in front of the TV. This isn't a solution I am particularly proud of (I'd always rather show than tell in any form of storytelling), but I do think that it makes the video more easily grasped and comprehensible.
I created a fast-forwarding sound through GarageBand and recorded the television set on which the video was animated on. While I'm not particularly happy with the end result of my storytelling, I am really happy how this film came out technically. The edited commercials fit fairly seamlessly on top of the old television set, and the audio I added really benefited the cuts between commercials.
I am nervous for the final critique, since I know I have a lot of issues with this (and not only that, but it is also so similar to my first project this semester) but I'm interested to hear opinions in how I could improve a project like this.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Project 3 -- "My Hero"
This project was I think one of the most challenging assignments I've done lately considering the amount of work put in the short amount of time, but I think it's also one of the projects I've become most proud of. I've always enjoyed 2D animation, and I know it was something I wanted to tackle for a long time, and this assignment provided a great opportunity for me to make myself do it (albeit it was difficult at first to figure out how I was going to do a 2D animation on top of already moving footage.)
I ended up steering away from a conceptual piece like my last project, "Untitled" was, and I think I am happier with it in the end. I went with the simple "Knight comes to save the Princess" story, something I actually tend to dislike (but my brain was apparently determined that this was the story I had to tell in this project) and I suppose in the end I see "My Hero" as a satire of the story archetype than anything else. The silly voices probably give it away.
When it came down to actually animating, I stuck to photoshop and doing frame by frame work. My hand now hates me for it but it's something I'm really happy I did. I love that the chalk drawings seem to move and sway and have a life of their own (due to the line variation from frame-to-frame) and I am exceptionally happy with the knight's running and climbing scenes. I'm sad that I had to cut out a whole classic "knight versus the dragon guarding the princess" scene due to time, but in the end I suppose it is for the better. I'd much rather have a shorter quality animation than cut frames in order to have a longer one.
When it came down to doing the audio I specifically chose as unidentifiable music as possible, and edited and used only sections of piano scores. I also recorded all the voices myself and distorted them to fit the characters of the knight and princess better.
The oddest thing about this short film is that the first thing everyone told me is how much the loved the voices, or rather, how much they loved the part that was the easiest and took the least amount of time to do! It took awhile to reason this in my head but in the end I take it as a huge compliment about the animation. The work I put into animating paid off since no one was distracted and their suspension of disbelief was never broken, and they were able to enjoy the comedy and storytelling in the film instead.
Overall, I feel like this project is a rousing success! I am interested in doing something like this in the future, but I'd like to do it when I have more time to plan and work.
I ended up steering away from a conceptual piece like my last project, "Untitled" was, and I think I am happier with it in the end. I went with the simple "Knight comes to save the Princess" story, something I actually tend to dislike (but my brain was apparently determined that this was the story I had to tell in this project) and I suppose in the end I see "My Hero" as a satire of the story archetype than anything else. The silly voices probably give it away.
When it came down to actually animating, I stuck to photoshop and doing frame by frame work. My hand now hates me for it but it's something I'm really happy I did. I love that the chalk drawings seem to move and sway and have a life of their own (due to the line variation from frame-to-frame) and I am exceptionally happy with the knight's running and climbing scenes. I'm sad that I had to cut out a whole classic "knight versus the dragon guarding the princess" scene due to time, but in the end I suppose it is for the better. I'd much rather have a shorter quality animation than cut frames in order to have a longer one.
When it came down to doing the audio I specifically chose as unidentifiable music as possible, and edited and used only sections of piano scores. I also recorded all the voices myself and distorted them to fit the characters of the knight and princess better.
The oddest thing about this short film is that the first thing everyone told me is how much the loved the voices, or rather, how much they loved the part that was the easiest and took the least amount of time to do! It took awhile to reason this in my head but in the end I take it as a huge compliment about the animation. The work I put into animating paid off since no one was distracted and their suspension of disbelief was never broken, and they were able to enjoy the comedy and storytelling in the film instead.
Overall, I feel like this project is a rousing success! I am interested in doing something like this in the future, but I'd like to do it when I have more time to plan and work.
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