Evaluation

The research I did helped me to decide which channel of animation I would use, as I knew what had worked well previously and which I think was more of a success. Also helpful in deciding this were my drafts, as I'd had experience using different types of animation and from this I knew where my strengths were and which I had difficulty with. Originally I had planned for my final piece to be similar to the 'Olympus Pen' advertisement, but subsequently due to changes that I'll explain later, it didn't turn out as planned. I instead feel my animation can be compared to most other stop motion animations. As I didn't want my animation to be the same as everyone else's, and I didn't want it to be generic and mundane, I added several different types of animation. This includes 'drawn' animation, which can be seen at the beginning and end of the animation, and my computerized animation, seen on the 'clock' scene. When it came to these animations there was a fair amount of editing involved. For the drawn animation I used a whiteboard, and then desaturated them to make them smoother. I also inverted the ending as the scene before that is of a light switch being turned off so it's as though the writing is appearing on the darkness. Also when it came to creating my clock scene, I used quite a basic process. I drew a basic clock shape using Photoshop then animated it using the same program, simply using the same program. Then after this all I had to do was make it the same aspect ratio as the rest of my animation, and import it.

When I'd completely finished all my initial photographing for my project, the amount of photographs I'd taken was around two thousand. I think this was quite excessive for a video that wasn't intended to be particularly lengthy. After this I went through them and deleted the images that were either out of focus, a double, unnecessary, or too dark to be edited. This depleted the amount considerably. I don't understand why some of the photographs were blurred or wonky, as I used a tripod for all the shots. However this wasn't a main issue as the majority of the photographs were focused and straight.
Many of the photographs were too dark simply because of the surrounding light sources not being strong enough. To remedy this I had to alter my camera settings, such as the aperture and shutter speed, quite often which caused flashing and colour change throughout the animation which couldn't be helped. A lot of this could be fixed via the 'colour correction' tool on Final Cut Pro.

When it came to editing my animation I used Final Cut Pro, and had a lot of work to do. This included editing the images' colour, brightness and contrast balance to make them all even. I did this by using the 'Colour Corrector' and 'Brightness and Contrast' and 'Desaturation' tools. Another key tool was the ability to slow down certain shots, which was more convenient that changing the speed of the entire animation. I had tried to edit each individual 'problem' shot, but found that many of the photographs were beyond help as they were either too dark or too low contrast etc. From this I had to delete many photographs that I wasn't planning too, but I found that even though I hadn't intended to delete the amount of photographs I did, the animation still came out smoothly and fluid. After this particular editing process, I was left with around one thousand five hundred photographs.

Another main editing process I was due to do was a way to show what each idiom was. Originally I was just going to have the photographs explain it but I felt some of the meanings might be lost, so I decided to put some form of text over the top of the images to better explain it and for it to be less ambiguous. Originally I planned to have the title of each idiom stated in any blank space, such as the wall, or a table surface. I was keen on this idea but felt that some of the shots didn't have enough empty area, or that the text wouldn't be noticeable enough. So I then decided to have a running 'bulletin' text roll from the side of the screen in a constant black strip. This made me able to write the title of each idiom and have the story explained better. I think this effect worked particularly well as it gave my film more structure and none of my ideas are lost.

Something I'd thought about a lot was how I was going to transition between each shot. The majority of them were planned and were made to flow well with the rest of the story. The first one, transitioning from the wall of the bedroom to the ceiling of the dining room, was one I was particularly proud of. It's very smooth and transitions perfectly in my opinion and it worked exactly to plan. The next few transitions are 'cross dissolve' transitions where the shots fade down and up from blackness.

The next planned transition was where the girl walks from the kitchen and sits down to eat her cake. For this I made the camera follow her feet to get from one location to the next. Again I thought this worked well, as I didn't want all my animation to have the same transitions as that would be really boring and repetitive. The last main transition I had planned, was when the girl turns into a cake and puts her hand up to cover the lens. What I had intended was for the girl to take her hand away again in the next shot which I thought would be clever and would work well. However, for some reason I did not storyboard this shot and so forgot to include it in my filming. I was quite annoyed at myself for doing this at the time, but looking back I can see that it actually works better as the next shot is of the girl laying in bed, ill. So I think starting the shot with her motionless as opposed to her reaching for the camera works better.

After all the basic editing, my animation was around two and a half minutes long. I had estimated that my animation would be around three to four minutes in length and that it would require around two and a half thousand images, so I was fairly off on both accounts. As there were so many images and files to keep track of, I had to render my film often to prevent any of my work being lost.

I didn't face too many problems when creating my animation. The one that I was most concerned about was the lack of my last transition, but this worked well anyway. Another issue that's already been mentioned was the lighting in some cases. This was partially because of continuity issues, as I filmed the animation over two days and so the sun was in different places and it was a different time of day etc. This affected the lighting quite badly and resulted in me having to do a lot more editing than I had originally intended to remedy it. Another problem I had with continuity was that the actor I used changed clothes on the second day, and it didn't occur to me to check that it was the same so at the time it went unnoticed. She also has her hair tied up on certain shots, but I feel again I was lucky with these mistakes as neither are major. With the outfit change, it was only the top that was different and apart from the fact the sleeves were different lengths, the tops were nearly identical as they were both black with no embellishments. Also regarding the hair, she only has her hair tied up when she's doing the cooking, which could've been intentional and wouldn't be noticed by the audience as a negative thing.

The main genuine problem I encountered was of the last idiom I had planned- 'Sick as a Dog'. For this I had intended for the sick girl to be laying down with a thermometer, and then for the camera to move on to the dog lying next to her. However, I didn't think this through very well as when I went to create this shot, and tried to make my dog lay next to her, he was too distracted by the cake on the girls face to lay down. This was very predictable and I should have foreseen it. However, as this really wasn't possible I had to just cut out this idiom entirely and just have the girl be ill. This didn't flow with the story as well as I'd hoped, but it was the best I could do improvising.

The last problem I encountered was at the beginning and middle of my animation. This is because of the actor I used, which was out of necessity and convenience more than anything. During the idiom 'Everything But the Kitchen Sink' she didn't have enough facial emotion, and because of this I don't think the idioms meaning is portrayed well at all. What she was instructed to do was to look through her bags contents, look around for something, spot the sink, and then shrug as she couldn't fit it into her bag. However she only did half of these, and I didn't have enough time to re do this scene. Another problem was that after the girl put the cakes into the oven, I asked her to cross her fingers in front of the camera but again it went wrong as she was unable to keep her hands in the same place and she didn't really do what I'd asked. However after editing it I think it's been altered enough to be unnoticed, and the sink idiom isn't too bad as the text explains what it is anyway.


As far as planning the animation was concerned, I was pleased that I did a storyboard as it made it easier to remember what I was doing and to stick to the plot rather than improvise. I don't think my piece would have been so successful if I hadn't had one as the little details would have been forgotten and lost. However I think I should have had a more detailed storyboard or included an in depth shot list. I only think this as one or two details were forgotten that I think my animation would have benefited form. Apart from this my animation follows my plan. The main change which I decided upon after a couple of drafts, was that I decided against developing the photographs then re taking the images. I was going to do this just for a portion of it, which was when the clock is pictures portraying the time progression, but as I didn't have a clock at home when I filmed the animation I decided to create it using Photoshop instead. As there were so many photographs I just felt it would be unrealistic to get them all developed and that it worked better this way. It would also extend the amount of animation processes used.

For the sound element of my animation, I decided against having diegetic sounds which relate to what's happening on screen, as I don't think it would have flown well. Instead I decided to include an audio track which I have discussed in a previous post. As this is for a college course, the music does not specifically have to be royalty free so I have a wide range of choice. I am pleased with my choice of song as I felt it was childish and upbeat enough to stick to the theme of the animation and not be too out of place, as opposed to the other songs I considered. The only issue I faced with this was that the song was shorter than the animation, which is why I don't include sound on either of the whiteboard animations. I also had to extend the end by copying a portion of the song and attaching it to the end. I think the transition between these cuts is quite smooth and I'm pleased with the outcome.

My favourite parts of the animation are also the pieces that were the most successful. I liked the opening shot, of the girl getting out of bed, as the lighting is very even throughout and the colour has just the right amount of saturation. One thing I did change about this particular idiom was that originally I planned to edit a sun rising behind the curtains, but I instead improvised by making the blinds rise with the girls movement. I intended to add a sun at a later date but I don't think I have enough time or expertise. Another piece I like was the girl turning into a cake. Again I think the whole tone of the shot is very even and the lighting doesn't change a lot throughout it, and I think it has just the right balance of comedic value yet still keeping in line with the rest of the animation.
One thing I would change if I could and had enough time, would be the opening whiteboard sequence, as this is very basic and I think that adding more detail and putting a bit more time and effort into it would have paid off. However I think the end whiteboard scene is fine because it serves its purpose and doesn't need any more embellishment in my opinion.

As a whole I think the whole animation went to plan and I am very pleased with the outcome.