Animation Progress II

We've finished.
Looking back at my post, I realized we had some really awesome concepts and ideas that we could implement into our project, but after actually getting started and jumping into the process, we discovered that a lot of them just couldn't be done with what we had to work with.

We spent the first day gathering supplies and gear and setting up our workstations. It was a challenge to get the cameras at the right angle to line up with the paper and setting up lamps and lights at the right positions. After a lot of trial and error, we finally had everything set and ready to go. We spent day 2 planning and conceptualizing. We had lots of sketches, storyboards, and notes for a plot. We spent that whole afternoon brainstorming and workshopping ideas. I think coming up with a strong plan and not steering to far outside of it, was the key to how efficient we were able to complete the sequence. Since everyone's schedule was open on Saturday, we dedicated the entire day to drawing and capturing stills. Having 2 workstations really sped the entire process along. We were able to work on separate sections at the same time which we feel was crucial to maintain the best continuity in lighting, drawings, and transitions. We paid extreme attention to detail, which would've been more difficult if we each animated our own sections separately. Everyone had eyes on each other's progress at the same time.

We didn't use any paint because we ended up not even back lighting anything at all. We found that since we were essentially drawing with charcoal for every frame, it looked better being lit from above. There was no need to show any transparency from the bottom. We also didn't use any extra glass panels, because we were lighting from above, the glares from the additional glass were unavoidable. We didn't manipulate the lens of the camera by adding vaseline because we didn't want to risk breaking the rules of the assignment, so we stuck with what was required and played it safe.

We used primarily charcoal and sand for the entire sequence. There is a hint of  orange/red pastel crayon for the tip of the cigarette. Since the majority of our group were decent sketch artists, we relied on our strengths and used the drawings as our primary animation. We incorporated the sand to create transitions for each scene. It felt like an old black and white short from the era of the birth of cinema that would be played through on an Cinematograph.

After assembling the clips into Premiere Pro, we decided what we wanted to do for sound and we recorded them right then and there with our phones. The only sound we didn't record ourselves was the projector reel.

So upon reflection on this project, I realized that planning and having a visual reference like drwaings and storyboards, is a must. Everyone in the group has to be on the same page on what it should look and feel. Setting equipment and work areas ahead of time is vital as well, you do not want to spend half of your work day with your crew standing around trying to set up and experiment with what works or doesn't. I think in any group project, having a good plan and sticking to it is the difference between a good piece and a great piece. I also think the team itself plays an important part. There are some people that just "get it" and you want to work with those people for everything. I feel that my group "got it," and by the time we were exporting, we were very satisfied with the process and the results we achieved.