Visual Language: Set, Series, Sequence - 12 Image Narrative

For the last part of the brief we were given the task of creating a 12 image narrative in association with what image we chose to expand our 8 images on. Mine was a postbox, and since it isn't a moving object, I thought this was the most difficult part of the brief. I started off with two main ideas. One was to have a post box which everyone knows and loves, and suddenly a van takes it away and it disappears, only to be found in an antique shop of some sort. My other idea was to have two post boxes on a street and one gets used more than the other. A child suddenly takes a liking to the one less liked, and then the other gets jealous. I chose my first idea to develop.

I quickly jotted down what I wanted in each of the twelve images so I wouldn't run out of boxes or end up with not having enough to fill them. They are pretty brief, but they acted as a great guideline in what I wanted to achieve in my narrative.

This ended up to be my narrative. I used pen with multiple thicknesses and also etching to achieve the look I wanted. I also thought that pen is the most time efficient for me, and this brief requires you to work quickly, therefore I thought it fit best. I do like the end result of my narrative since before it, I didn't really know where it would take me.

In the end, I really enjoyed this brief. It took me a few times to think around things after being stuck for ideas, but allowing myself to experiment with different materials and think outside the box has made me overcome my fears. I would love to try a brief like this again, perhaps however with a more exciting word as a starting point.

Visual Language: Set, Series, Sequence - 8 Images

The image I wanted to test out with different materials and expand on was my postbox. I thought that since they come in a variety of shapes and colours, this would be a great opportunity to experiment with different mediums and angles. I took my first pencil drawing of a postbox, and shaded it in a bit more, to see how dark I could go with just pencil. I love adding shadow to any image so this was my first approach to the second part of the brief.

I then went and had a go with pen. Last year I used to etch all my drawings. I barely ever drew in pencil so I thought i would have a go at doing it again after having a break from it for so long. I think this ended up to be one of my favourite out of the final 8. Though etching is one of the most time consuming mediums since it is all about intricacy, I think the more you take your time, the better it will look. I also wanted to have one of my drawings at a low angle, and I think I achieved this here.

Next I jumped into colour. Obviously my first approach to this was pencil crayon, not a medium I use very often. But I also really like this result also. I opted for a different type of post box this time and also considered the background, just to make at least one of my images less flat. I found pencil crayon to be really nice to mix colours and build up depth with, and I think from this part of the brief, I now want to try pencil crayon more often.

Then I went with wax crayon and I feel slightly apathetic to this style. I think it looks alright, but it was SO hard to add depth and mix colours unlike pencil crayon and the other mediums I use. I love to build up shadow and it was slightly impossible to do so with the wax crayons I were using. For what I did, I am happy with, but it is definitely not my favourite outcome.

After those, I then dabbled with paints. I am new to watercolour and I am always nervous to work with it because it dries to fast, but I really like how it ended up looking. I chose to draw it from side on so I could play with shadow, but every time my water colours dried then looked ten times lighter than when they were being applied and my paper kept crinkling up so I left it as this. I did draw it in pen liner first, but I actually think it looks better as opposed to if I drew it without.

Acrylic was next and this was more enjoyable. Apart from the top of the post box I like how the shadow turned out. Again, I was nervous with this material because I barely ever paint, but taking that into consideration I don't think it looks too bad. I went for a traditional post box head on, but I feel like it is a true representation of the colour.

I was then bored of the colour red and using paint so I went back to my favourite medium: digital. I went for a realistic painting look for this postbox, through adding highlights and dark shadows, as opposed to a graphic design looking piece. This actually took me a little while because I wanted to get it to look as realistic as possible, but I am very happy with the result. And it has still proved to me that digital painting is my strongest point.

Then finally I tried with a graphic design looking post box and I like the end result of this too. I think this took me about the quickest amount of time, and I did it on Photoshop. I again wanted to attempt with a different colour palette, but tried my hardest not to blend where possible. 

Overall, this was another part of the brief that I really enjoyed. I was able to experiment with a variety of materials but with extensive focus. I am able to see where my strengths are and where I could improve, and in general I am happy with these 8 images.

Visual Language: Set, Series, Sequence - 32 Images

For our 'Visual Language' brief, we were given a list of words to choose from, in order to produce a set of 32 images that have links and associations with that word. I carefully thought about each one, but I found 'envelope' to be the one that stood out me be most.

I started by brainstorming all the different things that I could find could relate to the word 'envelope'. I soon ran out of literal things to draw, like postboxes, paper and pens, so I had to be creative and think about other definitions of the word. I picked this word in particular specifically for this reason. I know it sounds like a boring word, and would be hard to draw after about 10 images, so I wanted a challenge to see how far I could actually expand. I ended up going into connotations of wrapping, balloons (envelope is this context is the structure of a balloon apparently), to communication. Which I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

These are the 32 Images that I ended up coming up with:

Overall I am really happy with them, and I feel like I have a range of images that connote the word 'envelope'. I obviously started off with literal things, like postboxes, postmen, stamps, etc. But then I moved on to how you would measure the weight of an envelope if you were to send abroad, or other forms of mail, like through the web and therefore what devices you would use. I then went onto ways of transport, so for example air mail or a basic mail van straight to a door. Then I thought about the connotation of 'wrap'. I interpreted this into wrapping paper, swaddling, hugging and so forth. So in the end I think I did stretch the word quite a bit.

As far as how I illustrated the images, I feel like I also have quite a range. I started with pencil to draw my postbox, but it took me a good hour or so just to do one so I though I would try a different medium in order to complete the brief more quickly. Therefore I switched to pen. The aspect I like about drawing in pen is that you have the ability to change the style of it. Throughout the whole brief I have gone from simple thin lines, to etching, to shading through dots and I think I illustrated that well here. I also experimented with watercolour just to try it out, and I did end up quite liking the end result. Lastly I went on to try digital because I am most comfortable with this medium, and I did a few through this style. These did not take me long at all and they gave me the ability to add vibrant colour to some of my images. And I actually liked them the most.

In conclusion I feel like I did this brief pretty quickly for the time frame given, but it also has allowed me to think outside the box, especially for such a boring word.

Visual Language: Sketchbook 1

After choosing my preferred sized sketchbook I went straight ahead into sketching. I don't take the train or the bus to university, I walk so I don't get the opportunity to sit and draw people/objects on public transport, but I have found myself taking pictures of things so that I can draw later. I have also found myself drawing things around me, i.e candles, glasses, pictures from magazines and I have rarely ever done this. I have kept a sketchbook before, but not to the extent where I am drawing in it every other day, and if I see something interesting, I often find myself wanting to draw it or take a picture for later.

I am excited to see how my drawing technique progresses. Already I have seen some trial and errors and find myself even shading and etching in a different way and this is extremely exciting. I am always worried about my drawing skills and find they aren't as strong as others, so I really hope to improve with more and more practice!

The Classical Elements: 7) Interim Crit

Today I had my first interim crit where I had to present all my ideas and planning for 'The Classical Elements' brief to a group of people and get feedback.

Overall i think it went really well. I was able to say my points clearly despite being really nervous and get my treatment across. I was extremely worried about showing my character designs, but I seemed to get a good response which is a little bit comforting. 

I also got a LOT of feedback, which I am grateful for. Firstly I had a dilemma about what audio I should have, diegetic or having both diegetic and non-diegetic in my animation, and my peers said to try out both and see which one I like best. I was told it is all about picking what you like and are comfortable with and I think this is such a useful piece of information. Why do something if you are really not liking it? A few people liked the idea of having a restaurant-esque backing track though whilst the two matchsticks are dining so I think I will have that.

Another feedback point I got was whether the animation has enough in it (going off the storyboard and animatic), which I can see why they would say that as I didn't put any time frames on each storyboard. But a lot of people agreed with me to add lots of fillers to emphasise the awkwardness between the two which I want to create. We also agreed that the characters going on fire will be the longest lasting sequence and also they suggested to add a bit more frames to the end of the animation, after the matchstick couple have extinguished to kind of show them after 'the shock' for awhile and then just end it after that abruptly to mirror the surprise of the matchsticks being on fire.

Overall I think the interim crit was extremely helpful and has given me even more ideas to develop my animation. I for once didn't mind the constructive criticism and actually liked all the input my peers where giving me which has made me really happy!

The Classical Elements: 6) Audio

Planning audio was the trickiest bit of planning my animation, simply because I've only ever worked on making short films with non-diegetic sound, not diegetic, which I really want to have in my piece. 

I was thinking of recording myself, lighting a match, and using that as the sounds of my matchstick characters going on fire. That seems easy enough but thinking of all the sounds I will have to record as my characters are on the date seems really tedious. I don't know whether to simply just have a restaurant music track playing lightly in the back or to actually record every glass clinking or fork dropping. I think it would be more atmospheric to do so but I think I will see how well I am managing my time and perhaps have both. I think it all depends on which medium I choose to make my animation on and how long it takes me.

However I do have a lot of idea generation for audio I could involve, so I am not too worried about it.

The Classical Elements: 5) Animatic

This is my animatic for 'The Classical Elements' brief and this is also the first time I have ever made an animatic, in fact I didn't even know what one was. However after some research I came to the conclusion that an animatic helps displays a rough outline of what the story is going to be in the animation and often used a lot to pitch ideas. 

I didn't know how to go about making one either, so I just took my storyboard and used the majority of the images from that but also added some more key frames so it didn't jump from one scene to the other. I also did this because unlike a storyboard there aren't any words to explain what is happening so adding more frames meant there was more visual aid for explanation. 

I added a 0.5 second delay on the animatic however I still think it is super fast and almost looks like an animation itself. I made it into a gif Photoshop as well as a .mov in Premiere, because I thought this would be the easiest way and in the end I think it looks okay!

The Classical Elements: 4 ) Character Design

For my character design, I started off with being really simple and using basic shapes, simply because I really wanted to focus on the squash and stretch of both characters as they go on the date but also as they are set on fire and are in a frenzy. I think this would be more effective than say animating a complex character especially as I will be drawing them a lot in different scenarios. I also drew them in different poses to try and get an idea of what I would be animating and I am happy with how I could illustrate the arms and body of the matchstick characters.

After I was happy with the rough line drawings of my characters, I went in with different materials to see where I could make them come to life. I only did with with the matchstick boy, because both characters are visually similar and I did want to experiment with quite a few mediums. I first went in with watercolour, I really liked the outcome of the painting, however I feel like I may not have to time to paint every single image over and over in the same way because no water painting for me can I ever get to look the identical. Then I went in with pencil crayon and i also liked the result of this. After a little tweaking with the levels in Photoshop I think the matchstick couple could potentially look really nice with this material. Wax crayon was next and this was the hardest for me to work with, though gives the strongest visual outcome. I also have limited colour selection with this material, so I probably won't be using this. Lastly was digital which is my usual favourite medium to use and I really did like this result as well so it is a tie between digital and pencil crayon.

I then went and attempted to apply a digital appearance to my matchstick girl, to see what colours I would offer her. The colour palettes are fairly similar between the two, but still I think they are easily distinguishable characters. I am still undecided as to whether I want to stick with digital or venture out with pencil crayon, but I will keep thinking about it. 

The Classical Elements: 3) Storyboarding

These are the storyboards for my 'Classical Elements' brief:

I originally drew them in my sketchbook but then I scanned them in and altered the levels to make them look like digital drawings because I actually really like that look. Secondly, I added some grey shade and then coloured in the parts of the storyboard where there is fire with red and orange paint. I did this so that the audience could clearly distinguish where the element I have chosen is appearing in my animation and where it is most important.

The rest of the storyboard is fairly simple and I wanted to play around with cross cuts of the camera switching from behind the character to back in front of them, and then also playing with the depth of field. Looking back at it now I would like to add some either panning or high and low angle shots just to add more depth the the piece, instead of it being rather flat.

The Classical Elemenets: 2) Treatment

After still being unsure about what idea to choose for 'The Classical Elements' brief, I ended up with choosing the idea I had for the fire element.

Basically I want my animation to involve two matchstick characters who go out on a date and inevitably end up kissing each other. They panic but then end up extinguishing themselves via blowing each other kisses instead. 

Just by looking at the treatment, my animation does seem a little simple, and as if it wouldn't last 20 seconds. However I am really willing to add lots of fillers in the first half of the animation, for example when the two characters are on the date, I want it to be really awkward, so I can play with holding hands, awkward glances etc, to emphasise this atmosphere. Also as the matchsticks are on fire, I think this part in particular will be the most lengthy sequence of the animation as they panic and find a way to extinguish themselves.

Overall, I am really happy I have a solid idea to work with and start planning officially. And i do like the idea, so I think it will be really fun to plan!

Classical Elements: 1) Planning

For this new brief since again we were given a keyword, I started off by doing what I have previously done to come up with ideas and began brainstorming:

I found I came up with quite a few ideas however not as much as when I brainstormed the 'emotions' brief. Perhaps this is because these are 'elements' and therefore they are a lot less relatable so are a little more difficult to work with. I did however find that with each element there will always be something to easily display the 12 principles of animation with. 

I really liked the elements 'fire and water' and they were the two I came up with the most ideas. However I also felt like they were going to be the two most popular so I tried to to look at earth more closely, but I only found one key idea that really interested me.

In the end I tried to summarise THREE solid ideas because my mind was all over the place from brainstorming. The first one i picked was for the element 'water' and this included having a little water droplet creature that would change forms for every season, i.e ice in winter, steam in summer. However I didn't think this would be short enough for a 20 second animation. I then picked my 'fire' element with the idea of having two matchsticks which are on a date and then they lean in to kiss and set themselves on fire. I really liked this idea and afterwards I was told Tim Burton has a similar short story/poem on this which I had never heard of. Finally I took the idea from the 'earth' and 'water' element where there is a little character who makes things grow/bloom, like flowers and such. 

But in the end I really liked my matchstick idea so I am going to stick to that and see where it takes me.

Dragon Frame Induction

Our Dragon Frame induction got me really excited to have a go at stop motion for when the time comes. I didn't know the software was universal and that basically all stop motion producers will use this so that was rather pleasing to hear. I also think the programme is not so complicated to use after my disastrous take on After Effects so that is pretty comforting. 

We were given the base settings for the DSLR cameras for when we come to use the equipment. I was pretty relieved to hear this since I just about comprehended the photography induction after it taking a long while to get used to what means what, so now that there are base settings and then you can adjust from there, I'm not as afraid to try it out. I also like that there are two tabs, one for the actual animation and then another named 'cinematography', this is where you test the camera's settings and set it up, see if the frame looks perfect to shoot. I'd say this is a really important step to get the lighting and focus right, because if you don't get it right in the beginning, then the whole piece is going to be off balance.

I was also surprised to see an onion skinning option there, but again, I think this would be really helpful when you are in action of animating and need to see what picture you have taken previously whilst still viewing the current camera view. And I also think exporting as an image sequence would be tremendously easier to alter a scene afterwards than exporting as a final product.

All in all, because I was and am still most keen about stop motion animation, this induction has made me both excited and eager to try stop motion but also really nervous. Since i am so interested in it, I am now worried I won't end up liking it or i'll be really bad at it, but either way I can't believe I will trying it out for the first time very soon! 

Evaluation

Overall, this module has taught me SO much. I have developed skills and gained confidence I never thought I had and I am excited as to what else I can take from the course.

Starting with the basics, the 12 principles of animation, coming from a graphic design student I had never heard of these or the terms within and I think i have gone from not knowing to being able to apply them to my animations subconsciously. I also now find myself seeing 'squash and stretch' purposefully in anything that is animated. I have greatly focusses on 'timing' in most of my animations because I find this to be the most challenging but in actuality it is the one I enjoy planning and applying the most.

I also feel like I have learnt to PLAN. I have briefly planned things before, but it has become more and more evident with each project that planning is such an essential part of making a good piece of work. I now find myself loving to plan, to brainstorm and storyboard, because it is the only way I can come up with several ideas at a time and I can save the rest for another date. In the beginning I hated storyboarding, but now I see how important it is, especially paper editing.

I think as far presenting goes, I have improved. I still get really nervous in showing my work because I always think of the worst, and take criticism personally, but now I feel like I can listen to what people have to say and not feel bad about it. I can see where they are coming from and actually take that advice and apply to the next piece of work that I do.

In addition, I can't believe I have made flipbooks, gifs, video timeline animations and pixilations. Some of these I didn't know existed and I truly appreciated experimenting with these and researching about artists who use these techniques. I have become familiar with a bunch of new animator's work and this is incredibly exciting. I have found independent artists work which to me, is more interesting that mainstream films, and that is down to finding websites like 'shortoftheweek' who offer them. I love politics and websites like these allow me to watch political animated shorts which is absolutely brilliant. Also in conjunction to experimenting with flipbooks, pixilations, and Photoshop, I have been able to distinguish what my strengths are. I have improved on my drawing, from making my illustrations less 'flat', but I have found I have become even more comfortable with Photoshop and digital drawing than I was before. I used to always paint on photoshop with my tablet, but now I can animate on there and it has opened up a whole new door.

Though I have found some of these projects very stressful, it has been worth it because I feel like I have learnt so much in such a short amount of time. Even taking time to sit and review my work and see where I can change things has improved and I am grateful for that. My favourite modules has definitely been pose to pose animation and flip books, but I also loved learning about stop motion animation and the different types because it is my most favourite aesthetic of all animation. I hope I continue to learn as much as I have been doing and I am very excited to what else the course will bring.

The Cleveland Show

The Cleveland show used to be my absolute favourite thing to watch on a Monday night in high school and no one I knew ever like it! It is basically about an African American family... and their lives really. However, there is so much tongue and cheek humour I thought it was hilarious, but it can be quite raunchy at times therefore is most definitely not for a young, immature audience.

All the characters have personalities that can be differentiated from one another i.e, the audience can easily remember who is who, which I find to be one of the key things to look out for in ANY television show. Usually personalities meld together and you can forget their names and what not but this show is beautiful in awarding each character with unique traits. There is also a lot of irony in the show which I don't think a lot of children would get either, for example the youngest 'child' is actually an old, rude man mentally.

I don't think this show has any political, economic or social impact on the world other than I think it is empowering that there is an entire cast of African Americans which is very rare to find in animation especially. But I think it is wrong to even have to notice that. This should be more common, but unfortunately it is not. As for the messages and values within the content on the animation, there isn't really apart from some crude humour.

Sadly I haven't heard from this show in a long time but I think I would have become desensitised to this type of humour my 15 year old self loved way back when, anyway. I think for it's audience, which should be mature for the most part, the show is successful in providing a laugh and providing some small moral value, however for what it is, it could be more virtuous. 

Though aesthetically, it reminds me of 'The Simpsons', but that doesn't bother me because I love how 'The Simpsons' looks too. The 2D animation is sufficient and it is nice to look at. Though the colours for me are slightly dull, I think this casts more attention on the humour of the show rather than looking at it as a masterpiece. Overall I used to love this show, I haven't watched a full episode in so long but I remember it captivating me at that time so I think if it was successful for me then, it must have been successful for a lot of people too if it had more than one season.

Apply - Final Product

I FINALLY finished my Apply animation brief which took so long because I spent so long with adding detail to it. I did use my concept designs for my actual settings, which saved a lot of time but even they took so long because I was unhappy with them for a long time. I wanted to find this balance between being visually appealing and also having the ability for the audience to understand where I was going with the animation. I think it is clear enough to see the element of surprise as my characters puts glasses on for the first time, however because I have looked at the piece for so long I don't know if i'm just reassuring myself or not.

I feel like I have applied the principles of animation to this piece fundamentally. I really focussed on timing, via the rain drops, the rabbits arms and her walk. Also through the pace in which she takes her glasses on and off. I wanted it to be a lot slower as she takes them off and then double the pace as she puts them back on and I think I have achieved that well. I was really disappointed with is the ears. I found they were extremely difficult to animate, especially as I was concentrating on her walk more, however they aren't too bad because I went back in and altered them, but as shown in the gif below before I changed them, you definitely spot them out in that they are not as smooth in transition as I would have liked them to be. I think I played a bit with squash and stretch with my water drops, and through the glasses, but I am more in general worried with timing and easing in and easing out, so I mainly focussed on those.

In conclusion, I am happy with this animation. It took so long, so I am glad with the results. I obviously would change some things but for what it is I think I applied the principles efficiently.

Apply - Concept Designs

The process for making this 5-10 second animation I found to EXTREMELY time consuming, because I wanted everything to be perfect. From the colour combinations to the movement of the character, for such a short animation it took such a long time putting it together. I still think there could be massive improvements, but for the time frame that we had I think I did alright.

                

            

I started with designing the setting. I knew it was going to be an opticians, and since I have been in the same opticians for over 15 years, I have a pretty good idea of what one looks like. Though this narrative is nothing similar to mine, I don't remember wearing glasses for the first time because I was so young, I still feel it has a personal touch to it, because opticians have played such a big part of my life. Anyway back to the setting. Since I love COLOUR, I thought why not play with the neutral colours of an opticians to some degree. I'm pretty sure you would never get your eyes tested at a place this colourful, but I think it ended up being more visually attractive than basic darks greens and brown. I also love gradients, so there are plenty of them within the setting and animation itself. Overall I think it actually looks like a retro piece of graphic design.

                      

As for the character design. I know this is my weakest point, simply because i've had no experience with drawing and animating a specific character in such detail. So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to experiment with it. I chose an animal because of my time restrictions and I thought it would be a lot less stressful to animate with. And because I just can't leave a line drawing alone, I had to add colour to this also. I am happy with how the concept designs have turned out and I did end up with actually using them in my finalised digital version of my animation, so it goes to show how much planning can come in handy. I also found planning my settings and characters to be the best bit out of this Apply brief!

Apply - Storyboarding

Since my animation is only going to be 5-10 seconds long I did a quick storyboard of only 6 images because I planned on keeping the same setting but still wanted to follow a plan. I didn't really want to change the setting too much because the animation is only short, therefore I think it would be a bit too sporadic in changing from place to place. Therefore I only have the inside and the outside of an opticians as my place of setting. 

I took the advice from my peers and teachers in keeping my storyboards SIMPLE. I always tend to overcomplicate things, so I tried to keep them even simpler than my last ones for the pixilation project. I find this to be less time consuming and it also allowed more ideas to come to my head, and I mean loads more. I was less worried with the detail in appearance that I had more time to think of this and that, which was a major plus. Therefore I think I will keep up this technique for my next projects.

Storyboard Research - 'Arthur'

                             

Lastly I decided to look up something lighthearted and chose 'Arthur', which is a children's animated TV show which I used to be obsessed with for quite a while after what would be classed as a 'child'. These storyboards were particularly fascinating because they included hardly any backgrounds/settings on ANY of them. They mainly focussed on the character detailing and what the characters was holding, or even the objects around them. This to me was interesting and I associated the link between including no backgrounds in the storyboards to the fact that it is primarily marketed towards children and all children are really going to be focussing on is the centre of the screen, i.e the characters and what they are doing. Perhaps this concept is completely wrong however I thought it was different and either way does not change the way I look at the show.

I also love how the characters here look exactly the way they do on the show. As in they were really happy with their initial ideas of the character in the storyboards that they just used them right away. This could however be done for time reasons. Usually for television series, deadlines are extremely tight so many they had to do detailed storyboards and plans because they were going to actually use them as key frames in the show. I could be completely wrong, but I do love the detail on them and it has brought back many nostalgic feelings.

Overall I found that there are multiple styles in storyboarding. Not one is ever the same, but they do have multiple things in common such as provoking emotion and making the audience feel involved in the piece. These are things I think I am definitely going to take on board when I next create a storyboard!

Storyboard Research - Pixar's 'UP'

                   

For more storyboard research, I then looked up Pixar's 'UP' and found that this storyboard is just brilliant at incorporating emotion into its production. With multiple close ups of the characters expressions frame by frame, the backgrounds are clear and all is focussed on the characters and their faces. Having watched UP before, even the storyboards make me weak at how innocent and emotional the storyline is, this particular storyboard sequence I feel is just brilliant. No captions or sound guides are even needed for this storyboard because all can be told through the poignant characters expressions.

                         

I found this storyboard to be quite detailed however. But I love how the detailing is on the main focus of the image and then the backgrounds are blurred. It pinpoints where the audiences attention should be at, at that specific time, but even visually it is nice to look at as just an initial plan. There are also a lot of high angle shots in the storyboard of the sequence where Carl and Ellie are children. This is a good way of illustrating their innocence. Usually low angle shots connote superiority and control, but in this case I think it connotes the opposite, and displays their tender natures as children.

Overall I love these storyboards and they are very effective in directing where the audience's attention should be at instead of them having to look for certain things and figure them out for themselves. Which is nice one in a while.

Pixilation Storyboards Digitalised

Finally I got around to scanning the paper edit of my Pixilation piece into Photoshop and turning it into a more refined storyboard! I am much more happy with it now that it explains what is going on and I can see it all on one piece of paper. This is the happiest I have been with the storyboards I have done so far and I didn't actually dread having to do it. Hopefully this will motivate me for the next time I do a storyboard, to remind me how it actually went alright and that storyboarding isn't the worst thing in the world!

MTV Indents

MTV is a classic entertainment channel that goes back years and religiously creates new indents which give so much character to their television station. Indents are basically just little videos that play before and after a channel starts and I love them. There are others like E4 and TLC, but MTV are without a doubt the most creative. Since there are SO many, I thought i'd pick the ones I think are the most interesting.

                                    

These indents are specifically for when the channel plays it's 'MTV hits', therefore incorporates the beats/the bass in with the animation. I think this is a quirky little trait because even if you were watching the advert with the sound low or even off, you could still visualise the beat of the music playing, due to how the animation is reacting to it. In other words, the principle of TIMING is done to perfection. I love the way each indent has different 'characters' i.e they are basic shapes but display different materials like zips and string. This almost provokes a visceral reaction, which is slightly uncomforting to me. I do however feel like these indents don't have a niche audience per say, more like have a purpose to peak whoever is watching the channel's interest through the movements and the colours of the 'characters'.

                      

The collection of indents previously shown were up to date ones, however I also love the older ones, like these that are from 1981 to 1983. Even the choice of music in them is such a different genre even. The ones we see on the television now, don't even have 'music' due to copyright laws and issues, they are just 4 second tunes or melodies, where as the older ones involve rock music, which makes the animation much more atmospheric. At 0:44 there is an indent that is created from stop motion animation. It is shot at a low angle and is rather voyeuristic. Even back then MTV were airing indents that made you slightly uneasy, but is also visually attractive in a weird, paradoxical way. What I find unsuccessful about these indents is that I feel like MTV could use this as an opportunity to create something with meaning, CONTEXT. There are so many short animations that hold valuable messages within them that because MTV has such a big audience, I feel like they are missing out on giving. I do understand they are a music channel, and probably want to keep neutral, but music is an art and art usually has purpose so I feel like that is their downfall. On the other hand, I still love the little indents, and their unique quirky little traits. 

John Lewis' Christmas Advert 2013

After just watching the last episode of Gogglebox and seeing John Lewis' latest Christmas advert being aired for the first time, whilst balling into a puddle of tears, it also made me remember their advert of last year and how much I loved that one too.

                                  

John Lewis always have the ability to make their viewers cry at their adverts or at least feel some sort of compassion and it actually saddens me that they only do this at christmas because they have so much potential. Their advert of Christmas 2013 though, is about a bear who misses Christmas every year because of his natural instinct to hibernate. The Hare however, gives him a Christmas present whilst he is in hibernation and it actually turns out to be an alarm set for Christmas morning so that this year, he won't miss it.

Visually, the animation uses 2D hand drawn animation, stop motion and 3D model made sets, which as an end product looks absolutely stunning. As the bear goes into hibernation the colour palette is grey, gloomy and evokes a sense of doom, but as the Hare surprises the bear, there is a change in temperate. The animation in now full of warmth. The sunrise and the Christmas tree illuminate the scene and really make Christmas feel magical. The commercial is perfect for families and children who are all in the Christmas spirit. The advert just make you happy by watching it, it emphasises that Christmas is all about spending time with your loved ones and realising how lucky you really are.

The sound track is Lily Allen doing a cover of 'Somewhere Only We Know' and I think her cover is so lovely and magical. Her voice has this ability to sound dismal and then angelic at the same time which matches the tone of this commercial. The advert communicates themes of friendship, love and togetherness which I think will remind families everywhere of how special it is to have a family. I think John Lewis were very successful that year, and also they have one upped themselves this year also which means they understand their audience and have a real sense of connecting their animation with their viewers.

PETA x Morrissey - 'Someday'

'Someday' is a persuasive piece, an advertisement of sorts which promotes the vegan lifestyle. This is something I am passionate about and feel like is too much overlooked. I originally found out about this animation earlier this year from the artist Morrissey (who is my absolute idol), as he teamed up with PETA, the anti-animal cruelty organisation to form this piece on factory farmed chickens. 

This animation is actually heartbreaking and I think is a much toned down version of the reality of animals in captivity. Considering the politically volatile 'Earthlings' and 'Forks Over Knives' graphic films, this piece is way more suitable for a younger audience. 

The visual appearance of the baby chicks are deliberately made to look cute and loveable, because why would you want to kill something so delicate? The piece illustrates how baby chicks grow up in cages until they are old enough to be slaughtered. Fortunately the main chicken in the video escapes after dreaming about it for all its life, but this is a rare occurrence, and is a radical realisation of what happens to the food you have on your plate.

Now I think there is no way at all that this video alone could persuade someone to go vegan, I mean it is 3 minutes long and its aesthetics are way too cute and mellowed, that the piece alone has no power to get through to someone, therefore it has its downfalls. I do think it can provoke people into thinking about what they eat, but for this controversial topic I think more graphic and frightening facts need to be pushed as opposed to this take on it. I assume it would however frighten children, but I also believe that children in no way should be making a decision such as this at their age.

I of course love the soundtrack to the animation. I love Morrissey anyway, but in contrast to the cutesy appearance, the music has a dark, tantalising tone to it which MAKES the animation. It is what emphasises the cruel nature of the food industry and if it wasn't there I feel like this piece would be completely unsuccessful in promoting such a serious lifestyle. 

Overall I do like this piece. I think it's message is powerful, and it should make the average person think. The audience who should be everyone over the age of 18, should feel some sort of emotion in response to what they see but that may be completely subjective since some people are more sensitive than others. I should hope some people feel remorse from it, but that is just me. I think by PETA using animation as another form of promoting their campaign, is rather innovative and any advertisement is good advertisement when it comes to terminating animal cruelty.