Evaluation 2D

2D Animation Evaluation

To start this assignment we practised several different animation styles such as 3D clay animation, 2D drawn animation and 2D cut out animation. For clay animation as a group we all made our own version of 'Morph', I enjoyed doing this as i modelled clay a lot as a child. Once we were happy with our Morph we then used iStopMotion to create a little scene. The next animation lesson we had was a cut out animation lesson, we were put in pairs to make a scene of our choice me and Beth decided to do something simple like a UFO landing on the moon.  We also did quick drawn animations, which were good but very time consuming. I didn't enjoy 2D as much as I did 3D, I found 2D was more fiddly and a little bit of wind would mess it up. Doing these little workshop lesson which taught us how to use the iStopMotion software and how to model helped, it helped decide which type of 3D and 2D animation we were best at and which we more confident doing. I picked to do clay animation for 3D and cut out animation for 2D.

For my 2D animation I decided to make a level from 'Angry Birds' the game. In the animation i knew i wanted it to seem real, i wanted it too look just like the game except i was going to add hands in so it looked like someone was playing it on the iPad or iPhone.

To achieve the realistic look i searched 'Angry Birds' on Google and took a picture from there, opened it up in 'illustrator' and used the pen tool to copy the shapes, i wanted rid of the scores so using illustrator and copying the shapes meant i could do that. Once i started i figured i wasn't very good at using the pen tool so i decided to just use the original picture. My animation would of been better if i could of re-created it myself using illustrator but i was running out of time.
I also had to print out little images of the angry birds the catapult and the bricks so they could be moved.

When it came to using iStopMotion to capture the frames i set it into 12 frames per second. I used blue tack to keep the backround in place, i als used it to keep the birds and bricks in place until i moved them so nothing blew away. I had to watch someone playing a game of Angry Birds on YouTube so i knew how it worked, i even had a go of the game myself.

This animation flowed alot better than my 3D i took more time with the animating aswell as creating it. When i was happy with the animation i added the Angry Birds sound track and sound effects to it and it looked really good.

I know this animation could of been better with more time and effort which is something i will work on. I didnt give myself enough time for this assignment and that set me back and i know my animations could of been more creative and so much better,

Evaluation 3D

3D Animation Evaluation

To start this assignment we practised several different animation styles such as 3D clay animation, 2D drawn animation and 2D cut out animation. For clay animation as a group we all made our own version of 'Morph', I enjoyed doing this as i modelled clay a lot as a child. Once we were happy with our Morph we then used iStopMotion to create a little scene. The next animation lesson we had was a cut out animation lesson, we were put in pairs to make a scene of our choice me and Beth decided to do something simple like a UFO landing on the moon. I didn't enjoy 2D as much as I did 3D, I found 2D was more fiddly and a little bit of wind would mess it up. Doing these little workshop lesson which taught us how to use the iStopMotio software and how to model helped, it helped decide which type of 3D and 2D animation we were best at and which we more confident doing. I picked to do clay animation for 3D and cut out animation for 2D.

As I did animation in my first year for Level 2 I knew there were certain things I needed to do to improve it this time. When I first did animation I made the clay model too small so when I was moving it was harder plus because it was small and didn't have a skeleton it broke very easily due to it getting warm. To prevent things like this happening I had to make the model a lot bigger so that when I needed to move limbs it was easier, I would also have to make a skeleton for the body as the model would be big. The skeleton would also help the movement of the limbs and keep it stood up right.

My initial idea for clay animation was to re-create a level from 'Super Mario', this would of been a simple idea with a cardboard background, clay Mario and a few clay mushrooms. The hardest part would of been to model Mario although I do think i can mode pretty well. I was panning on doing this idea but somebody mentioned 'Harry Potter' to me and i knew then that's what i wanted to do being a big Harry Potter fan.

I didn't know what bit of Harry Potter i wanted to do, a lot of people suggested parody's but i knew i wanted it to be serious in a sense. I began by modelling Harry Potter, i started with the skeleton, i used aluminium wire for the spine legs and arms then copper wire wrapped around them to keep them together and to make it stronger. Before adding clay i made sure the limbs moved freely and it worked. I was happy with the skeleton so i could start adding clay, i knew i wanted Harry Potter to be recognisable so i decided to stick with his Hogwarts uniform. 

Firstly i added the peachy coloured clay all over for the skin. I then added white for the t-shirt and black for the pants, it was starting to look really good already. Once i added the shirt i realised i was adding a jumper so really i didn't need the white. For the jumper i added grey. Once the clothes were done i started on the head, i thought it would of been tricky but it wasn't as bad as i imagined. My model was amazing and i was really proud of my modelling skills i received good feedback from students and teachers for my model. After making Harry Potter i moved on to make Voldermort which wasn't too difficult, i just modelled from the bottom up using black, Voldermort was good, but not as good as the Harry Potter model.

When it had finally come to the animating part, i didn't have much time left because i was taking too much time on the models. I used iStopMotion to capture the animation. I had to move the models the slightest bt and take a picture and in the end it would flow nice. I had re-done the animation twice, i wasn't taking my time with the movements as i was moving the limbs too much. I had to be happy with the last version because i had ran out of time. 

The final animation wasn't great, i would change a lot. The models were fine and i was happy with them but i should of took less time on them and took more time on the animating. If i had more time i would of made the movement of the models much smaller.

Pre - Production 2D Animation

Childrens encyclopaedia

Pre-Production

My final idea is to remake the final battle between Harry Potter and Voldermort. I have noticed that at some points it may be difficult for me to re-create so i will change some parts to my own. This is what i am going to re-create--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9kP6XYW7gA

 This is my idea for my set. Its going to be fairly big as my models are big. For the background i have decided to use green screen and then edit that when it comes it and put it in a dark and cloudy night sky when in production to prevent any green appearing i will have to make sure the lighting is in the correct place. For the arches i will be cutting them out of card, layering them and add grooves in to create a 3D effect. When I'm happy with the arches i will add in rocks made out of cardboard and clay.

Harry Potter and voldermort

For my final product i chose to use clay animation as its very effective and its what i enjoy doing the most, i find its my strongest technique.
I have decided to do a Harry Potter scene that will involve Harry Potter himself and Voldermort.
                                                               Harry Potter model
          

 To make my model strong and movable i used 2 separate bits of  aluminium wire for the spine and legs and added a much more flexible wire to hold them strong together, this also meant that when adding clay it was much easier to get an idea of the shape and form of his body.












When i was happy with the shape of the body i added a skin colour clay for the body for first layer.

 I carried on adding clay to the body, i had to think about how thick i was going to make it as i need to add a t-shirt, tie, jumper and cloak to it. I noticed i needed to add more clay to the legs as he looked out of proportion.

 I didn't use wire for the fingers as i found it was sticking through the clay and i couldn't make the hands to big to prevent this because they would look bigger than the rest of the body. I used a sculpting tool to shape the fingers and hand.

This is the body completed






















After i completed the body i added a t-shirt tie and grey jumper to make it more realistic as i want it to be as effective as possible

I then added a black cloak and made it baggy at the arms i had to make this thick because i thought whilst making my aniimation it may brake

















Finished cloak

 This was my very nearly finished Harry Potter, i was very, very happy with the outcome but i figured that with the cloak where it droops down around the hands i found that it will break and it was preventing from the arms moving as easy so as the time was running out i had to quickly find an easy solution.

 I am now more happier with my Harry Potter than before as i was able to smooth him out and add more detail with out the cloak. Harry now moves a lot easier and is now pose-able. 














                                                                                          Voldermort



This is the start to my Voldermort model, he is basically made of black clay and no wire as his body will not be moving as much. For the draping cloak i just cut out a separate piece of clay and added groves to make it look like its floating in the wind. I have also added grey clay for shadow effect. I will be using wire for the arms and neck. 
                                                                                       







This is my finished Voldermort. I didnt add any wire to volderort as i was runnning out of time

















Here is Voldermort and Harry Potter on there slightly unfinished set, i used card for the base and arches and added extra pieces to make it look almost 3D then simply painted it. I then added real stones for rubble.

Final Product

 

Finally, my final outcome. I imagined my final product to be alot better than this, i knew it was going to be hard but i put my head down and tried my best, if i was to remake this i would have added mouths and maybe eyelids to show more emotion. I feel many people might not understand what the story line is but i simply re-created the final battle between Voldermort and Harry in an animation form. One thing i am very pleased with is my models and i wouldnt change anything about them.

 

Practice Clay animation

My clay animation consists of Morph playing football, yet again its simple and easy to do as it is a practice before we complete our final product.
Firstly I made my Morph by manipulating the clay enough so its easy to shape and structure, i decided making him out of one ball of plasticine would make it easier so no ligaments fell off throughout the production. I used iStopMotion for capturing the movements and Final Cut Express for adding the sound. Im happy with my final outcome.
To make my product flow easy and make it look almost real i had to move my character with the tiniest movements.
The idea came from the original 'Morph' which was produced for the BBC  by Aardman Animations which is very famous for 'Wallace and Grommit' Morph also starred in 'SmartArt'.