My Final Animation

Well I've FINISHED! After some last minute tweaking and adding in the music. It took a lot of work especially getting used to working in after effects, but I am pleased with the overall outcome. My animation lasts for 30 seconds altogether. I feel like I have learnt so much in this last module, from never doing an animation before and its also made me appreciate exactly how much time and effort goes in to this kind of work! I'm not going to lie at the beginning I didn't think I would enjoy this project at all but now that I have finished I can look back and say that it wasn't so bad after all. I did actually enjoy it. ANYWAY...heres my final animation, hope you enjoy it!

CARD card card card.....

I decided to make my scenes out of card and because I felt they were successful I also made my character 'Infinity Girl' out of card.
Here's what it looked like when i scanned in all the separate layers of the figure. I did this so i could easily construct it in photoshop. Then in my animation it would be able to walk naturally.

I then adapted the colour and added features such as eyes, this was all done of separate layers in photoshop. This is my final outcome...

Animation time...my scenes

From constructing my character using cut up coloured card I thought it would be a good idea to keep this a constant throughout my animation. I made the scenes and any added props for my animation out of coloured card. But why? Well basically i thought it work really well for my character design, I wanted my animation to be bright and bold. From listening to the music I had already gather together words which i represented with the music, and I wanted to keep these in mind whilst making my animation.

This is the first scene in which 'Infinity Girl' walks on to the scene. She walks on from the left hand side of the screen until she is central and facing the audience. I have also added in a simple flower to this particular scene in the animation just to add to the background. 

From there I have then gone to a shot of the sun shining in the sky to demonstrate what a glorious day it is. In this scene I there are 3 birds which fly past from left to right.

I then go back to the girl where she is now lying on the grass also looking up at the sky. I wanted people to get the idea that she is 'cloud watching'. Everyone's probably done it as some point or another. I have zoomed right in to one of girl's eye. Then theres a slight pause, when you can faintly see the reflection in her eye, of a cloud float past. 

This is the final scene of the actual clouds float by, how ever theres a slight twist. Instead of her seeing everyday cloud-like shape she suddenly sees the a cloud in the shape of a train. I chose a train because I want to pick something which isn't represented with flying or the sky. I wanted something that was out of place and odd. I thought of a train because I'd be able to have it moving across the screen as it usually moves along the tracks. 

Workings out...

This is simply my working outs I wanted to work out how long each scene lasts during the animation. I also wanted to make sure that I did go over the time limit of 30 seconds.

Slight change of plan, BUT no need to panic...

I have slightly change my idea for my animation....BUT WHY?!
Basically I wanted to include too much before, considering the maximum amount of time is 30 seconds, I didn't want my final animation to seem rushed. Saying this i have change the ending a tiny bit, however I have kept the narrative the same. Seeing as I have changed it I decided to draw out a new storyboard so I had my fresh idea down on paper.

This is the initial frame where it sets the scene for the whole animation. There will be no character on the screen at first, she will walk on from the left hand side after second.

Once the character has got all the way to the central screen (after 4seconds) then this frame of the whole sun will fill the screen. Within the 3seconds of tis frame being on screen then i will have some birds flying across the screen.

Next the girl will be lay on the grass gazing up at the sky. This frame lasts for a total of 8 seconds. I have the camera zooming right into her eye, where there will be a reflection of  cloud floating way up high in the sky.






































In  the final frame I will have the clouds floating by and the then suddenly the shape will change from an 'normal' cloud shape to a train. This will travel across the screen and back again. This final frame will last for 15seconds.

More characters..

I enjoyed the workshop so much that a continued to develop a range of characters in my spare time. I still kept in mind to keep the character simple and not to over complicate my designs. Here are some examples of my ideas...

I then look at animal designs as well.

Character...ANIMATING 'Infinity Girl'

Before jumping in head first to my animation I still didn't feel comfortable with using after effects, so I began to experiment with the software. Below I have focused on my character that i will be using throughout the animation. Using the parent and child tools I was able to make the figures limbs move individually. Heres my outcome...I was pleasantly surprised.

Primary Research...CLOUDS

Because i'm going to have the shapes of clouds in my animation, I looked at different cloud shapes photographed by others. I wanted to come to a decision on what shape(s) i should use in my final piece.
I found these images on the internet when i was research initially for my project, I chose a select few to put on to my blog. These images were the ones which caught my eye, some I'd say are pretty amazing considering they formed naturally...take a look for yourself.

Maybe after all pigs can fly...

After Effect...learning curve

I have never used After Effects before, so it was all very new and scary at first. From the workshops I was able to begin to understand the basics that i would need to produce my 20-30 second animation. It may not sound like much, but I know its going to be a lot of work, especially seeing as I haven't use the software before. But thats life, so I gave it a bash anyway. 

Above I have done a simple 5 second video, using a range of tools to move the two skeleton. I have also used the 'parenting' tool which will definitely come in handy for my final piece.

Infinity GIRL...character design

I began by over complicating my design, but then when I was listening to my piece of music over and over again i came to the decision to simplify it back down. I went back to basics and drew out my ideas in my sketchbook. I was then able to choose my favourite design and began to develop my character. Below  have scanned in my hand drawn work and you can see how I have began to add colour to my character by using coloured pencils and also felt tips. I wanted to explore a number of ways of adding colour to my character.

Using the scanned image which was not already coloured in I added colour to it, however this time I used photoshop. I much prefer how this one below has turned out as I think it looks much more professional. 

1st workshop....Narative and cell

In this session we began to think about characters in our animations, and designing characters. I firstly started looking at a frog form as a character but I was over complication my designs. I then simplified the character as ways of experimenting.

Going back to basics....Using simple shapes to begin with then developing the characters around the shapes. I really enjoyed this workshop and I was excited to start really considering what my character(s) will be.

THen in the session I chose one character to further develop. I chose the fish and began to look at what other facial expressions it could have?!

Thinking about how to go about working on animation using after effects, and having a set of frames. If i was to use 24 frames a sec, this basically mean I would have to draw 24 separate images for 1second worth of animation.

3 Words...brainstorm

Photography...

I began looking at the sky at different times of the day to see how it changes in colour. I captured a few planes flighting high at roughly 7 in the evening. I love the colours but I also think the silhouettes of the trees work really well.

Further research...

I took advantage of the amazing weather today and took some photos of what I'll be looking at in my animation. But because it was such a nice day there were hardly any clouds in the sky, but the sun was perfectly shining so i took this opportunity.

I wanted to capture how the girl would be lay, with her arm behind her head looking up at the sky. I took a few photos to get an idea of the positioning of her arms and hand. Also I wanted to try and get the camera to get both her and what she was looking at in the shot. This was my first attempt... and to be honest I was quite pleased with the out come.

STORYBOARD time..

I have drawn out my final story board with my idea for my animation. I wanted to be quite detailed with the frames, so that my idea was both clear to me and to others reading it. Here is my completed storyboard for my final idea:

I have narrowed it down below frame by frame with information underneath each shot. This is simply to further explain what is going on with in the frame.

I open my animation with 'Infinity Girl' walking through the park with her back to the camera. It's a glorious day, the sun beating down. She is walking over to the grass at the side of the path.

The camera has gradually zoomed in to reveal the face of the girl.  She is now on the grass  searching for a place to lay down, with the sun shining down in the background.

Here the girl has found the perfect spot to lie down and relax whilst soaking up the sun. She is gazing up at the clouds above as they continually move around changing form.

Now the camera has gradually zoomed in to just a head shot of the girl as she still lays on the lush green grass in the park.

I've zoomed right in to just the girls big blue eye, and in the reflection you are able to see the sky and clouds up above which she is staring at. From this the camera continues to zoom in to her blue eyes until the images changes in to the next frame. (the sky/clouds)

Now I have a full shot of the sky with the clouds, sun and a few birds flying high.

I have zoomed right in to focus on the cloud as it begins to change shape and form. (either a gradual change of shape or when the girl blinds the cloud form changes. I haven't quite decided yet, however I can experiment developmentally to see which outcome I think works best.)















All the different shapes the clouds will take:
Ice cream















Palm tree















Butterfly

Love heart

As the girl becomes sleepy and tired she begins to blink slowly until she's totally asleep (maybe at this point the music will become quieter?)

Totally darkness when eyes closed, only for a second or two.

She then opens her eyes to realise that she fell asleep and it's now night time! THE END
If there is any time left at the end the moon can give a 'cheeky' wink.