contents… · web viewstudent name. year 2 – write the title of your pathway . unit 13/14 –...

58
GO TO CONTENTS Department of Media and Communication EXTENDED PROJECT PORTFOLIO Academic Year 2016/2017 1 Student Name Year 2 – Write the title of your pathway Unit 13/14 – Extended Project

Upload: vandieu

Post on 25-Apr-2018

213 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

EXTENDED PROJECT PORTFOLIO

Academic Year 2016/2017

1

Student NameYear 2 – Write the title of your

pathway Unit 13/14 – Extended Project

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

CONTENTS

CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................................2

LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................................4

LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................................4

DEFINITION OF TERMS...................................................................................................................4

Unit 13/14 - Project Proposal...............................................................................................................5

.......................................................................................................5

Project Action Plan and Timetable.......................................................................................................8

...............................................................................................................................8

CHAPTER 1.............................................................................................................................................9

Introduction..........................................................................................................................................9

..........................................................................................................9

The Background of my Project........................................................................................................10

Who am I?...................................................................................................................................10

What did I learn on my course?..................................................................................................10

What is my project about?.............................................................................................................10

Why my project is important?........................................................................................................11

My Research Plan............................................................................................................................11

.................................................................................................................11

CHAPTER 2...........................................................................................................................................13

Literature/Resources Review.............................................................................................................13

.........................................................................................13

Introduction....................................................................................................................................13

Practitioners Report........................................................................................................................13

CONCLUSION - Who/what was my inspiration? /Contextualisation of my study.....................14

CHAPTER 3...........................................................................................................................................14

Research Design..................................................................................................................................14

2

LO 1.1 1.2 4.1

LO 4.1

LO 1.1 1.2 4.1

LO 4.1

LO 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

....................................................................14

Introduction....................................................................................................................................14

Research Questions........................................................................................................................15

Research Design Evolution..............................................................................................................17

CHAPTER 4...........................................................................................................................................18

Research Findings...............................................................................................................................18

..................................................................................................18

Data analysis...................................................................................................................................19

Conclusion - How did the research help me with my project?......................................................19

CHAPTER 5...........................................................................................................................................19

My Project...........................................................................................................................................19

.................................................................................19

Introduction....................................................................................................................................19

Pre-Production................................................................................................................................19

Production.......................................................................................................................................20

Post-production..............................................................................................................................20

Presentation....................................................................................................................................20

CHAPTER 6...........................................................................................................................................20

MY EXTENDED PROJECT – FINAL PRODUCT........................................................................................20

..............................................................................................................20

CHAPTER 7...........................................................................................................................................20

Project Evaluation...............................................................................................................................20

..........................................................................................................20

APPENDICES........................................................................................................................................21

Extended project in creative media production Learning Outcomes and Assessment.................21

1. Be able to initiate and develop a creative media production project proposal.......................21

2. Be able to use research, analysis and evaluation to develop solutions for creative media production project.......................................................................................................................22

3. Be able to solve practical, theoretical and technical problems in a creative media production project.........................................................................................................................................22

4. Be able to plan, organise and produce a creative media production project..........................22

5. Be able to use practical methods and skills in a creative media production project................22

3

LO 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 5.1 7.2

LO 5.1 6.1 6.2 7.2

LO 3.1 4.1 5.1 7.1 7.2

LO 4.1 7.2

LO 6.1 6.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

6. Be able to use evaluative and reflective skills in the production of a creative media product.22

7. Be able to present a creative media production project..........................................................22

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................22

LIST OF FIGURES

4

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Figure 1- What is research...................................................................................................................15Figure 2- How to ask good questions...................................................................................................16Figure 3 - My exercise 1.......................................................................................................................16

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 - Project Proposal......................................................................................................................6Table 2 - Project Action Plan and Timetable..........................................................................................9Table 3- My research Plan...................................................................................................................11

DEFINITION OF TERMS

EP – Extended ProjectUAL – University of the Arts London

Candidate Name

Jozef Pruchniewicz

Candidate Number

20093555

Pathway Digital design & animation

Project Title Exploration of conveying character through movement

5

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Section 1: Rationale (approx. 150 words)My area of interest is animation, more specifically characters themselves within animations. I want to focus on how character influences movement within animation. The information essential will be actually understanding how to convey character through movement as well as the methods used to replicate real world movements of characters. The purpose of my project is to build upon my own knowledge of animation as well as to communicate a message to the audience that they can relate to through the characters present in the animation. I ended up where I am now being interested in animation because of a combination of taking an interest in drawing again and the previous projects undertaken this year involving animation. The Street Fury project allowed me to gain experience using Adobe After Effects for creating motion graphics and 3ds Max for creating 3D CGI animation. This is what caused me to focus on animation in unit 12. Initially I was just interested in 3d modelling however, I found animation generally more interesting as I was introduced to it formally.Section 2: Project Concept (approx. 200 words)Firstly the aim of my project is to be able to convey character through movement and explore the influences that characters have on the way they move. I will be producing a few short animations for each character I create that will be compiled and uploaded to YouTube. I want to be able to create stories displayed through visual means that connects to an audience mainly through the use of the characters and their personalities. I want the audience to be able to relate to them even if their situations are not entirely the same. My influences for this sort of work are online content creators such as Egoraptor, OneyNg, and Rubber Ninja etc. I am also influenced by the work of artists such as Akira Toriyama the creator of Dragon Ball and how his work lead to his story being conveyed in a different consumable medium. I will be researching into body movements and body language mainly as this gives information about fictional characters to the viewer. My target audience can be quite broad for this project as I will be conveying characters through their movements and anyone could view this and be reminded of someone and possibly even themselves however I think I mainly will be attracting people interested in animation itself. My role in the project will be to mainly produce the animations themselves for the characters present however I will also be conducting the research involved and coming up with the concepts for each character. Technical requirements will be mainly having the computer itself to work on the project during its production and for a part of the research being conducted.Section 3: Evaluation (approx. 150 words)I will be evaluating the work I have produced at the end of each week in an ongoing blog post as I have done in previous projects as it will be consistent and show changes over time and the journey and progress of the project overall. Also at the end of the project I will be looking back at what I have done and reflecting upon it giving my thoughts and feelings throughout. Whenever evaluating the work I will not be simply stating what I have done I will be discussing in further detail about what was positive and negative about what I have produced as well as problems that I encountered throughout and solutions to those problems so that I can learn and tackle these issues with ease in the future as well as how everything I will be doing is relevant to my future and the project itself.Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)Actortips.com. (n.d.). Using Body Language in Acting | Actor Tips. [online]

6

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Available at: https://actortips.com/using-body-language-in-acting/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

Draw with Jazza, (2014). How to Animate Cloth (Keyframe Animation Tutorial). [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/fHuzPA6a0Uw [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

Draw with Jazza, 2013. How to Create Characters (the Design Process). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj2J4tn4YI [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017].

Ekström, H. How Can a Character's Personality be Conveyed Visually, through Shape. Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:637902/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017].

Fowler, M. S., 2003. Animation Layout: Getting Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://www.awn.com/animationworld/animation-layout-getting-perspective[Accessed 18 04 2017].

Helsionium. Xenoblade Chronicles HD Cutscene 020 – Fiora’s Death – ENGLISH. 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2vMllYljc0 [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Helsionium. Xenoblade Chronicles HD Cutscene 042 – Unfinished Battle – ENGLISH. 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LR1NtZOISg [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 1 – Baby Steps In Adobe Flash. 2011 [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0igv_BKikg [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 2 – Frame By Frame F*Ggotry. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKJqmVGqOuY [Acessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 3 – Sound And Exportion. Abortion. Exporting. There Ya Go. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpNVipoV5kI [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Lip Sync Timing Tutorial – Adobe Flash. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a5sdWsRO5g [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Pardew, L. (2008). Character emotion in 2d and 3d animation. 1st ed. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology.

7

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Pixar, n.d. Character Design. [Online] Available at: http://pixar-animation.weebly.com/character-design.html[Accessed 18 04 2017].

Plural Sight. Animation Body Mechanics: The Importance Of Video Reference. N.p., 2014. Available at: https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/animation-body-mechanics-importance-video-reference [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Robertson, E. Character Design Documentary - Rough Cut. 2013. [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/YiB594t7y4A [Accessed Tues. 18 Apr. 2017].

Williams Richard. The Animator’s Survival Kit. 1st ed. London: Faber and Faber, 2009. Print.

Unit 13/14 - Project Proposal

Table 1 - Project Proposal

8

LO 1.1 1.2 4.1

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Project Action Plan and Timetable

Week Date week beginning Activity / What you

are intending to do - including independent study

Resources / What you will need to do it - including access to workshops

1 1st May Researching into creating characters (conveying character visually)+ creating characters for my animation.

Books Internet (websites, videos)

2 8th May Looking into body language and emotion.

Books Internet (websites, videos)Capturing reference footage

3 15th May Looking into perspective and proportions for characters.

Books Internet

4 22nd May Looking into the animation software itself and experimenting with animation.

Computer Animation software

5 29th May Creating storyboard for the animation and beginning to draw out

Pencil and paperAnimation software

9

LO 4.1

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

key frames.6 5th June Producing final

animations and getting feedback along the way to see how to improve.

ComputerAnimation software

7 12th June Continuing to produce animations and altering based on feedback.

ComputerAnimation software

8 19th June Finishing up any leftover work and evaluating the project overall.

ComputerAnimation software

Table 2 - Project Action Plan and Timetable

10

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This is my project portfolio that acts as a report for my extended project (Exploration of Conveying

Character through Movement) for my second-year Extended Diploma in Digital Design and

Animation. My project is going to be a series of animations produced with the intention of exploring

how I can convey character through movement. The first chapter of this portfolio shows how my

project came to be and my journey to where I am now. This is followed by an explanation of my

project and its importance. The chapter will conclude with my research plan for the project.

The Background of my Project

What makes me want to do my project is firstly my inspirations which are mainly online animators such as OneyNG, Egoraptor, Rubberninja and Sr Pelo. These animators produce animations based upon other products (mainly games) that I enjoy because I can relate to their interest and knowledge on these products as well as the twist they add to it with their own style and humour. This is a kind of connection with an audience that I want to achieve however, instead of using the products I want to build a connection to the audience using the characters to make them feel a certain way and relate to the characters.

My personal experience that influenced my choices for the project was in terms of my idea for the project mainly the previous Street Fury project with my work on motion graphics and the usage of 3d CGI animation that made me want to explore animation in general and during unit 12 I ended up narrowing down my exploration to 2d animation through the exploration of the different types of animation with research and experimentation that I conducted. My main role in the project was also influenced by my personal experience as I the previous work made me want to explore animation further and my project's focus to be animation.

What I seek to achieve with my project is to create a connection with the audience through the characters and make them relate to the characters or at least feel a certain way from what they see. Considering my target audience being teens to young adults I think making a connection will be easier considering I am from that same age group and I can understand their problems and how they might feel about certain things. I also have many people I can speak to from that same age group for feedback. Who am I? Here is a mind map that I created that includes details about who I am and the things I like and enjoy. It's the first task that I have done relating to my extended project and it has given me ideas of what to explore. The purpose of this mind map was to look at myself and think about things I like and enjoy doing to give myself ideas about what I want to explore when doing my extended project

11

LO 1.1 1.2 4.1

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

as I obviously should be doing something I enjoy as it will be interesting, I can learn more about my specialist area and the final outcome will actually be better I believe.

What I learned from this task was that I wanted to explore animation as I thought it would be a way for me to incorporate the different things I enjoy doing. Animation is present in all games I play, it can involve drawing and 3d work in the different types of animation and music itself gives a mood and feel depending on what's used. Also as I have mentioned I do enjoy anime which is a type of animation in itself and this may influence how I go about producing animations and the way in which I draw things.

What did I learn on my course?

Initially I was interested in 3d modelling due to the summer school generating an interest for me from the task we did using 3ds Max. The first 3d work we did on the microwave where we were taught the basics of 3d modelling and texturing using diffuse maps. This was useful as knowing the basics of 3d modelling allows for people to expand their knowledge from that point as most models will start the same, with a simple object such as a box that allows the user to expand from that point. Not long after we did photography work that didn't really appeal to me personally although it did teach me useful techniques that can be applied to other productions such as the rule of thirds which could be applied to animation for example. I also tried out sound manipulation later during that term which was enjoyable but not something I think I would be willing to do very often. This was something that was useful to know because If I did need sound work done and didn't necessarily have someone else to do it, although I am not a professional I could do it myself with the knowledge I have gained. Around the same time, I also learned the process of using different texture maps to create higher quality textures with traits of real life materials such as being reflective or shiny. Learning this was useful because it taught me some more of the features of the software that I could use to better my work.

12

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

After this, I created a virtual gallery to display my work from that term within the Unreal engine. This gave me experience with using a game engine, a piece of software that is used in the industry to create some of the games I play. I enjoyed this quite a bit and I could incorporate the things I created in 3ds Max into this and add more to them such as physics, interaction and animation. After the first term project, we began working on the Age Of Napoleon project. This project involved me and other members of our interactive design studio creating an interactive dossier to act as promotional material for the fictional game Age Of Napoleon. This project allowed each of us to include assets depending on our specialist areas. With me for example I created 3d models and an incredibly short 2 frame animation. I also added to the document by researching into details of the army that Napoleon possessed itself. This project helped improve my research skills, 3d modelling skills and gave me some experience with 2d animation within Photoshop, although this was very limited.

After this I began preparing for my final major project for that year. A key part of this was the initial ideas that I had for it as in the end I would only be able to choose one. I initially was very unsure of what to do and decided I wanted to create a 3d environment before having any idea of what the story behind it would be or what I wanted to explore. I ended up deciding that I wanted to create a story based on the discovery of music. Something that was quite important to me, not the discovery of music itself but finding what kind of music I like. I did end up deciding to create a 3d environment based on the story and setting I created. I made this decision based on what I thought would be best and feedback I had received from a focus group I participated in. I think it was useful giving each other feedback on our ideas because it informed our final choices and in turn the rest of our projects since it was at such an early stage. Prior to producing my project I did a lot of research into the kind of architecture I wanted to include in my project. These were mainly ancient ruins, I collected the images I found together by creating a mood board. This informed the way I modelled the structure for my project as well as the textures I obtained and used. I actually began producing my project in a sort of prototype phase using a technique called greyboxing to create a rough version of what the environment's geometry might look like. After creating this I created the assets for the project using methods from previous work.

The next major thing I did was my work on the Street Fury project, it was around this time that I took an interest in drawing again and practiced a lot in my spare time drawing characters in a manga art style. For the project itself I learned a lot of new skills such as particle systems in 3ds Max, keying with green screens (more in depth), creating motion graphics using After Effects and some key cinematography skills. Before working on the product itself I had to create a concept for my character and what would happen in my sequence that would incorporate what I had been taught prior. I came up with my concept based on research and created a storyboard for my sequence to prepare for the filming. I then filmed each of the scenes I had planned out using the green screen and found suitable background for my scenes, making adjustments where required. I used YouTube to bring all of my assets together and to make my product interactive.

What is my project about?

This project is going to be based on my own experiences in life and the people I have seen and met

in hope that people will be able to see what I have produced, relate to what I have produced and to

13

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

feel certain emotions from what they are seeing. There are going to be 3 main characters each with

different personalities yet they still relate to each other in some ways and are close friends. My roles

within this project are as the concept artist, lead animator and director.

Why my project is important

Finding out how to convey character through movement is important to me because I want to be able to tell stories using characters that seem believeable in a visual format (being animation as it is what I'm interested in. This project will allow me to learn how to do that and demonstrate what I have learnt from my research. In an industry context this will be important to understand because it will make me more likely to be employed over someone else who wouldn't have the knowledge as it is necessary to understand how to convey a character's personality visually through their movement otherwise when animating characters you won't be able to convey a clear message to the audience with the character, at least not the intended one in most cases.

My Research Plan

Table 3- My Research Plan

FMP - RESEARCH PLAN Approx. No of Words

Interest/Topic/Theme 50What I am interested in looking into is the relationship between character and motion and how I can convey this myself.

Why is it important? - Importance 100It is important to know how to convey character through animation for myself because I want to be able to portray a character visually through animation. In the industry this would be important because having this knowledge and skills would make you more employable than other people.My progress and achievements throughout the course (write about knowledge, skills and how this influenced your choices during the course)

200

I have come a long way since the beginning of the course, I was mainly interested in 3D modelling for the first year as it was something that I hadn't experienced before. I always

14

LO 4.1

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

enjoyed playing games and realizing that I could create something that would be part of a much larger product really appealed to me. When it came to my final major project for the first year I decided I would use the skills I had gained from 3D modelling to try and create something rather unique as I had based my initial idea off of my own experiences in life and there was a lot that I was happy with in terms of the final outcome. So far this year really interested me and influenced what I have looked into for my project. Creating motion graphics within After Effects and using CGI were two things that further increased my interest in animation overall.Literature (Proposed Sources – Harvard Format) 200Actortips.com. (n.d.). Using Body Language in Acting | Actor Tips. [online] Available at: https://actortips.com/using-body-language-in-acting/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

Draw with Jazza, (2014). How to Animate Cloth (Keyframe Animation Tutorial). [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/fHuzPA6a0Uw [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

Draw with Jazza, 2013. How to Create Characters (the Design Process). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj2J4tn4YI [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017].

Fowler, M. S., 2003. Animation Layout: Getting Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://www.awn.com/animationworld/animation-layout-getting-perspective[Accessed 18 04 2017].

Helsionium. Xenoblade Chronicles HD Cutscene 020 – Fiora’s Death – ENGLISH. 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2vMllYljc0 [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Helsionium. Xenoblade Chronicles HD Cutscene 042 – Unfinished Battle – ENGLISH. 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LR1NtZOISg [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 1 – Baby Steps In Adobe Flash. 2011 [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0igv_BKikg [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 2 – Frame By Frame F*Ggotry. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKJqmVGqOuY [Acessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

15

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 3 – Sound And Exportion. Abortion. Exporting. There Ya Go. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpNVipoV5kI [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Lip Sync Timing Tutorial – Adobe Flash. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a5sdWsRO5g [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Pardew, L. (2008). Character emotion in 2d and 3d animation. 1st ed. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology. Parramon, J. M., 1988. Color Theory. 1st ed. s.l.:Watson-Guptill Publications.

Pixar, n.d. Character Design. [Online] Available at: http://pixar-animation.weebly.com/character-design.html[Accessed 18 04 2017].Plural Sight. Animation Body Mechanics: The Importance Of Video Reference. N.p., 2014. Available at: https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/animation-body-mechanics-importance-video-reference [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Robertson, E. Character Design Documentary - Rough Cut. 2013. [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/YiB594t7y4A [Accessed Tues. 18 Apr. 2017].

Williams Richard. The Animator’s Survival Kit. 1st ed. London: Faber and Faber, 2009. Print.

My research questions (What I am trying to find out?) 100How can I convey character through movement?

What methods can I use to replicate movements from the real world within my own productions? (Technology, techniques, processes).Research Design (methods) 100I will be looking at films and real life examples for references to look at to understand the movements and what makes the movement play out in that way. I will also read books that discuss details such as body language and emotion as I know a person’s mood can determine how they move. Another thing is watching video tutorials for how to create certain aspects of the product. I will also be capturing more footage and continuing to observe real world examples of movement to use as reference material for animations and observe movements further. I will be experimenting using

16

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

software such as Adobe Flash to create short animations based on character concepts.How will this research help me with my product? 200I think my research will benefit my product greatly as it will help me understand things to consider when animating as it will be important to know things like the influences that affect the animation such as sound, wind, size, weight, personality, build etc. Also learning the methods of recreating these real world elements within a digital format will allow for me to create a product that can communicate a message or story across.

CHAPTER 2

Literature/Resources Review

Introduction

A variety of resources (Websites, blogs, articles, videos, books etc.) have been used in order to build upon my animation skills and my understanding of the way characters personalities can be conveyed visually through the way they move.

This chapter will act as a review of different literature and resources I have used for my project and how this influenced other research I have done as well as my studies and the development of my final idea for my project. This will start with my practitioners report where I looked at a contemporary and a historic practitioner that both specialised in animation. I will also include the sources I proposed and other sources I found. This chapter will conclude with ideas and conclusion of all the sources I mention in this chapter.

Literature/Resources Review

17

LO 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Firstly I’m going to review the sources I used during unit 12, coming up to my project. When doing my more general research into animation’s history one of the sources I used was a website that had the recorded history of 2D animation. It didn’t include much detail or depth but it did have information about the recorded founder of 2D animation and important people that were involved in 2D animation’s history. This was useful in informing me about the background of my discipline and traditional animation processes to an extent. The next source is from the same site except this page was focused on 3D animation as I wanted to look at each of the different types of animation. The source had details on the history of both CGI animation and Claymation. This was also useful because it gave more insight into the different forms of animations that I could have explored. There was another site I found based upon the history of animation overall. This source was useful as well as it included important events and people related to animation as a whole. I also used a source that was a simple timeline including important events in animation’s history which was somewhat useful but it lacked detail and wasn’t as informative as the other sources I found.

Another resource I used was a video of the Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) animation. This resource was a video of the animation itself however, I found the description of the video the most useful because it contained information on how the animation was actually produced at the time. Finding out about this process was very informative in teaching me about the traditional methods of 2D animation. A similar resource was a video on the first recorded 2D animation Fantasmagorie (1908). Again this was useful because of the video description detailing the process of creating this animation which was both very interesting and useful to me. I also looked at Felix the Cat (1920) as it really demonstrated the progression of animation as it appeared much more detailed. This wasn’t as useful as the other two videos because it didn’t include details of the process of creation. Another video resource that I found was on the process of Claymation. Again this was useful for a similar reason to the other videos except the video itself explained the process instead of just playing an animation and explaining the process in the description which made it more useful as an actual video.

When looking into why animation was introduced I found multiple sources, one of which was a website that included reasons why businesses use animation for promoting themselves or products. This was something I found useful because although this was quite simple it is important to understand the purpose of animation in different contexts. The other source I found was a site for an animation studio that explained why they produce animations themselves. This was useful for the same reason.

When creating my practitioners report the sources I used were mainly looking into the processes, techniques, technology and materials used by the practitioners (Pixar and Akira Toriyama). When looking into the processes for each of the practitioners there was two main sources I used that had in depth detail about 2D digital animation and 3D CGI animation. Both these sources were useful as it taught me the contemporary processes of both 2D and 3D animation and was something that helped me narrow down my idea of what I wanted to do for my project.

Now I'm going to be reviewing the sources I used when researching into the character design process. To give some context as to why I looked into this, it was so that I could effectively create characters to be used in my animations as knowing who they are will be a key aspect of knowing how to animate them. When looking at how personality is conveyed visually I looked at one main source which was a pdf file. This source was very useful as it taught me a lot about how characters shapes alone can tell so much about them (shape theory) I took this information and used examples of characters I know from various media related products and what I had learnt applied to the

18

CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

designs of these characters. The other main source of information was very similar to my first source but contained more visual examples with annotations that made it clearer what defined the characters. This was useful in demonstrating this as it gave me a better understanding through visual means as opposed to mainly writing. I also looked into the design process of characters, for this I mainly looked at two videos although I did refer back to the pdf I used. The two videos were very different, one was a documentary about character design that mainly informed me about the necessary things to understand when creating characters such as having good knowledge on anatomy and practicing life drawing. The other video visually demonstrated their design process. Both videos were very useful in their own ways as it taught me a useful way of creating characters and things I need to know when designing characters to improve.

Another source I used was actually a business website that had information on the signs of body language. This was an extremely useful find as it discussed all of the possible gestures, positions and movements’ people could make as well as what they can mean. Knowing this will be useful when creating my animations because it allows me to understand for myself how people may be feeling based on their position etc. and I can use this to convey how a character's feeling or their personality visually so the audience will also understand the message coming across. When doing my case study for body language and emotion I looked into multiple cut scenes from the game Xenoblade Chronicles. This was a good example to use for my case study as the scenes I chose were very emotional, full of action and they demonstrated a lot of body language in emotion, both scenes varied a lot so it was a good comparison.

When looking into proportion and perspective of characters I used one main source that included details on getting proportions correct for manga characters however, they apply to other styles of drawing characters. The wireframe method of drawing characters bodies was very useful to learn because it acts as a foundation for the drawing and allows you to build the drawing up. I’m likely going to make use of this in my project when I am drawing out frames to help plan out the character’s position and keep consistency with the drawings.

Practitioners Report

This is a report I have produced based on the research I have undertaken, looking into an earlier practitioner and contemporary practitioner involved in animation. This tasks purpose was to look at creators that produce similar work to ourselves and learn from how things are done in the industry level of work.

Early Practitioner

19

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Akira Toriyama- Produced the dragon ball manga, which went on to get an anime adaptation. According to sources is a shy, reserved person (Something that I can relate to) who doesn’t enjoy being interviewed. During his career, he created over 40 manga series, the first being Wonder Island. Dragon Ball was introduced in 1984 and quickly became a hit. Has a consistent style in terms of his drawings which can be seen across the manga he creates.

His work may have been influenced by the fact that he prefers rural areas as it allowed for him to focus more on his work and dedicate more time to what he does without distractions of a busy city. He was also when he was younger influenced by the productions around him such as Disney movies and Astro Boy. He was also a fan of Star Wars and Jackie Chan films. This may have influenced the production of Dragon Ball because it includes a lot of fighting and action in the majority of the scenes.

Work analysis:

Formal elements:

20

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Upon looking at his work I can see in terms of the lines used, they are quite consistent among the character illustrations and very depending on things like depth and perspective. However, as you can see in the image above where a character is performing an energy based attack the lines are much thicker to emphasize the power behind the move and making it look more impactful. The colours as with the majority of manga is black and white with usually only the covers having colour. The shading in this instance mainly consists of lines which appears to be coming away from the attack because this draws attention to the action occurring in the scene. This shot appears to have applied the rule of thirds as you can see the character is positioned in the lower left side of the frame and the attack along with his hand are positioned in the top right as these are the two most important parts of this shot. In terms of lighting you can see that the light being produced from the attack in this instance has been considered as the shadows are positioned in areas where the light isn’t reaching such as underneath the character’s arms and the side of their head.

Looking at the 3rd and 4th examples which are from the adaptation you can see there are quite a few differences in how things have been done. In terms of the line work it appears to be pretty consistent with the characters, however, with the attacks, effects and auras you can see no longer

21

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

use the thick lines featured before instead they use coloured softer lines and in the 3 rd example you can see that they’ve also used transparency on the aura which takes advantage of digital technology and layers. There is a lot more variation in colour in the anime as it is no longer just black and white, this is used to effectively give characters more variation and individuality. For example the protagonists appear to have brighter colours associated with more positive things whereas the character on the left of the 3rd example is more of an anti-hero they have blue on their clothing yet it is still dark which matches his personality quite well. The method of shading is quite different as they use darker variations of the colours of whatever is being shaded as opposed to just using black lines to show where shading is. The composition of the 3rd example is quite deliberate in having the main character as the centre of the image and other characters placed behind along with the aura drawing even more attention to them making it clearer who the main protagonist is.

Narrative:

In terms of the narrative, you can see in the second example I have included that firstly context is given to the reader and the scene is set. This is to give the reader a better understanding of what’s going on and for the story to be more coherent right from the beginning.

The environments featured vary as they are different planets, however, most action usually takes place with similar looking backgrounds that are usually large empty areas that allow for a lot more action to be shown.

The genre of this particular manga is action as that is the main focus is fighting to protect people and planets from harm.

The narrative in the anime is interesting considering that audio is incorporated into it adds more to the character’s as it gives them an actual voice and further expands upon that individuality that I mentioned previously. As with other anime, Dragon Ball Z includes recaps of the previous episode to help remind the viewer of previous events and gives context in a similar way to the manga. The pacing of the anime can be very slow at times due to the fact that keeping the series running meant working with the original content of the manga and considering it is limited things had to be stretched out to keep the series running and avoid running out of content. The characters themselves are all based off of their manga counterparts and are given more individuality through each of their voices and they tell you something about them, for example the main character (Goku) has a higher pitched voice for his character to suit his childish and immature personality, however, this changes when the tone becomes more serious as he knows when to be serious and when to mess around.

Materials:

They use pencil and paper for the early stages of production when just producing rough sketches for the final product or for the character design. The G-pen pen used in the inking process of manga as it allows the user to easily control the thickness of their lines by pressing harder or softer on the paper.

22

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

The g-pen can be seen above.

For the anime adaptation they do again use pencil and paper for the earlier stages of production such as character design, costume design. The storyboards also use pencil and paper which are created after the scripts are complete. The layout process also uses pencil and paper to create more detailed versions of the rough drawings to give a clearer image of how things will look. They also use pencil and paper to draw out the key frames of animation along with the in-between frames to smooth out the animation.

Computers are used for cleaning up pages and adding patterns to areas on each page which they are required on, this is for convenience of the artist and keeps things more neat.

Computers are used in anime for scanning in the individual frames into a digital format and putting everything together for the final animation. The software used for putting the animation together is commonly RETAS! PRO.

Processes:

These are the production processes involved in creating the initial content, the manga:

Firstly as with most productions, everything starts with an idea for a theme or story and deciding things such as the message behind it for the readers to receive. Next an actual plot is to be decided, the key events that will occur throughout.

23

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

The next stage is character design, deciding who the main character(s) are, their personalities and appearance, clothes etc. This is important because it is something that will have to stay consistent throughout the manga. Although there might be slight alterations later on.

After this the next step is to storyboard how each of the scenes will look. In the beginning these will be just rough sketches to get an idea of how it might look. Firstly panels are drawn which are filled with the characters, background, speech etc.

The next part is the inking process which is where the drawings are re-drawn with black ink, some shading is also added.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvDdjDCb4hw&w=560&h=315]

The final production stage is computer editing which is where the drawings get scanned onto a PC, the artist cleans up the pages using photo editing software. Patterns are added after this for shadows and explosions etc.

After this the manga is printed and published to be consumed by the readers. In terms of anime adaptations the process is:

Firstly the publishers either contact the artist or the other way round. The production company will then gather staff for advertising and merchandise. After core staff are arranged, they begin to plan out the anime. The main thing is composition as in what will take place across each episode. They next select further staff such as character designers. Directors involved in anime have a similar role to films as they make important decisions such as the budget and quality of the anime.

After the earlier planning designs are created for characters and costumes, since in this case it is a manga adaptation the task is simplifying the designs from the manga as they need to be suitable for animation. After story and designs are finished the first episode will begin production.

Firstly the scripts are written, following the plans created prior and the outlines of the script supervisor. The scripts will then be reviewed by the director, producers and the author of the original work prior to being finalised. The episode director then plans out how everything will look on screen before the beginning of the storyboarding.

24

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

The storyboards are produced next that by story boarders or the director themselves. The storyboards take around 3 weeks to produce for a normal length TV anime episode. Production meetings are held with the director amongst other staff about how the episode should appear. The storyboards contain some of the most important parts of an anime such as character movements, camera movements, dialogue and the length of each shot.

The layout process is the beginning of the art production, positioning cels to be used in the cut and background art that’s needed. Acts as the definitive blueprint for how the final shot might look in the end. Upon being approved by a director the layouts will be duplicated and given to the background department and key animators. The art director and assistants work on painting background artwork based on the rough drawings.

After the form of each cut is decided the positioning of characters, setting, what they’re doing and how this will be captured. Based on the storyboard key animators begin working by creating the animation drawings, being assigned a number of cuts. Key animators draw essential frames that mark distinct positions or expressions of a cel/character. These drawings include lines for shading to occur. Key animators are given the opportunity to really use their own style.

Next the animation between those key frames are added that usually is done by less experienced animators as it requires less skill and is a temporary position for many animators career’s. They have no opportunity to add individuality as all they do is fill in gaps with drawings. These can be checked and corrected if necessary. With the in-between frames complete you can see the final animation that goes into anime.

Generally the frame rate for anime is 12 frames per second or sometimes 24 frames per second. The average anime will have around 3000 frames/drawings for each episode and finding a balance between detailed and fluid animation is very important.

After being drawn and checked the frames are digitalized. They can be painted with a specified colour palette by painting staff. They use lines drawn previously to do shading also. Once they are

25

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

complete they are processed as an animation using a specialized software package such as RETAS! PRO.

The production processes may have varied slightly for the case with the manga and anime adaptation of Dragon Ball, however, these processes are how most anime have been produced and are still produced.

Here you can see an infographic I created that summarises the production processes of both 2d and 3d animation.

Techniques:

The way he draws characters stays consistent throughout the manga he has produced. This is then replicated and used in the anime adaptation.

How I have been influenced by the creator:

I really enjoyed the animated series of Dragon Ball Z and they are one of many people who influenced my interest in the different art styles of anime and manga. I’m still unsure of what style I enjoy the most but I am practising a lot to improve my drawing skills overall. This will most definitely be useful during the pre-production and production stages of my project for designing characters, environments etc. Also if I do end up using 2d animation in my project then it will be very useful there.

Also learning about the process of creating manga and anime is certainly going to influence my extended project as animation is what I've been focusing on and what I want to continue to focus on.

26

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Contemporary Practitioner

Pixar studios- Produced 3d animated films such as Toy Story, Cars, Up and many more. Pixar is founded in 1986, the first production is Luxo Jr. which was also the first three-dimensional computer-animated film to be nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar. In 1995 they created Toy Story which was the first computer animated feature length film and was the highest grossing film of that year. Finding Nemo was released in 2003 which was nominated for four academy awards and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Their latest film is Finding Dory which was the highest-grossing animated debut of all time.

Pixar was influenced by Ed Catmull who produced the first 3d cgi animation and was one of the founders of Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently the president of Pixar so clearly he has had a large impact on the company and the future of animation as a whole. From an interview with Jon Lasseter, the chief creative officer of Pixar I found that one if his influences was Walt Disney, the founder of Disney. He was amazed at how the films took him to other worlds and other times which inspired him to try and entertain audiences in the same way.

Work analysis:

Formal Elements:

In the first example I have here you can see how the colour of the lighting which is grey to imply that it is raining, this is used in the scene to give a generally sad mood to match the character’s expressions and feelings (pathetic fallacy possibly). The composition of the shot also seems to be

27

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

positioned so that the main protagonist (Woody) is the focus of the shot as he’s on one of the key points for the rule of thirds, it appears his facial expression is the most important part of this shot intentionally because it shows something has upset him.

Narrative:

The overall narrative and story is based on the idea of growing up and the importance of friendship as the main protagonist feels threatened by another’s presence but in the end they decide to coexist in peace. The pacing of the film depends on the scene as a more action-packed scene will have a faster pacing. There's an example of this from the film that can be seen below:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nuoxJyUdfQ&w=560&h=315]

The characters themselves are inanimate toys that come to life when nobody is watching. Each character has a unique personality and is made to be more of an individual by each being different models of toys (personification). The environment greatly varies with the different parts of the film, it takes place in our world except toys have the ability to come to life when nobody’s watching. The key individual environments are Andy’s (the owner of the main toys) room, the arcade, the gas station and Sid’s house (The true antagonist of the film). The first of the environments starts of generally peaceful and happy but then a disturbance is caused by the arrival of another character. The gas station is where the real conflict between this new character and the main character takes place which is a key point in the plot as it separates them from Andy which seems to be a sign showing that conflict and violence isn’t the answer. The arcade is where they end up next which is a kind of chaotic area which begins to make the characters work together as opposed to fighting. Sid’s house is the most chaotic area as all of the toys are deformed and treated badly. This part of the film seems to be more about acceptance as they learn that despite appearance people can still be good.

Materials:

The tools used to create their films are pencil and paper for the early stages of development for character designs, costume designs etc. They are also used in the storyboarding process for drawing out each of the scenes in the film.

They also need to use microphones and appropriate rooms to record in to make sure the audio quality is as good as it possibly can be. Firstly used for recording temporary voices, then for the voice actors themselves.

A computer and the appropriate software (Pixar's own software) are required for modelling the characters, environments and props as well as texturing and animating them.

Processes:

Firstly as with most media products, the first thing that is needed is an idea of a theme or plot for the animation to take place in as without an interesting idea the film will likely not be very appealing to audiences.

28

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

The next part of pre-production is ‘text treatment’, it is a short document that is created that summaries the story. Many treatments may be created for the same idea to find a balance of solid ideas and open possibilities.

The next thing to be created is the script for the film, this is essential as it details exactly what will take place during each scene and the dialogue that will occur between characters. Storyboarding comes shortly after this which is a hand drawn version of the scene’s to give an idea of how things will look visually, storyboard artists will also receive a beat outline to show emotional changes. Using these the artists imagine what everything will look like in each sequence and draw it out to pitch it to a director.

Next the voice acting will begin, they start with temporary voices by the artists for the storyboard reels. As the dialogue and story progresses and is developed then dedicated voice actors can record lines multiple times to find the best possible voice.

The art department will next begin producing art illustrating the world and characters that are within it. They will also design the sets to be used, props, the look of surfaces and colour.

After these illustrations are created the next step is creating the 3d computer models for the individual characters, props and sets. The models are the shape of the objects/characters and the software used allows for movement and expressions used. The models can be created by hand through sculpting and scanning in the object onto a computer or being directly created with software on the computer itself. After being imported as a basic wireframe model avars need to be added which are points which the animator can use to make an object/character move.

Next the sets will need to be modelled in 3 dimensions and decorated using prop models to make the world more immersive and convincing. The set dressers work with the director so that the vision for the environment becomes a reality. The characters after this will be placed on the set itself in a process named ‘blocking’ which is where the director and animators block key character positions and camera angles for each of the planned shots.

29

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

A virtual camera is used to create the shots to capture each scene. Multiple versions are produced to provide choices for the editors for the best storytelling effect to be created. Once everything is cut, the final version will be released to animation.

Animators in this instance do not draw or paint anything as everything has been prepared for them in the previous stages of development, they control the actual movement and facial expression using controls in the software using the avars created in the modelling process. They create the key frames and the computer will automatically create the in-between frames which can be adjusted until the director is pleased with the outcome.

Shading is the next process to take place which is done by using shader programs that simulate appearances of textures. Characters and props are given their surface textures and colours and clothing, fur and hair are also added in this stage.

After this lighting is added using key, fill, bounce lights and room ambience are all created to determine the mood and emotion of each scene. The lighting is determined by the previous work of the art department.

The next stage is rendering the images out frame by frame, despite using very powerful computers it still takes 6 hours to render a single frame for the film and for a 90 minute film at a frame rate of 24 fps that will be 130,000 individual frames.

After this the animation itself is complete and all that is left is the sound side of things such as music and sound effects and possibly some special effects.

Techniques:

Some of the unique techniques Pixar use are firstly due to using their own unique animation software being designed to be optimal for their employees. They use avars to add points to the model that can be adjusted by the animators in a later stage, although a similar thing is done through rigging on other software, this is far more complex and allows for detailed animation of expressions and movement which are the key parts of all their animations.

Another unique technique that Pixar use is the way they render their animations, they use very powerful computers and leave them rendering each frame for 6 hours which is an incredibly long time for the render of a single image which smaller productions would not be able to do due to the lack of the technology and time.

How I have been influenced by the creator:

Pixar as a company I think has influenced my interest in 3d animation and animation in general as I have watched animated films produced by them since I was very young and growing up with that I believe has influenced things I take an interest in such as 3d modelling for example. I wanted to be able to create models that were a high enough quality to be featured in a larger professional production.

What I have learnt from doing this:

30

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

The main things I have learned is firstly more about the production processes of anime and animation as a whole as I was quite unaware of how it was produced, which will be useful in my extended project as now I understand how I can do it myself.

I thought that most of the production of anime would have been more digital, however I found out this wasn’t the case as physical drawings play a much larger role than I thought. This is useful information because it means I will be able to incorporate physical drawings more in my project which will be useful as I have been practicing more drawing physically rather than digitally.

With 3d animation however I thought there would be less drawing involved but even creating the models themselves comes quite later in production. I also learnt that there are a lot more similarities in the different processes of animation than I thought, the point that the two separate is when the models are created. This is useful to know because it means that transitioning between different types of animation could be easier than I would have imagined and I may be doing something along these lines for my project.

CONCLUSION - Who/what was my inspiration? /Contextualisation of my study

Examples of similar media products I have identified are the works of online animators such as Egoraptor, OneyNG, Sr Pelo and Rubberninja. As well as the work of Akira Toriyama with his work on the Dragon Ball series that was developed based on the popularity of his work. In terms of how the work has influenced my project, the online animators influenced me with the connection they managed to build with their audience through basing their content on other existing media products. This allowed them to connect to the audience through their interest and knowledge of the product they have focused on. They also add their own twist through humour and their style of drawing the characters. This was similar to what I wanted to achieve as I want to connect to the audience through the characters featured within my animations and the stories that they will tell which is why I’m starting with simply producing test animations of a few characters in order to convey different personalities visually. The work of Akira Toriyama mainly influenced me in terms of the success of his work as it managed to gain so much attention that it was developed into an animation. He also influenced me in the way that he seemed quite experimental and didn’t find what he wanted to do until relatively late in his life. Another thing is that he influenced the style of my drawings.

What I learnt from looking at other similar media products was mainly the process of creating different kinds of animation and the similarities and differences between each. Focusing on characters from different media products is one of the things I did when exploring shape theory as this helped display my findings as well as demonstrate an analysis of the design of the characters that proved that the information I found was valid and that I had payed attention and taken in what that research had taught me.

The requirements for my media project from me are to build upon my knowledge of things such as body language, emotion, perspective and proportion of characters. Building upon my understanding of these will help me when attempting to convey character visually using movement. I also want to build upon my skills with animation in general as I don’t have much experience but I want to be able to eventually tell stories people can relate to using visual means and animation is something that I became interested in from the previous Street Fury project as well as my interest in drawing coming

31

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

back from when I was younger. In terms of the production of my project the requirements for that are firstly with technology I need pencil/pen and paper for drafting character designs and experimentation with drawings. I will also need a computer as the animations I am going to produce will be done digitally. I also need this for researching when looking into websites, digital images and videos etc.

CHAPTER 3

Research Design

Introduction

This chapter is going to be covering the research design for my extended project. It will start with the key research questions that I wanted to find the answers to and then there will be the description of the research design and methods used in my project.

Research Questions

The main aim of my project is to explore how I can convey character visually using movement in order to be able to build a connection with the audience and have them relate to them or make them feel a certain way. This is important to understand for a successful media product that includes a story. As mentioned previously I want to eventually be able to tell stories visually and animation seemed to be the best way for me to do that considering I was interested in animation. The key research I have for this project are firstly how can I convey character through movement? This is the main question as my project is an exploration of how I can achieve conveying character through movement. From this I found things to focus on such as character design to determine the actual personalities of the characters I’m going to feature in my animations. I also decided to focus on body language and emotion as these are key things that give information to the viewer about how the character is currently feeling and can make the audience feel a similar way. Another thing I decided I wanted to look into was perspective and proportion of characters to ensure that my characters will look the intended way and to make sure it reflects upon their personalities correctly.

What methods can I use to replicate movements from the real world within my own productions? This is my other main question as it’s more related to the final product. This will mainly be answered when experimenting as it involves actually producing the animation. The reason this is one of my research questions is because by answering it I will gain more knowledge and understanding of the way I will be able to produce animations of character that move realistically and believably depending on their build and personality.

Research Design Evolution

Primary research:

32

LO 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 5.1 7.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

The primary research I have conducted for this project has been firstly, the experimentation that I conducted in preparation for the production of the project. The first example of this experimentation is during unit 12 when I was experimenting with themes using 2D animation. I did this using Photoshop with a combination of the usual layers and the frame by frame timeline which I used by changing my workspace to motion. The next example of experimentation I conducted was the production of the 3 characters I’m going to be using in my animations. The reason behind this was so that I knew clearly what personalities I would have to capture when producing animations for each of the characters and to help visualise what they look like in general. I experimented by initially coming up with an idea for each of the character’s personalities and backgrounds, I then tried to visually convey their personalities through their designs and narrow down the designs into one finalized design. Other experimentation I have done is drawing the different emotions of characters. I didn’t do this very extensively as it was something I did when I had some time to spare. This was a series of drawings that I did capturing each of the emotions. Another experiment I did was with perspective and proportions for characters, this was done through a collection of drawings of wireframes that initially were purely demonstrating proportion using lines the same height of the head. I used a website I had found to find where to position each of the joints for the wireframe. After gaining some experience with this I drew the wireframe without the lines and then began drawing the wireframe in different positions. After this task I experimented with perspective more, drawing a head from multiple angles which came out quite successfully. A method I used that seemed to work well was drawing a circle as a starting point that can be used to keep the drawings consistent in size.

Target audience:

The target audience for my project are teenagers to young adults because I think they will be most able to relate with what I am going to create because the characters and story are going to be based at least somewhat off my own experiences and people I have seen. Because I am of the same age group I believe I can see things from the perspective of the audience much easier which will be an advantage when creating my product. The type of audience will be people who are at interested in animation first and foremost obviously considering the product itself will be animation. As for the type of media they consume from multiple sources I found they stated that they use online videos over TV which doesn’t come as a surprise because it also applies to myself. Smartphones combined with the internet allows for many types of media to be accessed from the same device. From the figures I found I also see that they have the highest daily, weekly etc. media consumption meaning the platform I have chosen (YouTube) will be appropriate for my audience as it is the most popular platform for online videos as I found out for the research in my previous project.

Skills and techniques:

Firstly in terms of skills and techniques that I need to research for producing my project are for example with effectively conveying emotion visually I will watch a video explaining how to draw emotion more effectively. With body language I chose to look at a website that had a section focused on body language that mainly explained what each of the body language signs meant in different areas of the body. I still need more practice with animation itself so by conducting experiments in Photoshop using the timeline I should be able to build upon my skills in preparation for the production of my final character animations.

I also need to build upon my skills with drawing the correct proportions for characters so I’ll need to research techniques I can use to be able to more effectively draw out a character’s proportion and

33

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

more consistently draw the character’s size etc. I need to do the same with drawing perspective as well because getting perspective correct will be quite essential to my project when animating.

Production research:

In terms of people I am going to need in the production, the main involvement of other people will be for gathering reference material in the form of videos to help me when I am producing my animations. This will be very helpful as having reference material when animating will mean that I can more accurately recreate these real life movements. To contact the people I’m going to need I will use Facebook as I know them personally. As long as I arrange to do this on a weekend I should be able to get these recordings I need.

The production roles I will need to carry out are firstly as a researcher which is something I have been doing already. To effectively carry out this role I will need to use a wide variety of sources/resources and make sure that the information is relevant and useful to what I am doing. Another role involved in my project is as a character designer to an extent because I have to know who my characters are for my animations so I know what kinds of personalities I need to visually convey using movement. Another key role is as a storyboard artist as I think it would be best to have some kind of storyboard to explain what will happen in each of the individual animations. Knowing more clearly what I’m going to produce will be useful for both myself and for explaining to other people where my project is going. The final main role will of course be an animator as I will be producing the final animations themselves also. To effectively carry out this role I will need to build upon my skills relevant to animation, things such as experimentation with drawings and animating generally will likely be the most beneficial as it builds upon my actual experience.

In terms of a production schedule I have produced an action plan for my extended project:

Project Action Plan and Timetable Week Date Week

Beginning Activity / What you are intending to do - including independent study

Resources / What you will need to do it - including access to workshops

11st May Researching into creating

characters (conveying character visually) + creating characters for my animation.

• Books • Internet

(websites, videos)

2 8th May Looking into body language and emotion.

• Books • Internet (websites,

videos)• Capturing reference

footage3 15th May Looking into perspective and

proportions for characters.• Books • Internet

4 22nd May Looking into the animation software itself and experimenting with animation.

• Computer • Animation software

5 29th May Creating storyboard for the animation and beginning to draw

• Pencil and paper• Animation software

34

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

out key frames.6 5th June Producing final animations and

getting feedback along the way to see how to improve.

• Computer• Animation software

7 12th June Continuing to produce animations and altering based on feedback.

• Computer• Animation software

8 19th June Finishing up any leftover work and evaluating the project overall.

• Computer• Animation software

To produce this action plan I firstly thought about what I needed to research and wrote everything down. I worked out how many weeks I had firstly and then paired research topics that were similar so that I could get all the research I wanted to do in.

In terms of the budget for my project, I don’t have one as I am doing all of the work involved within the project myself and I have access to the resources that I need for research and for the production of my project. The only things I may have to purchase are books that I proposed to look at in my research plan.

In terms of using a location, the only real location I’m going to use for anything is recording reference material for my animations. The location I will be using for this will be at my own house most likely so the only real permission I’ll need will be from my parents, the owners of the property.

For the production of the project itself I will need a computer firstly because I will be producing a digital 2D animation and I will need the computer to achieve this by running the necessary software. Speaking of the necessary software that I will be using, Photoshop will be the software I will use when animating because firstly I have experience animating within Photoshop and have experimented with Photoshop. I also chose Photoshop because it was the most easily accessible in both the working environment and at home meaning I have the ability to work on it at any time.

As for post-production there may be some edits made depending on the feedback I get but I won’t be able to make very extensive changes considering that it is animation and there is so much that I will have to change if altering the drawing frames at all. Other than this there isn’t really going to be much post-production work as I won’t be adding effects or anything like this as I want to focus on the movement for this project. After producing this the main thing I want to do is present it to people to see what they think of what I have produced.

CHAPTER 4

Research Findings

This project is going to be based on my own experiences in life and the people I have seen and met in hope that people will be able to see what I have produced, relate to what I have produced and to feel certain emotions from what they are seeing.

35

LO 5.1 6.1 6.2 7.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Data analysis

What strategies did you use to analyse your data? What did you find out?

Conclusion - How did the research help me with my project?

What did you learn from your research and how it informed your project?

Originate a range of ideas – list all ideas you had and explain how you chose the final idea Analyse each idea for viability - use focus groups and lecturer to support Fill out the project proposalhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1WgRWxgwCZ6-

_faEITpjftJITGpFhs8RURuUnvnUyGeA/edit formhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1WgRWxgwCZ6-_faEITpjftJITGpFhs8RURuUnvnUyGeA/edit

CHAPTER 5

My Project

Introduction In this chapter you should present the level of self-direction, personal initiative and commitment necessary to progress ideas and find solutions, and the practical, theoretical and technical comprehension, appreciation, knowledge and proficiency necessary to achieve identified goals. The ability to plan and organise work within a given timeframe and the efficient production of outcomes both individually and collaboratively.

Pre-Production

Produce Pre-Production Portfolio which will formally define your project (location survey; risk assessment; treatment; script; budget; schedule etc.).

Pitch your proposal to the production board (video recording of your production board presentation)

Analyse your target audience. Investigate the target demographic and record the type of media or entertainment they consume

Production Project management techniques, (notes of team meetings; production and post-

production schedules; call sheets, etc.) Team and individual performance monitoring (weekly check against schedule)

36

LO 3.1 4.1 5.1 7.1 7.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Development – Demonstrate development (photos from the shoot, screenshots from computers). Keep daily production and post-production diary and reflect on your production process.

Post-production Describe post post-production of your project. Assess your production and post-production process. Describe, and critically analyses any

production problems and the solution you experienced.

Presentation

In this chapter, you should demonstrate the degree of competence and proficiency shown in the organisation and presentation of yourself and your work to an audience. Your EXTENDED PROJECT has to be presented appropriately (effectively; imaginatively) presented with suitable (relevant; purposeful) media conventions to suit the target audience.

Write about what influenced your decision to present your work in a certain way.

CHAPTER 6

MY EXTENDED PROJECT – FINAL PRODUCT

Here present your final EXTENDED PROJECT media production.

37

LO 4.1 7.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

CHAPTER 7

Project Evaluation

Critically evaluating your final media project against the agreed requirements and parameters. Answer following questions:

Introduce the project in your words List five strengths and five weaknesses in your final design Was there a theme for the design ideas? Can you describe it? Can you reference any

influences here? - art movements, designers, media companies/campaigns, etc. What experiments and exploration did you do (what happens if). How did it affect your

development? Find a similar type of design publication - place it next to your own - what

comparisons/difference can you identify? What were the key areas of development in this project? - use your daily reflections to

help you with this Review your proposal - what changed, what developments did you make, did you manage

to complete everything you set out to achieve? What did the client think of your concept? How did that make you feel? What could you do to adapt the work produced to improve and develop it? Is the final work appropriate for the needs of the project? Does it sufficiently answer your

brief? Reflect on your pitch to the board; how did you feel about it before? Did it go better or

worse than you expected? What was the feedback from the client/lecturer? What do you think you could improve next time?

Did it go better or worse than you expected? What was the feedback from your lecturer? What do you think you could improve next time?

38

LO 6.1 6.2

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

APPENDICES

Extended project in creative media production Learning Outcomes and Assessment

1. Be able to initiate and develop a creative media production project proposal.

1.1. Use critical and contextual perspectives to initiate a creative media production project proposal.

1.2. Use analysis and evaluation to clarify and develop ideas for a creative media production project proposal.

2. Be able to use research, analysis and evaluation to develop solutions for creative media production project.

2.1. Use research to support the development of a creative media production project.

2.2. Use analytical and evaluative skills to develop creative solutions to realise a media production project.

3. Be able to solve practical, theoretical and technical problems in a creative media production project.

3.1. Solve practical and technical problems within a creative media production project. 3.2. Solve theoretical problems within a creative media production project.

4. Be able to plan, organise and produce a creative media production project.

4.1. Demonstrate the ability to plan, organise and produce a creative media production project within an agreed timeframe.

5. Be able to use practical methods and skills in a creative media production project.

5.1. Demonstrate the exploration, adaptation and application of practical methods and skills in the realisation of a creative media production project.

39

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

6. Be able to use evaluative and reflective skills in the production of a creative media product.

6.1. Maintain evaluative and reflective records of the development and production of a creative media project.

6.2. Use evaluative and reflective skills to make decisions for a creative media production project.

7. Be able to present a creative media production project. 7.1. Explore strategies to present a creative media production project.

7.2. Present a creative media production project to a specified audience.

REFERENCES

Bibliography:

Actortips.com. (n.d.). Using Body Language in Acting | Actor Tips. [online] Available at: https://actortips.com/using-body-language-in-acting/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

Anderson, E. (2015). Teenagers spend 27 hours a week online: how internet use has ballooned in the last decade. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/11597743/Teenagers-spend-27-hours-a-week-online-how-internet-use-has-ballooned-in-the-last-decade.html [Accessed 23 May 2017].

Chapman, Alan. "Body Language - Guide To Reading Body Language Signals In Management, Training, Courtship, Flirting And Other Communications And Relationships". Businessballs.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 8 May 2017.

DC Comics. Superman As Depicted In "The World's Greatest Super-Heroes" (August 2005). Art By Alex Ross.. 2005. Web. 2 May 2017.

Draw with Jazza, (2014). How to Animate Cloth (Keyframe Animation Tutorial). [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/fHuzPA6a0Uw [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

Draw with Jazza, 2013. How to Create Characters (the Design Process). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj2J4tn4YI [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017].

Ekström, H. (2017). How Can a Character's Personality be Conveyed Visually, through Shape. 1st ed. [ebook] Visby, pp.6-13. Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:637902/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed 21 May 2017].

40

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Fowler, M. S., 2003. Animation Layout: Getting Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://www.awn.com/animationworld/animation-layout-getting-perspective[Accessed 18 04 2017].

Helsionium. Xenoblade Chronicles HD Cutscene 020 – Fiora’s Death – ENGLISH. 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2vMllYljc0 [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Helsionium. Xenoblade Chronicles HD Cutscene 042 – Unfinished Battle – ENGLISH. 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LR1NtZOISg [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

How To Convey Character’S Personality Through Shape, Variance And Size. GraphicMama. N.p., 2016. Web. 2 May 2017.

Media Molecule. An Image Of Sackboy From Little Big Planet Used For Promotional Material. 2008. Available at: https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/d/d2/1967640-sackboy_happy.png/revision/latest?cb=20161105235742 Web. 2 May 2017.

Miura, Kentaro, and Duane Johnson. Berserk. 1st ed. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Manga, 2006. Print.

Nintendo. This Is A Promotional Image For The Mario Franchise Character, Bowser As Imaged In New Super Mario Bros. 2.. 2012. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bowser_-_New_Super_Mario_Bros_2.png Web. 2 May 2017.

Nintendo. Promotional Artwork Of Mario, As Seen In New Super Mario Bros. Wii.. 2009. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MarioSMBW.png Web. 2 May 2017.

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 1 – Baby Steps In Adobe Flash. 2011 [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0igv_BKikg [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 2 – Frame By Frame F*Ggotry. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKJqmVGqOuY [Acessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Toon Tutorials – Ep 3 – Sound And Exportion. Abortion. Exporting. There Ya Go. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpNVipoV5kI [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

OneyNG. Oney’s Lip Sync Timing Tutorial – Adobe Flash. 2011. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a5sdWsRO5g [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Pardew, L. (2008). Character emotion in 2d and 3d animation. 1st ed. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology.

Parramon, J. M., 1988. Color Theory. 1st ed. s.l.:Watson-Guptill Publications.Pixar, n.d. Character Design. [Online] Available at: http://pixar-animation.weebly.com/character-design.html[Accessed 18 04 2017].

41

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Plural Sight. Animation Body Mechanics: The Importance Of Video Reference. N.p., 2014. Available at: https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/animation-body-mechanics-importance-video-reference [Accessed Web. 27 Mar. 2017].

Radcliffe, D. (2015). How Teens and Tweens use media and technology. [online] Themediabriefing.com. Available at: https://www.themediabriefing.com/article/how-teens-and-tweens-use-media-and-technology-six-areas-to-be-aware-of [Accessed 23 May 2017].

Robertson, E. Character Design Documentary - Rough Cut. 2013. [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/YiB594t7y4A [Accessed Tues. 18 Apr. 2017].

Williams Richard. The Animator’s Survival Kit. 1st ed. London: Faber and Faber, 2009. Print.

Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball Wiki. N.p., 2017. Available at http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Akira_Toriyama Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"Dragon Ball". Pinterest. N.p., 2017. Available at: Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure Of The Fated Child". Dragon Ball Wiki. N.p., 2017. Available at: http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Minus:_The_Departure_of_the_Fated_Child Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

manga?, What. "What Are The Steps Involved In Making A Professional Manga?". Anime.stackexchange.com. N.p., 2017. Available at: http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/13620/what-are-the-steps-involved-in-making-a-professional-manga Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"Pixar". Pixar.com. N.p., 2017. Available at: http://www.pixar.com/about/Our-Story Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

"Pixar's Animation Process". PIXAR. N.p., 2017. Available at: http://pixar-animation.weebly.com/pixars-animation-process.html Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Toei Animation,. Galick Gun. 2017. Available at: http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Galick_Gun Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

42

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

Washi, View. "Anime Production – Detailed Guide To How Anime Is Made And The Talent Behind It!". Washi's Blog. N.p., 2017. Available at: https://washiblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/anime-production-detailed-guide-to-how-anime-is-made-and-the-talent-behind-it/ Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Toriyama, A. (2009) Dragon ball Z. 1st ed. San Francisco: Viz, LLC.

Akira Toriyama interview:

: http://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/v-jump-may-2013-akira-toriyama-special-interview/

www.kanzenshuu.com/production/toriyama/

Dewilkingx1, (2017). Türkçe: Doğum 5 Nisan 1955 (61 yaşında) Meslek:Mangaka. [image] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AK%C4%B0RA_TOR%C4%B0YAMA.jpg [Accessed 5 Mar. 2017].

United Paramount Network,. Dragon Ball Z. 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

http://unitedparamountnetworkupn.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z

sakurablossom143,. Bakuman - Mashiro Moritaka G-Pen Replica (WIP). 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

http://sakurablossom143.deviantart.com/art/Bakuman-Mashiro-Moritaka-G-Pen-Replica-WIP-366204378

crack6670,. Retas Pro DEMO. 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlOKDTC3lBs

Bee, Tay. Manga Drawing And Inking Tutorial!. 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvDdjDCb4hw

Northern, Ben. Anime Storyboard. 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bnorthern/106093742

43

GO TO CONTENTS

Department of Media and Communication

clarkx,. Totoro Draft (Animated). 2017. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

http://clarkx.deviantart.com/art/totoro-draft-animated-318639010

Jurvetson, Steve. Toy Story 3. 2010. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/4634541472

Pixar,. Logo Von Pixar. 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.

Available at:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pixar.svg

SheckleRFan715,. Sherif Woody And Buzz Fight. 2010. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.

Available at:https://youtu.be/9nuoxJyUdfQ

Goodman, S. (2011). Pixar’s John Lasseter Answers Your Questions. [Blog] ArtsBeat. Available at: https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/pixars-john-lasseter-answers-your-questions/?_r=0 [Accessed 12 Mar. 2017].

44