Today's lecture went over the pre-production stage in animation, a stage which is extremely relevant to my practice as it is the area that I am currently tackling with our documentary animation. What I did not realise until after the lecture, was that there is so much to pre-production. I always associated pre-production as the tedious and monotonous stages of animation because it is all about planning and getting the process moving. However it is actually extremely vital, especially when making animations on bigger scales with bigger numbers of people, my strengths just do not lie in this department.
Firstly, script writing is a key stage in the pre-production process. I have not yet had the chance to write a script yet, but I think with our documentary module, I will be able to get the chance to experiment and explore this process. I love writing in general, so I think this will be enjoyable for me, especially as Sara explained that there is a lot to consider. She advised us to have three acts within our animation, including the inciting incident, the mid point and the restored equilibrium. It is also exciting to think about perhaps breaking these boundaries for a more desired effect, which I think will allow me to consider narrative in a more serious way, as opposed to constantly worrying if people will understand the storyline.
Concept designs were the next pre production stage that I thought was interesting. This is definitely a weak point for me, probably because prior to university I had not done much of it, so I don't feel confident enough to always dive straight into it. However Hayley thought I would be better doing the character designs for this brief, so although I am nervous I am going to take Sara's advice on board. She advised us to do a lot of sketching before you come to your final designs. I usually go straight in with colour and different mediums, therefore for this module I am going to try and do a lot of sketching in pen/pencil first, and then choose the designs that could be more refined to go in with more detail and colour. She also told us to make mood boards that are unique, to use objects and themes that aren't properly associated with your topic, or character personality, but could help arise ideas and images that will help you make your own original concepts. I thought this was a great idea, as usually I always go for the obvious when it comes to mood boards.
The last stage that stood out to me, was pipeline testing. I had never heard of this before, therefore whilst it was intriguing, it meant I could have the ability to try more new things. Pipeline testing is when you shoot a whole scene to see if you have any technical difficulties that will not allow you to progress with the rest of the animation. This prevents you from making any large errors as well as saving you time to fix the occurring problems. I am very glad that I found out about this because it will be essential for Hayley and I to do some pipeline testing, to see if our lighting/angles are correct when we come to making our stop motion animation.
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