As school picked up, I realized I would not be able to put in as much time into animation. With rowing practice and college applications this made working on the project almost impossible during the week. I have managed to complete about 10 scenes of finalized line art, but I still have much more to go before I begin coloring. I did an angle drawing of the boat so that it remained consistent in size and dimensions which will make animating it easier. I have also decided to take a short break from animating until SATs and my college applications are completed. This only lasts for the next two weeks after the November 1st deadline passes. I will be trying to do some animation during my free time but this will be difficult as the process is so time intensive. I am looking towards a mid to late November completion on the line art. After then I will begin coloring and adding frames when necessary.
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After finishing the storyboard, I started working on the animatic in the beginning of August. Each day I would try to complete at least one or two animatic shots. But, as with anything, these shots varied in complexity and each could take upwards of two hours. Luckily, as I progressed through each of the scenes I became faster at animating as I learned the quirks of the software and its shortcuts. I've learned to find elements I could loop in my drawings so I didn't have to draw 100 of the same frames. Most of the waves, the fish, and the dolphins are all loops and have made long scenes as easy to draw as the ones that last only a few seconds. Secondly, after watching more tutorials on animating with Photoshop, I have installed an extension (Animdessin2) to add the animating function of Photoshop since the program was not originally designed for animation. I have also re-recorded the voiceover which, after a few more modifications, should be the final audio. Then I cut up the audio in Premiere and imported each of my 28 Photoshop files to piece together the animatic. Next I will:
Now that I have started my animatic, I am looking for any chance to include movement of either the camera, characters, objects, or all three. This will create a dynamic shot, full of movement and will keep the viewer interested. At the moment I have laid out about 15 shots full of movement and I am about half-way done with my animatic. After watching a few tutorials on animating with Adobe products, I have learned that Photoshop is the best tool. In Photoshop, I am able to lay out a timeline (sequence of frames) to transform each layer into individual frames. I am able to use onion skin function to better see the previous frames and I can even set the frame rate and import audios. This will prove more useful in the future when I begin the line art and animate at 12 frame per second. For now, I am animating every three to four frames for the animatic which helps me get a sense of the movement in each scene. Since it is not the final product, this process is faster than animating every single frame. Hopefully by the end of the month the animatic will be completed and uploaded to Youtube in time for the Fellows summer work presentation. I have encountered some difficulty in animating rotating camera movement since it is difficult to get a grasp on an imaginary 3D space. Similarly, I found that characters/objects that turn/rotate are some of the hardest to animate. 30 seconds into this video has helped me understand both camera and object movement as it includes the extremes of both: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDfu4iEeyro . For specific objects like the birds in the video clip below, were done using real-life video and picture reference to keep proportions accurate while they turn. The video references especially help with the placement and angle of the wings as the bird takes off and flies. Next, I will finish the rest of the animatic and prepare my presentation. Then, I will get started on refining the style I want throughout the animation and set a timeline for each scene to be completed with line work.
This past week I worked on rewriting the script and for the main idea I finally decided to talk about marine debris and its impact on the planet's oceans, while also detailing my trip across the Atlantic. The ending needs to be improved upon but most of the script is good. After I was happy with this draft of the script I recorded and chopped up a rough draft of my voice over in Premiere so that I could begin drawing a storyboard to go along with the narration.
Next:
The first challenge I encountered while attempting to write a script was to figure out what I wanted to leave the viewer with in the end. I had many different options: I could educate about sea life or ocean pollution, or make a "how to" video on crossing the Atlantic. And there were a couple different styles/formats I could use for example: I could voiceover as if I was reading a diary, or I could use dialogue as if it were a short story. It was difficult to figure out which would work best with animations and in a voiceover form. So I moved on and tried the form of simply a funny voiceover description and recorded then made a story board to see if I liked it and what needed to change.
Here's what needed to change: 1) The format was not super interesting and didn't lend itself very well to funny lines. 2) It did not seem to be authentic of what I personally experienced during the crossing as a 14 year old. 3) It needed a better ending. The next step was to try to come up with a better format for telling a story that I could slip in funny moments easily. I thought of doing a diary entry type voiceover but since the 15 middle days of the crossing were exactly the same, I decided against it. Plus, I feel that the voiceover and animation would not have meshed well together. I have decided on doing a funny how to cross the Atlantic animation. The good news is I can use a lot of the stuff I had written for the first draft and some of the storyboards in this new format. Hopefully, I will be able to post a completed storyboard video in the next blog.
The first step to any project is thinking about what you would like to accomplish. Brainstorming and setting due dates for goals throughout your project lays the foundation.
I started off by thinking of each component of the project: script, sound, characters and background. This helped me create a timeline for my project and allowed me to explore the possibilities of my project. I laid out the steps in a spreadsheet and set both my summer and school year goals. My first step is coming up with an outline to turn into a script for my voice over. I must brainstorm which parts of my adventure to include and which aren't essential to the story. Of course, I want to depict the major events (include each country, crossing the ocean, etc.), but I would also like to explore moments that were special and/or funny. Over the next fews days I will be coming up with an outline and beginning to work it into a script. Hopefully, I will have a final draft by the end of the month (July). |
AuthorI am a student at Severn who would like to understand the process of writing and animating a short film. This opportunity combines both my love for drawing, animating, and writing. The film explores my experience of living on a boat for two years. Archives
September 2021
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