Week 7 Part 2

Some possible final touches for the animation could include the rough distortion of the frames as if the 'camera' is not working properly. Distorted images such as the ones shown below could be overlaid the final animation, briefly flickering to heighten the sense of unease that heightened throughout the animation. This and other techniques are intended to make the animation slightly more abrasive and rough around the edges.

Week 7 Part 1

These are some more precedents for my animation. They are taken from 'The Animatrix' series of short films and illustrate the highly stylised, moody feel I am trying to achieve with my animation. This is typified by painted backgrounds with slightly more 'cartoonish' characters in the foreground as well as very deep and contrasting shadows.

Week 6 Part 2

Other areas of criticism centred around the composition of shots in the story board and animatic. Possibly the biggest change required in the submission will be the application of the various cinematic techniques shown to us in the lectures (such as use of the golden ratio and framing the focal point of the shots with deep shadows). This will require an alteration of the 3ds Max model from which the backgrounds will be taken. Also, more reaction shots of Nihl are required to better communicate when the viewer is seeing Nihl's POV or a simple shot of the environment.

Week 6 Part 1

Progress submission on Tuesday. Undoubtedly the most difficult section of the submission were the test animations. Seraphi's required use of bones to manage the animation of so many different pieces as shown below. All the pieces were individually painted in photoshop. Managing the layers and armatures proved difficult at first but once they were established the smooth 'float cycle' achieved the desire effect for Seraphi.

Nihl had to be completely hand drawn for every frame. The final product; however, lacked emotion, failing to convey they fear mixed with curiosity that Nihl will exhibit throughout the animation. More experimentation needs to be done in animating a realistic scuttle. After the presentation, the design of Nihl was criticised as not evoking the sympathy intended for the characters. Although the criticism is valid, I believe the correct feel of the character can be achieved through the correct animation and does not require a re-design of the character.