Evalution

My final outcome is a video, which advertises a documentary season that would be broadcast on BB3.  An additional piece is a zoetrope I made, which was supposed to feature in the short film I made, which was not originally planned as a final outcome piece on my project proposal.

I have used my sketch book to experiment and document my progression and ideas. My blog was used to reflect and review my progress and allowed me to highlight areas for improvement, this helped me as I was able to take time out from experimenting and look at my work from a different perspective, and make any changes that would benefit my outcome. I found group reviews helpful as I got a look into what other people thought about my work at each stage, and how they thought I could improve it; sometimes even pointing out things I may not have noticed.

All my targets were met from weeks 1-4 which included gallery visits, researching other artists, initial ideas and development, experimentation and drawing up initial story boards. After this I spent my time experimenting and producing each element for my final piece, which took longer than anticipated, but I was still able to finish the project on time.

One development that really helped me achieve my outcome was my technical skills using Adobe Premier, I used this project as an opportunity to practise and expand my skills. As a result I was not limited to using Photoshop and iMovie for editing animations/video clips.

Over the duration of the FMP I received loads of advice and feedback about my work. At the beginning of the project I had to pitch my project concept to a group, who would then feedback to me. I found that my peers liked my project idea and thought it was an interesting concept to work with, which meant it was something I could pursue without making too many changes. Group reviews in the final weeks of the project really helped my work, as I was beginning to make my final outcome and gave me a chance to use the feedback from others and apply it to my outcome. As well as this I got advice as to how I could make improvements on my blog, by not only stating what I did each day, but also critiquing my work and thinking about what I could change and do better.

Something I will take away from this project is my approach to time management, although I was able to keep to schedule for the first few weeks of the project, I think I underestimated the time it would take to produce each element of my final outcome, and then to piece it together. I personally think my outcome could’ve been a lot stronger if I had factored this in and given my self more time to develop and produce the different elements for the outcome. I think I also need be more specific with the artists and inspirations I look at, I tend to be quite broad and look at many artist/works at the same time, but being more specific and looking at least one artist in depth may help me to consider a wider range of art styles, that could have been considered in my final outcome and improved the visual aesthetic.

I used this project as an opportunity to prepare me for next year, where I should be studying Motion Graphics. Initially I was planning to use Adobe After effects to produce my animation, however as I have only a very basic knowledge of how it works I thought using stop motion as a technique would be a better option, as trying to teach myself to use After effects would have been very time consuming. I did try to improve on my stop motion animation skills, by hand and digitally drawing a walk cycle so I was able to grasp the basics on movement. As much as I enjoy the illustrative/animated side of Motion Graphics, my main focal point for next year and the near future is more based towards creative directing, I wanted my outcome to have a narrative throughout, so I needed a good concept to work with that. I plan to work on my own personal art style and continue developing my technical skills over the next few months, so that when I start Motion Graphics next year I’ll be in better place than I am now, and be able to be able to produce stronger outcomes with a good visual aesthetic and a strong concept and narrative behind it.

Over all I was able to produce the type/style of outcome I intended to initially, however I can’t say I’m completely satisfied with it, as I had to cut out some sections due to time restrictions. This resulted in a narrative and visual that looks rushed and doesn’t show my true intentions, but I will take these experiences away with me and factor them in with my next project to ensure I produce the highest quality outcome possible.

Finished result

Week 7: Ending

I used the BBC3 logo for a split second on screen, just so the audience recognise what channel the advert/season was being broadcast on.

I then decided to continue my own theme and give the rest of the information in my own format- using the font commodore 64. I continued the black, white and pink theme BBC3 uses, so the audience would still associate the information given with BBC3.

Week 7: Editing and Finalising

To continue the theme of silent movies and Black & White films I made my own short clip, trying to replicate the effects an old camera would have on the film. Above is the original video, the intention was the at the end of each scene the person/character would interact with an object, which would then trigger the next scene. In this scene the character picks up a VHS camera, which then triggers a colour scene, also implying the change/evolution into a new era.

To create the desired effect I started by simply applying and black and white filter to the video, next I played with the brightness and contrast as typically in early Black and white movies did not have a high contrast, but more of a faint/faded look. To play on the faded look even more I adjusted the tints on the video, using a dark brown instead of black and a light grey instead of white, this enhances the old features and gives it a more authentic aesthetic. Lastly I added a spotlight effect, this lightened a specific area and lowered the contrast in that area.

 Final result- including sound

I was happy with the overall visual result, however to improve this and make it more realistic I would need to decrease the frame rate which would make the film appear to move faster. Older films usually had lower fps as, due to the technology restrictions they had at the time.

Using the same background from the previous scene I tried applying the animation to the live scene, I didn't really like the result as the character blended into the back ground too much, and there is still the problem with the way the sprite walks.

Week 7: Archive footage & Editing

I wanted my advert to have a direct relation to some of the era's I was trying to represent, I thought the best way to do this would be to use some archive footage from recognised silent movies. This would be one of the first visuals the audience would see, so they would get an idea of the time this video is based around initially.

I don't plan on showing each clip for more than 3-4 seconds, as I want to be able to show a variety of clips. Something a long the lines of static/white noise will be used to break each clip, to then move on to the next; the use of static also gives a glimpse into the future and will be a reoccurring theme throughout the advert, as it's something I can relate to TV, media and technology.

Here are the clips/films I will be using: 

Charlie Chaplin- The Kid (1921)

Charlie Chaplin is widely recognised and known for his silent movies, therefore using this in my advert would definitely help establish the scene/era I'm trying to portray. 

               Alice’s wonderland’ (1923)- Walt Disney’s laugh-o-grams

One of the main reasons I picked this film was because of the combination of live action and animation, this was one of the earliest examples of this technique and is still effective to this day. 

Buster Keaton- Back stage (1919)

 

Frankenstein (1910) 

Week 7: Animating levels

Following the start screen I created, I made a simple animated level that my sprite would run through. I continued the main theme of black and yellow, but added an additional red to use for other features such as the hearts(lives) and floor- which was to represent a danger zone where the sprite was was not supposed to step.   

My advertisement is supposed to show the evolution of technology and media, I chose to loosely follow the chronological order of technical events, by starting of with black and white/silent movies and progressing onto colour film and then to games, tv and the modern era. I wanted to show glimpses of each era, or the upcoming era in each scene, just to keep the theme of evolution and technology going. I used a VHS camera app, as I did not have access to an actual VHS camcorder to get the background image, and used lego as a platform for my sprite to move across in order to give a sense of reality and a cross between the different media platforms. 

Using the previous scene, I drew over it creating similar platform so the sprite would follow the same path across the scene. This would let me flicker between the two scenes without any disruption to the sprite, so it would look as if only the background changed. 

Week 7: Game themes, Start screens and Character selection

 Today I focused on creating animated Title screens for my game sequence, which will be featured as part of my final advert.

(Needs to be played on a loop)

I kept the start screen very basic as this is typically what you would see when arcade/retro games came out.

I used yellow and black as they contrast well against each other, the black background brings more focus to the title.

I drew around the the shape of the sprite in it's running position and used the outline to make the yellow running man on each side of the screen, to be used as a discrete reference to the rest of the game/video and so that the start screen didn't look to empty, but also didn't have too much detail.

It took only two frames to make the "Press the start button" flicker on and off, as it was as simple as switching a layer off in the second frame (looped on forever so that it doesn't just blink once like in the video above).

To make this look even more retro I plan to add scan lines, like the ones that would appear on a CRT tv screen and also give the text and shapes an outer glow filter to give a smeary CRT look.

I also animated the character selection screen to make it look as if it was from a first person point of view, and that they were controlling it.

A yellow highlight, similar to the outline of the running sprite is used to highlight what the player is hovering over, and allows the audience to follow what is going on in the scene, this also plays on the first person point of view.

One thing I wasn't sure about was the sprites when they were placed with the black and yellow background. I wanted to continue the black and yellow theme, however if I did this the sprites would blend into the background and I was trying to stick to the NES 64-bit colour palette, in order to maintain the retro aesthetic.

After trying out a number of colour combinations this one was the best one I came up with, and matched the background closest.

If I had more time I would re-design the sprites completely and give them a less basic look and something more along the lines of futuristic/space themed, as I feel they lack detail and don't compliment the surroundings.