Evaluation

For a separate animation project, we had to find a client to choose and produce what they would ask us to animate. This could have been either an entry for a competition, or a company looking for someone to produce a visual media for their idea. For my project, I chose to participate in the “Moving Picture” competition for the RSA Student Design Awards website. The task was to produce a one minute piece of animation, accompanying the audio footage provided on their website. The two topics that were recorded to choose from were “Curiosity” and “Design and Society”. I chose to work with the Curiosity subject, as the audio gave me a better vision on what to produce for the animation.

In the audio clip on Curiosity, the talker explains how curiosity reflects on us, in our families and at work or schools, how technology can be linked into it and come in to many uses, and how it much more superior than just giving or being given facts on the subject we want. My idea for the animation was to illustrate what was being said in the clip, but while also telling a story at the same time. The first thing that came into my head was the phrase “Curiosity killed the cat”. But seeing how I wanted to make this a more positive outcome, I wanted to use that term and tweak with it, so the main characters, of course, were cats. In the story side to this film, one domestic feline is being curious as to where the milk from his dish came from. As his curiosity builds ups, he would then ask a friend who would give an answer, this being that milk is mostly from cows. This answer then grows to an even bigger and more curious question, as the cat asks his friend where one can find cows and learn more about them. This follows to the part where the narrator explains the technological side of the topic, as the cats come across a computer and look up some information on what cows are and where they can be found. This makes the question grow further as the cats find a nearby farmyard and how they can travel towards it. As they reach their destination, the story ends with them finally seeing a herd of cattle right in front of them, but their journey could either be complete or just the start of something bigger in the future.

For the film, I used Adobe Flash to make a 2D animated short. The techniques I used for walk cycles and anything looping in the background was all done by saving them as graphic symbols, to which then I could open them up and work with the timeline inside the graphic object. The graphic symbol could then enable me to playback the object with the rest of the film, as opposed to a movie clip giving a freeze-frame in the scene. For the cats, I had to use a reference for a walk cycle so they move correctly. I wanted the short to have a cartoony, kid-friendly style, but while sustaining to the narration and the topic at hand. In one scene in which the narrator quotes “Curiosity and creativity are killed by too many facts”, this scene was split into two concepts.  The first concept showed a cartoon gag-like scene, where I wanted to illustrate the quote, but also make it slightly comical but also getting the message across. It portrays Curiosity and Creativity as the heroes, while the Facts were either bullies or a gang of thugs. But the two main characters would win the fight. This idea was put aside as I felt this would not work well for the general audience. The 2nd was suggested to be illustrated like a weather forecast on a news channel. After pitching the idea and showing the two alternatives, the first idea turned out to be the better concept and was placed back into the production. Another example I did with illustrating while also toying with the quote was at the beginning where the narrator quotes “Curiosity is a muscle. Use it or lose it.”

The final animation was completed in time for the competition, but was not shortlisted.  I then had to showcase it to some participating people and ask them to fill out some questions on this project. The results were generally positive, as they enjoyed watching it through and thought it gave out the message really well.  They really liked the cartoony style and use of characters I created, along with the story that tied in with the subject. While some pointed out the speed of the animation was constraint by the narration, they said that I should have brought down the pace a little more to help the audience understand the story better, while one major scene which could have been omitted was the opening arm-muscle gag.

In conclusion, the project was mostly positive and given an above average rating. This was a fun project to work with, along with creative ideas and how I could portray my own vision on the subject. The response from the film not being shortlisted in competition was not a huge loss, as i was also being given feedback from the audience, and knowing that they enjoyed it and found the message I was trying to spread. The animation did have some flaws, such as the first sequence being misleading, I still managed to produce what was important and get the responses I was looking for. Working on a solo project, however, was difficult in many ways, but could be simplified with the tools from experience and finding out any easier methods to develop the animation. This will help me learn what to improve and how to enhance my skills for any future projects I may be involved, if I do work within the animation industry, and in 2D flash animation.