Extended Practice: Characters

Since my animated series is not very character orientated, it is mainly centring around the situations within driving conditions and rules of the road, in the beginning I was very hesitant about what characters I wanted. I knew that they would be 2D and animated both in After Effects and Photoshop, but I still didn't know where to begin.

I started however with pencil and then fine liner, until finally adding colour with pencil crayons. I wanted my characters to be very rounded and family friendly, but also colourful so that they would peak interest and not want audiences to avoid them. I decided to draw four characters for a 'family', so that I can reuse them in the different scenarios and series. That way, there will still be some familiarity within them.

I then went into Photoshop to draw them digitally, which is my favourite way to draw characters and I am much happier with them. I think that I will refine them more before I animate them as I think that they could look more inviting and could do with more colour variation, but I am happy to put this design progress into my artbook and present them at the exhibition. I have also made each component (arm, leg, eyes, etc) on a different layer for easy access to rig in After Effects.

Extended Practice: Beer Run

'Beer Run' is another very popular advert on Youtube, with over 7 million views. Again, the topic is of drink driving, but after seeing that drink driving is the main cause of accidents everyday, no wonder there are many adverts on the topic.

This animation follows two characters who have been drinking. One decided to drive home even though they are very intoxicated (implied by the wobbly walking and slurred voice). When they get into the car and begin to drive, they speed so much that they run into everyone and everything, knocking stuff over and crashing into buildings. This is a comedy animation, so makes light of drink driving which can be both good and bad. It can be good because though it's funny, it is also memorable and doesn't put you off watching it, but it can also be bad because you forget that it is about such a serious and dangerous topic, so it is treading a fine line.

I think that I have learnt from this animation that I don't want my animations to be THAT funny, if even at all because it might take away from the message of the story. I want people to take my adverts seriously which might be hard to do if I use humour to conceal it. I did like that the animation was done in 2D digital animation as it is appealing to young internet users who are so digital orientated, and I like that it had a story instead of being dry and boring. 

Extended Practice: Road Safety Research

Before planning my animations, I wanted to do some thorough research on my topics and find out as much as possible in order to make the content reliable and truthful.

http://think.direct.gov.uk/

I began by typing in 'road safety' into Google, and the first website to come up was  'Think! Road Safety'. This is the most famous campaign for promoting road safety to pedestrians, drivers and children as I studied in COP3. I checked out several of their campaigns, including drink driving and speeding which I found to be very informative. They told me the consequences of each one, the repercussions in terms of how many points you can get on your license as well as what to do if you are ever in those situations. However there were no helpful videos that were up to date or animation which I would have liked to watch therefore I think there is a gap in the market for my project! 

http://www.rospa.com/road-safety/

I then clicked on the second link which took me to 'The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' which again was very helpful. This company offer courses in road safety so that you are proactive in the topic and can help people who have suffered from road accidents, raising money and awareness. The website is very professional looking, and again, could perhaps do with some animation to make it more interactive and get people listening to the content.

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/road-safety

I then obviously visited the Government website which offered several articles and helpful leaflets on the different dangers on the road and their implications on the public. I trust this website a lot as I used it for my theory test, but I think I am going to combine this as well as my own knowledge to help inform me of my adverts. I feel like I am very aware of the rules of the road as I have been driving for almost two years and have experienced many mishaps and heard many stories from family and friends. I will use them to drive my narratives.

I then did a quick search into Google of what was the most common cause of accidents and found that it was drink driving. I typed 'drink driving' into the news part of Google and was shocked to find that there are over four stories DAILY on accidents caused by drink driving! Therefore this is something I am defintely going to highlight and focus on as people seem to not see the consequences properly! Overall, I feel very informed on my topic of choice especially as I have firsthand experience in road safety. I am looking forward to exploring the ideas through animation and hopefully beginning to contact companies who would like to have more advertising on the subject.

Extended Practice: Statement of Intent

Today I presented my Statement of Intent for Extended Practice which I was really nervous for as I didn't know how people would take my project idea and concept art. Also the presentation had to be ten minutes long which is the longest presentation I have ever done so I wanted it to be interesting and exciting and not bore the class. As always, I wrote what I wanted to say down so that I would be clear and concise. 

I began with my idea generation and how I knew that I wanted to create an advertisement, but what for? I talked about my struggles with finding a topic, but illustrated how Mike gave me several animations to look at (The Tufty Club, Joe & Petunia, Dumb Ways to Die), as well as a thesis by Kerry Drumm which I found extremely useful. The thesis concluded that animation is persuasive and effective in advertising, because it can use humour and emotion to override anything serious or graphic. This way people remember what they see and hear, so it is compelling to watch. From this, I came up with an idea to create a series of 30 second animations on road safety for drivers, not pedestrians as there is already enough content for that area, and also since I have began to drive myself, I have found that there are so many risks people take without knowing the dangers and consequences they cause. I would like to perhaps use my own experiences, or ask several people for theirs and use them to drive the narrative of my animations. I would like to use humour and good visuals to make these dangers stay in peoples minds, as the poster campaigns, I feel, are useless. I want to submit my adverts to festivals if possible.

I then showed my concept art to illustrate the aesthetic I want to go for, which is 2D and uses several angles as I need to experiment with composition more if I want to be a good animator. I then finished with my time management, saying that I would rather use a daily journal than a spreadsheet chart as this is what works for me, and what I find to be motivating. 

I was happy with what I presented and I also got some great feedback. Annabeth and Mike advised me that when I start animating or have made one 30 second animation, to contact a company that is relevant to road safety, or even a charity, as they would be more than likely to want to work with me or show my work if it is good enough. This did not cross my mind at all, but would be truly great if I was able to contact a company like that and work with them. This will become one of my big aims throughout Extended and I will really try to make this happen. Mike also advised me to pin down a topic for each animation, for example, one could be for drink driving, another for texting and driving, etc. This way I can storyboard and script write if I am going to have a narrated voice. He also said to maybe ask motorcyclists as this is another area of danger that many people don't immediately think about.

Overall despite being nervous, I am feeling motivated for this project! I am excited to start it and develop it further as I have received some great feedback and goals. Now I will begin to think of some narratives to pin down and get storyboarding! 

Extended Practice: Animation LARVA

'Animation LARVA' is an animated web series that usually consists of 3 minute videos to educate web users and also children on several topics including manners, health and road safety (to name a few). I had never heard of this series before, but upon seeing the view count of over 2 million views, I had to check it out.

The video is to promote anti-drink driving which is a great message and is the same as one of my own animations. The narrative consists of a bunch of friends who were out drinking and get into a car, not being able to control it properly. The car is about to go off a cliff but the friends jump out and end up safe, but the message is to not drink and drive.

I like that this video is short and fun, and sends out a good message to its audience. I am slightly confused as to why a childrens animation series is covering such a topic, but perhaps it can alert children of the dangers of drink driving so that they a) don't do it themselves, or b) can know if their parent is doing it and stop them.

I am mostly pleased that there is an anti-drink driving animation, as most road safety adverts are graphic or so serious that you don't want to look at them. This animation uses humour to drive its narrative which I like and will remember for a long time. The creators have not used dialogue which is interesting as it forces you to concentrate on what is happening so you can work the message out yourself which is less obvious because it isn't overly graphic. I feel like I can be inspired by the humour of this video, and since it is so popular with that view count, audiences must like it.

Extended Practice: Pinterest Board & Asethetic

Since I have decided on creating a 2D advert, I have decided to do some research on the aesthetic I want to go for. I am thinking of sticking with my graphic design-esque look as I do enjoy making this type of animation and love the colour payoff as well as drawing in Photoshop. Therefore as my last big project, I want to take what I like and push myself even further than ever before. 

But what kind of 2D graphic look do I want? This is what I started to think about, and my first choice to explore was through Pinterest. Pinterest helps me find images that look like each other but are from different medias and artists, so is great for inspiration and idea generation. 

I made a pin board with a similar aesthetic but one that I feel like I want to create work similar to. I LOVE bright colours, and what better way to catch someones eye for an advert than playing around with colour schemes. I usually don't plan my colour palettes out, I just see what fits what, but perhaps I will try this for my animations because I am really enjoying seeing cool colours together with a pop of yellow, or visa versa! 

I really liked the artwork that didn't have any black line work in them, just simple colour blocking for shadowing. I usually keep my 2D animations head on, especially for my COP3 artefacts, but I would like to explore incorporating more depth and angles as a new challenge and to strengthen my skill set as an animator. Composition is an area I forget about even though I say I am going to consider it, so this will be one of my big goals for the module and it will begin in pre-production.

Here are some examples that I want to take inspiration from:

Extended Practice: Brainstorming Topic Ideas

Now that I had a solid idea of creating a 30 second series of three animations on advertising road safety for drivers, I began to brainstorm some topics that I could illustrate and highlight within the adverts! I took into consideration the feedback from my PITCH presentation, where people said that I should highlight texting and driving as one of my main topics. I noted this down and begun thinking of various other topics such as, speeding, drinking and driving, parking in safe places, using your lights effectively, weather conditions and stopping distances, and so forth. 

The four that I really liked and felt like I could actually get a story out of, were texting and driving, drinking and driving, using your lights effectively and an animation about impaired vision when driving. Since I felt like four was too much, I have decided to link impaired vision with drinking and driving since alcohol can have an effect on how you see and react to things.

Then, because I was happy with the topics, I began to jot down potential narratives for each of the three animations. These are very rough outlines and will more refined when I get to the actual storyboarding phase, however these are the beginning treatments so far:

Animation 1) Drinking and driving: The driver is out in the city (highlighting an urban environment and night time conditions) and has been drinking with friends. He says goodbye to them and then proceeds to get into the car. He is very wobbly on his feet and his vision is a bit blurry. The driver drives okay for a while, until he can't see the road signs ahead of him as his vision is impaired. He reaches over to see the sign, moving over into the wrong lane and ends up in a collision with an oncoming car.

Animation 2) Not using lights effectively: A driver leaves his house and waves goodbye to his family (it is evening time at this point). He gets into his car and forgets to put a seatbelt on (another sub topic to highlight). He also does not put his lights on so does not have the full capacity to see what is on the road. He is driving around the town (a more rural environment this time), and decides to turn left at a junction. Because he has no lights on, he does not see the pedestrians crossing the road, and they do not see him. A collision occurs.

Animation 3) Texting and driving: Character gets into the car and is busy texting. Throughout his drive, every time he gets to a traffic light, he checks his phone and replies to the messages. Whilst driving, he is constantly distracted by the phone pinging so his concentration is not at its fullest. He becomes so distracted that he reaches for the phone and misses a red light, therefore ends up colliding into an oncoming car that is going straight. Screen cuts to black.

These are rough ideas, but I think I could animate them, and use interesting angles and compositions to highlight the dangers involved. I am excited to start planning them in more detail.

Extended Practice Research: Joe & Petunia

'Joe and Petunia' is another Public Information Office film series which Mike advised me to look at. They were created in 1968-1973, so are over forty years old! They were four in the series, and like 'Charley Says', they do not focus on one particular topic, but many. Their most famous one is 'Coastguard', the first in the series, where the couple, Joe and Petunia are enjoying their day out but finally see someone who is struggling in the water so call for help. The message is if you see someone in distress in the water, then you must call for help. The animation gives a helpline. 

Apparently the character duo was so popular at first that 'Nicolas Cartoons', creators of 'Joe and Petunia', decided to kill them off in the fourth episode of the series to avoid the pressures of public demand. They wanted people to take the messages seriously, not turn them into a franchise, something very few people turn down in todays day and age! (And is the complete opposite to 'Dumb Ways to Die who have made a huge brand out of their public service broadcasts). The couple die when they don't get their tyres checked, so this is an example of road safety, my own topic! 

It is interesting to see how popular this series was and how the artists didn't want to carry it on. I love the humour in it, which is very typically British, but I can see why so many people liked it. I think myself, I will only do around three animations, and although the look of mine will be extremely different, it will be good to look back on for inspiration and reference.

Extended Practice: Aids 1986

Mike told me to look at another advert from the British Public Broadcast, this one being to highlight Aids in 1986. Though this has nothing to do with animation, Mike said that he remembered watching it and being frightened by it, but that is what made him remember it from all those years ago.

I thought this was unique for an advert because usually to highlight something serious, companies will use adverts to emotionally blackmail you and make you feel terribly guilty so that you will donate money to them or help them in some way. However, with this advert, it is dramatic and theatrical, frightening you to read the leaflet at the end so that you know more. The advert tells you that there is something terrible happening, and there is no cure, but doesn't say what until the end. Even then, it gives no information away, you have to go and find it yourself.

This is so unique for an advert, especially today as everything is given to you immediately and rarely do you have to follow up for more information. I understand why this could be scary and memorable, but in a way that is great advertising. Because it stands out.

I would love to create something as dramatic as this, which is possible as this advert is 40 seconds long, and mine will be around 30 seconds, but it will be down to script writing and storyboarding if I choose to have a dialogue. Either way, I think this is a great example of stand out advertising.

Extended Practice Research: Charley Says

Mike advised me to look at 'Charley Says' which was made to broadcast in the 70's, through to the 80s by the 'Central Office of Information and Broadcast in the UK'. The animations are around 30-60 seconds long and highlight no specific topic, but a series of warnings for example, don't go home with strangers, don't run out into the road, etc. 

The aesthetic of 'Charley Says' is defintely not like those of today, but that is what makes it interesting. When doing my research, several journalists reviewed the animation as 'scary' perhaps because of it's unique and unorthodox appearance. The animation appears to me, to have been drawn onto paper and then cut out and moved around on the page. But even if the animation was supposedly 'scary', at least that is one way to help the messages stick into your memory!

The animation follows Charley and his cat who end up in situations where Charley inevitably gives the audience the right advice. What I liked about this animation was the narrative, because even though the appearance of the video is paper like, it feels real because the voice matches the character, a young boy. It is also nice to have two characters consistently, something I will think about when I come to storyboarding my own series. 

I love that these are a set series, it means that there are no limitations to the topics, but there is consistency in them from the characters. I would like to gear my animations towards road safety for drivers as there is already a lot of advice for pedestrians, and as a new driver, I feel like there needs to be more awareness of these things, so I could so my own series like 'Charley Says'. Overall I really found these animations interesting and will be taking some tips from them especially as this is a very well remembered public service broadcast even today! 

Extended Practice: The Tufty Club

'The Tufty Club' is a children's advertisement series in the 1950's that highlighted simple road safety. The animations followed a squirrel named 'Tufty Fluffytail' and his friends who go about their days around their street where there are several cars passing by. An example of one of the animations would be when Tufty and his friends are playing catch in the front garden, their ball rolls into the road and a car drives over it. This is to highlight to children not to run out into the road for something without an adult or something dangerous could happen.

The animation is stop motion which again, is unique for the topic choice, but is actually very clever. The animators could use real materials to create life like cars and houses so that the children watching could apply what they see into the real world as they look exactly the same.

Despite my road safety animations being for road users, not pedestrians, and of an older audience, I think that the Tufty Club was interesting to watch. I liked the realism aspect of it, and I wish there was more stop motion animation for road safety adverts! I will take the concepts into consideration and apply them to my own planning and storyboarding.