Final Piece

First Final piece 

My first final piece was done on Cinema 4D and was a simple exploration of shapes, and how shapes follow an abstract form. It is an extension of my curiosity of shapes and how shapes are able to express and impact ones own emotions, but also the individual expression of shapes themselves and how shapes influence space. How shapes are able to create and hold another dimension with the structure of their own form, how they can be multiplied and divided. It is just such an interesting topic for me, as when looking around at our own environment they affect everything. They exist as a mentor to our expression, as they can not only help us understand, but also show us an insight into worlds that we can not visually access. Th world itself is made up of shapes, as are we, and it just goes to show the infinite magnitude in which shapes exist.

Second Final Piece

My second final piece was a response to a piece of digital artwork that was part of the big bang data at somerset house. It was an interesting experience as I got to experience two different perspectives on its value as an art piece. I personally just genuinely enjoyed the simple movement of shapes, and how the artist combined the movement and placement of shapes with the sound to create a sort of visual transportation to an empty and quiet space. The animation being put in a space isolated from the rest of the exhibition further emphasized this effect. My teacher however had a different perspective, which was that she was surprised at how this can be put on an exhibition as with her knowledge of animation she understood how easy it was to do such a thing. This perspective interested me as it gave me an insight into many things, including how artist can fool an audience, more specifically how an artist can amplify the value of their work by specifically targeting an audience that may not have the knowledge of what they are doing. It is a very intelligent selling technique, however I would never use it as not only do I believe that art is meant to explore the truth, but that (I have been told many times) that true art speaks for itself.  This experience also inspired me to expand my knowledge as the fault of using such a trick is that there will always be artists in that area who will see through it (like my teacher). I would want my creations to exceed their own limits, and to do this my knoweldge in every subject as to be up to a professional standard. As it is humiliating to ones own creations, to belittle their own growth by using cheap and quick methods (Which I am also guilty of doing at times).

My second version in itself was an experience, and whilst creating it the movement of shapes inspired me, as the movement of shapes with the sound further emphasized the impact of the sound as I was able to visualize how this sound is able to effect an object, and with the vibrations of the shapes it started to remind me of the beating heart. How despite how small we know the heart is and how we know what it is filled with, there always seems to be this magical space involved, the core of all our own emotions and the residing place in which our soul rests. How at times it seems almost insane that such a thing can exist, and although we can not see it, it exists. This is the purpose of this animation, to help those who see it to explore beyond, to help them become aware of what they feel and how it impacts them. As I moved this shape in sync with how my heart felt with the movement of sound. 

Evaluation

Graphic Design

This project-involved creating a number of different animations, whilst producing in-depth research of the animation field. To complete this design situation successfully I created a weekly schedule where every week I did one post on the blog, and did a topic on my sketchbook. At first it took me a long time to adjust to the topic of animation as I was confused at what I had to specifically research as it is such a massive topic, but after breaking it up into many smaller topics I was able to progress through the work in small steps.

The project was structured practically with the lessons focusing on how to use the programmes and create animation forms (pixilation, stop motion, kinetic animation), and theory was researched and practiced independently, such as the walking cycle. Both forms of researching were incredibly useful as with the practical lessons I was able to practice and put forward the styles and techniques that I learned independently though theory, and through the practical I was able to see if there were any techniques I missed out on, and needed to research with more depth. Researching the history of animation and the roles involved was very useful to me as it made me understand not only the purpose of animation, but the beauty of animation as I didn’t know it took that many people and that much time and effort to make an animation. The fact that it takes teamwork to make an animation, to me made it just that more amazing and inspirational.

This is partially why making the cutout animation was my favourite to do, as I got to experience how individuals can work together and share their skills to create a piece of art, as everybody in that group was getting involved and partaking in the animation in some way, I was able to learn some skills and see the different ways a subject or theme can be approached just by seeing the way another individual reacts to The subject (theme) from the ideas they come up with. My negative experience with the groups I worked with before (pixilation animation) helped me learn how to encourage a group to work and take part in a project which I am grateful for.

I developed my ideas mainly through the experience of the digital programmes (such as Adobe after effects, flash, cinema 4D)  and what I thought was the most effective drawing approach to slowly come up with the best solution of what would make an effective, rememberable and visually inspiring animation. Whilst researching, seeing the way directors and animators comment on their own productions helped me understand the moments where my work was lacking in quality, and weather I was just being lazy, for instance when making the final animation I first used flash and was planning on having a simple motion tween animation, this was very easy for me to pick up and with doing this I wasn’t challenging myself, I also remembered how dedicated everyone involved in an animation usually is and this also inspired me to push myself to do something more, which is why I changed to using a programme I have never used before known as Cinema 4D. I had a lot of fun using this programme and am looking forward to continue using it and improving my skill with it.

Overall I do believe I achieved my objectives as I explored animation and all the topics involved within it as much as I could. I also experimented with a range of media to create a solid combination of digital and traditional (drawing) media.  I really enjoyed looking at animation, mainly because I always wondered (when seeing animations) how it was done and am beyond happy that I am now able to understand it. My own target now is to continue practicing with these programmes as in modern day having an understanding of digital media is essential.

Cutout Animation

We based this project on an article that reflected upon British Values, our group chose an article that was based on homophobia, this was what we decided to choose as our theme for our cut out animation.

Main Idea

A boy is searching for love and is constantly having his heart broken, he eventually gives up on the idea of love, until someone comes and shows him true love and fixes his broken heart. The moral of the story is that love knows no bounds, and how love should never be used against someone as something that makes them strange. 

Props (made by the group)

Background - Park

Those who break his heart - Silhouettes 

The two in love - the ones in colour

Little heart 

Storyline (Key frames/scenes)

1. Main character walking across park

2. MC gives his heart to one he loves

3. His love gets rejected and thus MCs heart is broken

4. MC picks up heart and does not give up on love 

The scenes 3 and 4 are repeated twice 

The third time it is repeated MC does not pick up the heart and gives up 

5. The second main character picks up the heart for MC and helps him put it back together 

6. True love is found.

Making the animation

Strangely making this animation was done quiet quickly as it took around half an hour to photograph each scene, and then around 10 minutes to edit the animation on Adobe After Effects. I believe this was done quickly as in this project it was the first time everybody in the group got involved and truly worked together, because of this making this animation was also a lot more enjoyable as we got to learn skills and technique from one another and push ourselves to work harder. It was also done a lot quicker as everybody now had quiet a solid knowledge and experience of how to use these programmes to create an animation.

Sound

I used a titanic piano instrumental as the sound of the animation as I felt the animation needed a sound that was soft and sweet, but at the same time emotionally conveyed the emotion of heartbreak.

Here is the Cutout Animation

Project Three : Kinetic Animation (Production)

This task was the first task were we were all making an animation individually, the task involved using typography to convey a certain message within a chosen political speech to make an overall kinetic animation. I was very excited to do this as I was always very curious as to how those who would do kinetic animation would do it.

To start off we had to view a selection of famous political speeches and choose the one we favored.

Choice one
Speech: Charlie Chaplin Speech
This was the speech I wanted to do first as I felt that it gave the strongest impact to me as a viewer, I was also wanting to experiment with the increase/decrease of volume of his voice during the speech , and how that can be emphasized to create a bigger impact with the use of typography. I was already able to imagine how I wanted to visually produce the speech. What I admire about Charlie Chaplin is that the power of his voice is able to individually communicate and relate to every viewer, he is able to somehow speak for all those watching from generation to generation.

Choice two
Speech: Martin Luther King
This was my second choice as not only do I believe that many of the topics involved in the speech are still (sadly) relevant today, but that I have always admired the use of the word dream in the speech, and how that is still today able to make a giant impact. I also greatly admire Martin Luther King, and how he stood up for his dream with such power and bravery, how he was able to spark a fire of bravery in others, encouraging them to stand up to what is rightfully theirs. A right to be treated respectfully and equally. A dream that I as well as many others still believe and fight for today.

Final Choice
My final choice ended up being speech number two, this is mainly because a lot of other students chose the Charlie Chaplin speech and I personally wanted my speech to maintain an individual quality. As if everyone goes the same way, the results would be too similar. It was also a comfortable choice for me as I could already visually imagine the way I wanted the Charlie Chaplin speech to look like, whereas the Martin Luther King speech was more challenging in the fact that I was able to imagine how I would do it. Therefore the Martin Luther King speech would be more of a challenge, and help me progress my skills at a higher level.

After I have chosen the speech, I had to find an audio version of the speech, convert it to MP3, and then use Adobe after effects to crop the parts of the speech I did not what. It was surprsingly quite time consuming to find an mp3 file of the speech, as

Here is the part I used of the speech:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice

I chose this part of the speech as I thought it was one of the most powerful segments with the repetitive use of I have a dream, and summarizes the context and the overall purpose of the speech to the viewer. 

Production

To make this animation I used Adobe After Effects, this was the first time I used this programme with the purpose of making a kinetic animation. To do this, I added each sentence letter by letter so that I would be able to freely edit the structure and rhythm of the entire word. This way of working was rather long, however I quickly got the hang of putting each word together and lining it up with the correct timing. It also didn't bother me as I am more concerned about the quality of the animation as a whole, rather then the time it takes me to do it.  Here are some screenshots of me making the animation. 

Font:Rekoner Bold

I chose this font as it wasn't bold , over complicated or too plain for use

Overall I really enjoyed making this animation and learned a lot of skills and knowledge about what one has to do to make a kinetic animation. It also reminded me if the influence of a great speech and what makes a great speech. I believe that what makes a great speech is one where the motive of the speaker somehow becomes yours, where the words of the speech continue to live on with you for as long as you live. It also made me see the power of typography and the way typography empowers speech and visually emphasizes the purpose of speech and visual communication. I was happy with the way I pushed myself to experiment with the positioning of speech, and din't stick to a simple and un-moving animation. If I were to make a target for the next time I attempt a kinetic animation, it would be to be more ambitious with the text and look at ways of manipulating the text in more ways, such as changing the colour or adding an animation in-between the text. 

Here is the Final Animation

Martin Luther King Kinetic Animation










Thir motives become youtrs, a great speech is one that immeidatley evokes hange, that has words that stay with you forever