Final Project: Analysis and Reflection
Jaden McGrath 5/13/19
For this final project in our animation class here at Sanborn BOCES, we were assigned a project where a character discovers something unusual and unknown to them and interacts with that same unusual thing whether it be an object, a place, or even another creature. What I decided to do for my animation is to make a scene where a man finds a mysterious stone on the ground during a jog through the park while at the same time, he doesn't realize the sinister situation that is about to take place. This idea was formed into my head after watching two specific movies. The first film I used for inspiration was Marvel Studios's "Avengers: Infinity War", which inspired the idea of the mysterious stone based off of the infinity stones from the film. The second film that i got inspiration from was Jordan Peele's, "Us", which inspired the sinister situation that takes place after the man picks up the stone. (No Spoilers). I chose to do this specific interpretation of the story we were given is because along with meeting all of the requirements of the project, I also wanted to try out a little experiment. I wanted to see if I could pull off an animation that goes from comical and silly to sinister and dark in the flip of a switch.
Throughout the animation that has a running time of one minute and 27 seconds (including opening and ending credits), there are multiple examples of the 12 basic principles of animation. The first example I can give is the part where the main character bends down to pick up the stone, which is an example of squash and stretch. Other examples of this are the scene where the "other" character bends down to grab the main character's legs and the scene where the "other" character bends down and picks up the stone for themself. Another one of the animation principles used in the project is shown in the scene where the main character gets the idea to touch the stone to see if it would do anything. This is an example of secondary action because the man is poking the stone while holding it up in front of his own face at the same time. Another example of the use of the 12 basic principles of animation in the project was the scene where the man gets fed up with the stone not doing anything that he decides to smash it with his fist, which is an example of anticipation because he lifts up his arm and balls up his fist before bringing it down onto the stone in his hand.
Another animation principle can be found in the part multiple uses of staging, which keeps the attention of the scene on what is most important in that moment. You can see it all through out the animation with the help of the camera angles and positions of each individual shot like in the opening where the camera is set directly onto the stone as the man runs by it in the background. The last example of the 12 basic principles of animation that can be seen in the project is straight ahead which is also known as pose-to-pose. This is where a character or object's actions is set from frame to frame or pose to pose throughout a scene. This is most noticeable in the opening where the man runs by the stone. The man's running movement was key-framed pose by pose while during production.
While working on the project, I began to notice somethings that I have become very well at and things that I think came out very well. The one aspect that I think I have become the most talented at was working on the character's facial movements and expressions. Whether the characters have to be happy, angry, shocked, or disappointed, I managed to portray both those emotions on their faces and the transitions of emotions on their faces very well. Another aspect of the project I think I do very well is the modeling of the setting in the project. This is something that I have known I could do well ever since my first time working with 3-D animation with the hare project. And not only do I believe that I do well in modeling the settings, but I also find quite a bit of enjoyment in making the settings as well. And it was no exception for this project whether it be the swing set, the shack, the trees, etc. The one big thing in the setting that I especially am proud of in tis project is the picnic table that looks almost as if it was a real table thanks to placing the photo of picnic table wood over the entire model. But even the model itself I am proud of thanks to using photo of picnic tables as a reference in order to make the design realistic.
But just as I noticed things that I was doing well at and was able to improve in, I also happened to notice things that I need to improve on as well. The biggest thing that I know needs definite improvement in is how the characters walk. I can manage making a character run and even making a character hop around, but for some reason making them be able to just walk normally seems to be my kryptonite. Before making changes and edits, the walking looked very weird and even after making those edits, it still doesn't look one hundred percent right. The biggest example of this is a scene where one of the characters carries something back into the woods of the park. The steps made by that character seem very odd and uncanny. I tried to see if i could possibly make changes so that the backwards steps could look normal, but by doing so it sent the rest of the animation after that point into a frenzy, so I had to keep the original look of the steps. And although I consider myself very good with modeling, the only problem that I came across when working on the setting was the design of the sky and background. In order to make the background walls look like the man was actually outside, I used photos of actual parks and applied them to to the walls. Some of them worked like the background of a playground behind the supply shed, but others like the photos I used to make it look like the pathway the man runs on continued did not work that much.
Now that the project has now been completed, I think I did a pretty decent job for the most part. And seeing as how I wanted to convey a situation that went from joyful to dark, I think I achieved success in that aspect as well. It does quickly transfer from comical to dark with the main help from some of the lighting and the musical choices for both halves of the animation. There are definitely somethings that I did learn from this project like how to make a character run and how to make it look like a character look like they are being thrown back by something. But there are also definitely some things that do need improvement for next time like my walk cycle and how to make a background outside look more consistent and fluent throughout the entire row of walls. It took a lot to get this project done from alternate choices for scenes and compromises that needed to be made, but now that the project is officially completed, I think for the most part, I did a pretty good job and hope to only get better from now on.
For this final project in our animation class here at Sanborn BOCES, we were assigned a project where a character discovers something unusual and unknown to them and interacts with that same unusual thing whether it be an object, a place, or even another creature. What I decided to do for my animation is to make a scene where a man finds a mysterious stone on the ground during a jog through the park while at the same time, he doesn't realize the sinister situation that is about to take place. This idea was formed into my head after watching two specific movies. The first film I used for inspiration was Marvel Studios's "Avengers: Infinity War", which inspired the idea of the mysterious stone based off of the infinity stones from the film. The second film that i got inspiration from was Jordan Peele's, "Us", which inspired the sinister situation that takes place after the man picks up the stone. (No Spoilers). I chose to do this specific interpretation of the story we were given is because along with meeting all of the requirements of the project, I also wanted to try out a little experiment. I wanted to see if I could pull off an animation that goes from comical and silly to sinister and dark in the flip of a switch.
Throughout the animation that has a running time of one minute and 27 seconds (including opening and ending credits), there are multiple examples of the 12 basic principles of animation. The first example I can give is the part where the main character bends down to pick up the stone, which is an example of squash and stretch. Other examples of this are the scene where the "other" character bends down to grab the main character's legs and the scene where the "other" character bends down and picks up the stone for themself. Another one of the animation principles used in the project is shown in the scene where the main character gets the idea to touch the stone to see if it would do anything. This is an example of secondary action because the man is poking the stone while holding it up in front of his own face at the same time. Another example of the use of the 12 basic principles of animation in the project was the scene where the man gets fed up with the stone not doing anything that he decides to smash it with his fist, which is an example of anticipation because he lifts up his arm and balls up his fist before bringing it down onto the stone in his hand.
Another animation principle can be found in the part multiple uses of staging, which keeps the attention of the scene on what is most important in that moment. You can see it all through out the animation with the help of the camera angles and positions of each individual shot like in the opening where the camera is set directly onto the stone as the man runs by it in the background. The last example of the 12 basic principles of animation that can be seen in the project is straight ahead which is also known as pose-to-pose. This is where a character or object's actions is set from frame to frame or pose to pose throughout a scene. This is most noticeable in the opening where the man runs by the stone. The man's running movement was key-framed pose by pose while during production.
While working on the project, I began to notice somethings that I have become very well at and things that I think came out very well. The one aspect that I think I have become the most talented at was working on the character's facial movements and expressions. Whether the characters have to be happy, angry, shocked, or disappointed, I managed to portray both those emotions on their faces and the transitions of emotions on their faces very well. Another aspect of the project I think I do very well is the modeling of the setting in the project. This is something that I have known I could do well ever since my first time working with 3-D animation with the hare project. And not only do I believe that I do well in modeling the settings, but I also find quite a bit of enjoyment in making the settings as well. And it was no exception for this project whether it be the swing set, the shack, the trees, etc. The one big thing in the setting that I especially am proud of in tis project is the picnic table that looks almost as if it was a real table thanks to placing the photo of picnic table wood over the entire model. But even the model itself I am proud of thanks to using photo of picnic tables as a reference in order to make the design realistic.
But just as I noticed things that I was doing well at and was able to improve in, I also happened to notice things that I need to improve on as well. The biggest thing that I know needs definite improvement in is how the characters walk. I can manage making a character run and even making a character hop around, but for some reason making them be able to just walk normally seems to be my kryptonite. Before making changes and edits, the walking looked very weird and even after making those edits, it still doesn't look one hundred percent right. The biggest example of this is a scene where one of the characters carries something back into the woods of the park. The steps made by that character seem very odd and uncanny. I tried to see if i could possibly make changes so that the backwards steps could look normal, but by doing so it sent the rest of the animation after that point into a frenzy, so I had to keep the original look of the steps. And although I consider myself very good with modeling, the only problem that I came across when working on the setting was the design of the sky and background. In order to make the background walls look like the man was actually outside, I used photos of actual parks and applied them to to the walls. Some of them worked like the background of a playground behind the supply shed, but others like the photos I used to make it look like the pathway the man runs on continued did not work that much.
Now that the project has now been completed, I think I did a pretty decent job for the most part. And seeing as how I wanted to convey a situation that went from joyful to dark, I think I achieved success in that aspect as well. It does quickly transfer from comical to dark with the main help from some of the lighting and the musical choices for both halves of the animation. There are definitely somethings that I did learn from this project like how to make a character run and how to make it look like a character look like they are being thrown back by something. But there are also definitely some things that do need improvement for next time like my walk cycle and how to make a background outside look more consistent and fluent throughout the entire row of walls. It took a lot to get this project done from alternate choices for scenes and compromises that needed to be made, but now that the project is officially completed, I think for the most part, I did a pretty good job and hope to only get better from now on.
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