Conclusion of Animation

There were many problems encountered during our time as a group and making our claymation a finished product. Some issues in which can be seen within our animation is that we were unable to film all of our production within one day, making it very difficult to get the lighting and camera position back to the exact same scenario as the last session. Half way through the video there is a noticeable difference with the light and camera angle. Due to timescales we were unable to overcome this problem. If this project was to be replicated we would ensure that such issues would not prevail.

Other issues encountered where with the use of clay we were able to move our characters into different positions which was fantastic, but throughout the duration of our claymation Adam and Eve body position had changed alot due to be moved a lot. Again due to time restraints we were unable to replicate the way in which they both looked within the first few segments as the last few. Even though this was a problem, due to the level our production was aimed for we feel as though this problem does not greatly effect our animation.

My personal opinion on the software we used was that it was very limiting. In having to use the ipad in order to take images of our set and then upload this video to a computer in order to edit scenes and to add sound effects made it very tedious. If i was to carry out this project again i would use the webcam accompanied by windows movie maker or Zu3d in order to complete this animation. The ipad was a difficult device to use in order to make our production seem clean and fluid.

Overall the experience of this project has been very fun. The learning process of learning how to use programs and features such as onion skinning or fading music into each scene of the production was enjoyable. Seeing a finished product, knowing that over 500 images were used in order to make our characters seem animated is satisfying.

Hope by looking through this blog and seeing the processes myself and my group took will help you in the future. Thanks for looking

The completion of our Animation

We had finally sorted out our animation and organised all of our sound effects and backing music into the correct time slots after the problems that had occurred in our last session. Here is my group (myself, Sian Thomas and Rebecca Dockings) animation. This is our lighthearted take on the creation of mankind.

Problems finishing our animation

To create our animation we used ipads fitted with software in order for use to create our animation. In order to add music along with sound effects to our animation we decided to use the computer program Zu3d. In using this software we were able to add effects to our on screen action. Some of which consisted of the sound of thunder for the scene where God is angry at both Adam and Eve for not listening to his rules another being the sound of something eating whilst Eve eats the forbidden fruit. After a fair amount of trial and error we found what we feel to be the most appropriate backing music to our production. Our first suggestions consisted of religious music in which would help to set the scene although moving away from this as we felt it was to dreary, we had selected an upbeat yet emotional provoking song. Here it is.

Now in having completed our animation we had thought, when it came to saving our production we were enable to. The software did not allow us to embed our animation elsewhere or change the format in which it was made. This problem is something in which we need to overcome before presenting it to a group as currently our production is without music or sound effects as a finished product

Issues whilst filming

In order to get a two minute video clip using images takes a lot of time. My group and i found this to be the case. During our first day of carrying out our stop motion production, in which we worked solidly for 3-4 hours with only 30-40 seconds worth of footage to show for our efforts. The problem we encountered due to the amount of time it takes to build up a solid collection of images in order to animate our clay characters was that we have had to film over a few different sessions. There are several issues in which were presented in doing this:

• lighting problems
• animation of characters
• position of characters along with the set
• position of camera

We found it difficult to replecate the exact same settings throughout our production. The one tool in which we could not have done without throughout was the use of onion skinning. This feature allowed us to align all of the characters and backdrop to almost the exact same position as the last filming episode. 

         'onion-skinning, an option that you can turn on that shows a range of frames both before and                    after your current frame, progressively fading them out as if they're layered on translucent paper                  on top of each other, or "onion-skinned'( Taken from About animation;Onion skinning                  Animation http://animation.about.com/od/flashanimationtutorials/qt/flashonionskin.htm)

Other means of overcoming other issues we relied on going back through our recorded footage and then making changes to the set to get each filming episode to look continuous and flawless.

The birth of our cast

Here are images i took whilst building Adam and Eve along with other subjects used in our animation.

The clay made it very easy to give structure and emotion to our characters. We decided on going for a rug-id look to make the production feel a whole lot animated. In this instance we felt the less detail (realistic) our characters looked, the more effective our production would seem in making them seem animated.

The concept for our final animation

Before setting about our final animation myself and the group gathered all of our idea using a spider diagram. The most appropriate and unusual animation we collectively thought to use was the story of 'Adam and Eve'. Looking through videos online to brush up on our knowledge of the key events of the story we were able to build up a time line of what we wanted our animation to consist of during the two minutes.

Moving forward from this session we met up during the Easter break to build our characters Adam and Eve along with the tree of knowledge and the devil. It was from this point that we had then started our animation.

Chroma Keying

Chroma keying is the use of technology which is used on a daily basis. The most common form of chroma keying is the green screen. These have been used in 10,000s of films along with being used on the news everyday, yet people dont understand this is what it is.

Here is a green screen in action.

They are used on a regular basis so why is it no one understands the term chroma keying?

'Chromakey opens up the horizons of your portfolio. Event and studio photographers can benefit financially from using this. Cruise ship photographers can slip a photo of Venice behind images of embarking passengers, Wedding shoots in bland and brown registry offices can be transformed by dropping a portico behind the subjects to frame the happy couple, Children dressed in Spider Man outfits can hold a specific pose and you can insert a wall behind them, and hey presto they are climbing the Empire State Building'(Taken from Creativity Backgrounds website, http://www.photography-backgrounds.co.uk/Photography/How-to/Using-Chroma-key-with-Blue-or-Green-Screen-backgrounds.html)

It is an effective tool when putting together a creative production. Due to the lack of facilities and exspenses this form of production is seen to be unsuitable for the production of my animation at the end of term. It is however something in which can be useful within my career in the future.

Radio station

Here is my groups first attempt of experimenting with how to edit audio and sound effects using the application 'Audacity'. The idea beind our radio show is a game show where by myself and a member of my group are contestants along with another member of the group acting as the host of the broadcast. We have used multiple sound effects to help along with the idea of a gameshow, consisting of; applause, buzzer. Have a listen to the un-completed version of our show.

The impact of sound

"The right music can help your animation flow, and sound effects can give your work a solid feeling thaty adds to the illusion of life" Mark Simon

I completely agree with this statement. the key reason being is by adding sound to a given animation makes characters and actions performed by the characters a lot more related to life like scenarios. By adding these effects the audience are able to assimilate with what i happening on screen. Without the use of sound effects some animations at times can be difficult to interpretate exactly what is happening. Furthermore it is essential to use sound effects if the animation is to be enjoyed by children, sounds allow the children to be engaged and interesting in screen play.

My very first stop motion

Creating a stop motion animation

Gathering ideas on stop motion animation. Here are some incredable animations in which i aim to assimilate.

Using Zu3D

Zu3D is a programme that can be used to create an animation. Here is my attempt of creating a space invasion scenario.

The programme allows you to simply draw or import images on to a 'set' in order to create a story in a form of pictures. The sceanerios you can create are endless through the use of a timelapse. The simplicity of such programmes is its greatest feature as that if the pictures are organised in a correct order, it looks asthough there is a solid motion between the slides, allowing for a greater quality of animation. ENJOY!!

Creating our own animation

During this session we were asked to devise an animation without the add of any modern technology. The means of creating animation prior to to modern ages is creations such as a zoetrope.

'The zoetrope consists of a cylinder with slits cut vertically in the sides. On the inner surface of the cylinder is a band with images from a set of sequenced pictures. As the cylinder spins, the user looks through the slits at the pictures across. The scanning of the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together, and the user sees a rapid succession of images, producing the illusion of motion.'(Taken from Zoetrope History website, http://zoetrope.org/zoetrope-history)

There was difficulties in trying to create this in that the cyclinder had to have a perfect curviture for the effect to seem clear along with all the incistions within the cyclinder had to perfectly line up with the images. This took a few attemps to get correct. Here is a video of my finished product. ENJOY!!

Sharing our ideas

Using tablet we were able to all share our ideas on animation. Discussing how it addresses problem solving issues along with teamwork and communication skills in a fun engaging way; an effective tool within the classroom.

Created with Padlet

Animation Project

My desired form of Animation to use is stop motion. The reason being is due to the simplicity yet how engaging it can be. Through the use of using myself or an wax figure to put together a story. Here is a very extensive form of stop motion.

This is a very indepth idea i would like to base my project around. The idea of ingaging an audience through such a simple form is highly arousing. My project would preferably be based on criteria in which i feel not only myself to be relevant but the audience.

Here is a instrutional video in which allows you to see exactly how stop motion is created.
bbc simple movie making with stop frame animation

Last Animation Watched.

The last animation i had watched is the film 'Bolt'. The animation involves a dog in which is led to believe he has super powers through staring in a tv programme. The film the follows the activities of the dog as he escapes from Hollywood into the outside work to the discover that in fact he is an ordinary dog.



The animation is of a high quality. My personal experience of the film was that it was very engaging and fun to watch. It uses the same animation qualities of that of big seller 'Up'.

London Trip: BETT

During the two week gap our group took the trip to London to visit the BETT exhibition. At the Exhibition there where many future educational proposals. The exhibition marketed the latest educational technology in which may be the next new thing to enrich education. Huge companies such as Samsung, Apple and Windows were at the event, running demonstrations of their latest equipment to aid education in a new fun yet creative way. From attending such a place i have come to realise that tablets hold the next step to education as that over 70% of the stands i had attended were marketing these devices. Here is a short clip of some of the action to be seen at BETT:

First experience using hopscotch

My first attempt of Scratch

Here is my first attempt of scratch. I created a scario of a deep sea diver being chased by a crab. Use the arrows in order to control the characters. ENJOY!!!

Creating our very own game

Using programming to create our very own animation. To carry this out we used the animation programme Scratch. It allows you to choose various characters and backdrops to use enabling you to allow your imagination run free. You are able to create an array of scenarios and games. You do this by giving your character various commands to carry out in order to carry out actions on the stage in various ways. Create such scenarios as a fox running, a person jumping on a trampoline or a fish swimming in the sea. All of these can be controlled by the gamer by using either keys or mouse along with simply clicking on the onscreen characters allowing them to carry out their script.