Evaluation On The Sturdy Wooden Box

In the begining when a animation was requied for the second semester I wasn't looking forward to using After Effects, i have always found trouble trying to create the most simplest of tasks and then somehow ruining what i have created and not achiving my goal. The planning weeks where as follows, i wanted to try something different and try to avoid using After Effects then the idea came to me- Stop Start animation, that was something that i wanted to try out for myself i haven't done anything like this before and with every frame that i need i would just need to take a picture of the object in question and move it every so often, one week i was busy researching for inspiration and i came across three videos on Viemo Click Here To View Post , The first video that i found interesting was a short animation with a tree running away from a tree cutter which he looked like he appeared from out of a horror film, which i found amusing and so did the rest of the group. So this idea and the other two that are presented within the post are all closely linked up within my production- I wanted a storybook looking animation but i didn't want it to look too much like the "Swing" example that i have posted but this is where the last video within the post came in, Cellegratonia brings out the choppy jerky side of the animation and if i added this then i wouldn't need to stress too much on getting everything straight and smooth I was pleased that i picked these three ideas and translate them into my production. The next few weeks after talking about what our ideas where going to be i disided to invest in a sketch/notepad and a few colouring pencils once done i posted my work and ideas in progress up on this blog Semester B- Drawings, i.e storyboards , Finished Storyboards..What's Next?  Begining to be quite pleased with what i have created it was soon time to start putting these ideas onto more paper and turn them into props for the final production, the prop making did take me a week or two to draw, colour and cut out but at this time it was almost coming to the end of term and somehow i thought the due in date was due on the last lesson before Easter so the Monday and Tuesday before that date i was working extremely hard to finish and photogragh the production before the morning approched and during the lesson on that day i was busy editing my animation and before i continue these are the finished drawings and props that i was using. Work In Progress Part2- Almost Done , Semester B Work In Progress within the middle of the lesson and to my relief the files where not due on this date, so with time to think and breathe i could check and see if i felt that my work was worth handing in on the due date Semester B 13/03/2013 Workshop . Now we come today and this post, i wasn't too sure what was the right format to put the animation on luckly i found a online converter http://www.online-convert.com/ i changed my orginal .wmv file to a .mov file and if i didn't do this the file would of been unreadable and wouldn't be used in the main production.

If i could do this project again what differences would i create? If i had slightly more time and not panicked about the due in date i would of taken a bit more time at taking pictures and tried to fix something with the lighting so everything didn't look so dull or dark also with the time i could of painted the backdrops instead of colouring them in with pencil i think that would of looked better from the camera's eye and made it more easy to see. 

Semester B 13/03/2013 Workshop

As i am writing this i have uploaded two versions of my stop start animation, but what i have to present to you all is all the images i have taken to achieve what i have done and what i am doing. I have taken around about 123 images for my part of the production if you follow this link you will be able to see them. Animation Images

These are two versions of my animation, This it the file that contains the audio, i still have both rough copies that i can edit and fix if i need to, but for presentation purposes here they are.

Final Project w- audio from Rachel Sweet on Vimeo.

Final Project-without Audio from Rachel Sweet on Vimeo.

Semester B Work In Progress

Finally completed the props, I am about to make a start on shooting the scenes. Here are the finished props cut out and scanned in (scanned in for the blog)

Work In Progress Part2- Almost Done

Almost done as in drawing and colouring the sets of course, i think i did quite a fair bit during last week's workshop, not much to say on what i want to do in this post since i have already covered it in last week's post, but after a afternoon of trying to fix my printer scanner here is my work.

I may make another backdrop or two, we'll see what'll happen during the workshop

Work Update-Props & Backdrop

These are the props and backdrop i have been working on within the past week, for reasons i don't understand my backdrop came out pretty bright when i scanned it in so i when into a photo editing application to darken it, when the time comes to photograph i might need to print off the darkened one if the camera picks up a bit too bright.

Here are the first four props i have been working on, the accordion which i plan on making it look like as if i was playing, prop #2 is a sign that shows that the accordion is very cheap (i am trying to make a humorous theme to my segment) and props #3 & #4 work together. I'll cut out all the props when i have everything ready, maybe i might need to make another backdrop for another scene. We'll see!

and this is one of the backdrops, i plan on making a office/indoors backdrop, just to even things up. Only because you don't often get offices out in the open in the middle of a field.

Finished Storyboards..What's Next?

Here are the completed drawings to my storyboard, some have been revisited and some are ideas to bounce off on the final project, for Wednesday 20th i plan on making a start on a set since i want to try out stop-start animation, they should be small sets since i am taking a few shots from my camera and recording eat move.

With Sketch 9, i plan on making the leg kick
For Sketch 2, i changed my mind and used a safe instead of a tone of money, it just looked better and it was more easy to draw.

Semester B- Drawings, i.e storyboards

First the rough ideas, i wanted to try and get the main images in my section

A few notes to explain what's happening in each section

Now i went back to the drawings and made them slightly more presentable

Semester B Project Style Ideas

Just researching and taking a look at other people's work and trying to get a good idea on what i could do for my side of the project. First i am taking a look at the animations on Vimeo and seeing what they have to offer, first i am taking a look at the 2D section of animation first i took a look at a animation called 5 second Project - Made of Paper it was exactly 5 Seconds and i thought it looked pretty cool, and me personally i am not the worlds greatest artist when it comes to drawing i thought something like this would work nicely but it all depends on when i hear the audio.

5 second Project - Made of Paper from Rickard Bengtsson on Vimeo.

and something else on relation to this i also found a nice animation called Swing it's about a little girl who goes on a adventure on a swing, it is quite different to the 5 Second Project, i feel that this animation has more of a storybook feel to it.

Swing from Aya Zakaria on Vimeo.

Cellegratonia is another animation i found yet it is extremely different to the two previous projects i have posted, i have always wanted to start a stop-start animation, it may take time but it would be really cool to start something like this, i have no idea if i would need to build anything exactly but drawing, yes. I can pull something like this off.

Cellegratonia from NEWWORDS on Vimeo.

That's just three style ideas that i would like to try out for this project.

Update On Project-Digital Media

From since i have last posted there has been change to my image, i am slightly puzzled on what to add..there is only so much you can do with a short space of time. At first i wanted to add a bit more of the castle behind but after a few adding and removing having a bit of the castle through the windows felt a bit more better but also i wanted to add a forest in the background, in the day there wouldn't be or not as many houses or other buildings as there are today, also i had a go at smudging the trees it did take a while to do but i do think it looks pretty nice, again i added more greenery around the trent and fenced off the rest of the field and added a bit of cobblestone since from another recreated image i saw that was the area where the cannons and other weapons and machinery was left to defend. This is my image in question.

I did try to make the castle look a bit more brighter and i tried to clean it up a bit and it was a struggle, also i made the top smooth/flat or somewhat flat because during the time it was flat but the battles did cause it to crumble up. I honestly don't know what else i could possible add. Here is the original image i took.

The Growth of my Digital Media Idea

As you may of noticed from a post or two ago that i wanted to work on Lincoln Castle, i wanted to create a series of photographs and record sounds around the area of the castle, as a example i created my idea around Newark Castle. On the day that we talked about how out ideas developed i was told that Newark would be more interesting to do a project on, that confused me at first because i never heard anyone telling me that Newark is interesting but however i understood the point, Many students do work on projects around Lincoln and also i liked the idea of being different. That week i went and visited the castle again to take another selection of photographs, different shots and angles. The idea of recreating the castle to what i think it looked like 900 years ago before William the conqueror destroyed it. I am in between that fine line of struggling what to add and knowing what to do. What i am planning on doing next is trying to make the castle bricks slightly more lighter, just to say and imagine that it's a new castle, also i would like to try and add parts of the castle in the windows, for example i want to look through the windows and see the other side. Also i plan on adding a gate along side the Trent and on the field that i was standing on, i am sure back in the day they would need a bit of extra space to add a few weapons. This is what i have came up within the workshop, notice that the top, trees, small bridge and colour of the wall has changed

Due to the white sky it's already a blank canvas, i could remove the little sign and the steps that lead into the river and maybe add a few trees behind the castle, i am sure back in the day there was a lot more greenery than there is now.

Due to my Grandad passing away on Wednesday afternoon, it may take a day or two for me to continue with this project, but i will try and get everything up to speed before and on the day of the 29th. That's if the funeral isn't planned on the day. 

Thoughts on the short film "The Lift"

At first I didn't really know what to think about it, I didn't know how someone could make a Documentary about a lift somewhat interesting but I did get on the wrong end of the stick with this. It's apparently it's about people taking the lift and noting down how many times they use that lift everyday, some people use it once others use it more than three times a day and something along those lines. I really have to hand it to the production team who pulled this off, this is something I couldn't do, I personally don't like taking the lift it's small, cramped and can break down at any minute I just don't like them at all. But what I found interesting was what the people had to say, some was sad, some was funny and others where strange though what i found amusing in the documentary was the lady and the drunk man in the lift he left and she turned to the camera and pull quite a funny face as she was about to say "That man was weird!" Quite a interesting documentary, something I wasn't really expecting!

My Idea For Digital Media

What I would like to do for the Digital Media project is take a series of photographs of historical architecture and also record a bit of audio of the surrounding area of the historical building, I have created a example of what I would like to do but for the main project I think searching around Lincoln would be a lot more better than adventuring around Newark just for the basic fact that Lincoln has a lot more to offer in historical value and the castle still looks like a..castle. So to demonstrate my point  here is a quick example of what I would like to do for the project.

What triggered this idea was from the last project where we all went to the Arboretum, I liked what I did but i really want to step up another level

A Low-down On What's Happening with my Projects

I just wanted to write a short paragraph on what's happening with my projects right now, for my Radio Documentary on the Marshall Tractors I am still currently trying to get people to interview, I have already sent an email to a new contact at the Gainsborough Museum, I sent an email yesterday, I am still waiting. As for the volunteers at the Lincolnshire Life Museum I have just contacted him (again I just got a email today about who I can talk to, the man is named Derek and he says he is more than happy to have a chat with me, I am just waiting to see what time and day fits him best, i am hoping to meet him next Monday during the 4 hour break. Now as for the Digital Media project, I still want to work around history and culture so I kinda want to work around Newark Castle and take photographs of the Castle grounds and record some audio along with. How I am seeing this is that I want a series of photos to show and audio with the photos, so a two in one. Newark Castle isn't much of a Castle any more but it does look interesting. I plan on doing this Wednesday afternoon of this week. 

Videos and Photos from my solo trip to Lincolnshire Life

The main tractor i shall be working on Marshall 1983

Marshall Tractor 1950

Some other tractors in the museum which i found interesting

Also this video was playing, i would of recorded more but there was a group of school children creating loads of noise

Day 6 & 7 Of Cress

Apologies for not updating yesterday, but here is yesterday's update and today's update on the cress, Yesterday the cress was a darker shade of green and almost looks fully grown! Again sorry about there being no speech in the first vlog video.

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Day 7- There wasn't much change and i think the cress has just finished growing and is now ready to be picked, but the colour in the cress is a lot more glossy and healthy, or should i say more of a pure green in the leaves. The vlog video has a bit of speech, sadly it's a bit faded, still there wasn't much to say about it apart from that the cress is ready to be picked.

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and that's that, now that i have finished the life of cress i need to figure out what i want to do with the footage, yes i did say i would like to make a time lap video, but i am wondering how i am going to do it, i don't have the most greatest editing software, but if it looks good, it'll be great!

Day 5 Of Cress

I feel that we're almost coming to an end of the growth of the cress, today there was a huge amount of greenery and only in time the cress will be ready to eat, again i am guessing till Tuesday it will be ready, so here are today's photos and video, today's video has me speaking again. Also sorry that the pictures seem a bit dark, we where getting a spot or rain down here.

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Day 4 Of Cress

And this evening we have the first sign of pure greenery! Sorry about the late post and the speechless video i had some family matters to attend to this afternoon, So as you can see more progress has been made, maybe by Monday or Tuesday the cress will be fully grown.

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Day 3 Of Cress

Went to check on the cress again today  but at a later time (I slept in) There was some extreme progress with the cress this afternoon, small green shoots have appeared! Again with the collected videos and photos I plan on making a final video of the cress growing all at once, like a time lapped video but a little different. So here is the updates in photos and a short video, Sorry if my voice in the video a bit quiet I was half asleep.

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