Animation Research and Practice - Week 11 - Project Progress

For this week I wanted to concentrate on getting my animatic done in rough so that I could then carry on adding too it and changing things.

Below is adding more frames after what I had shown last week.
Again I have taken the section out from my storyboards, where the bubble surrounds her and I think this has worked well and it has more flow now.

animatic 14 only so far from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.

Again I carried on adding to it and making the timings of parts better, for instance when she is being dragged down I wanted her to be fast but also has some slow parts where we see close ups of her face. I also wanted it to be dynamic that is why she is pulled from one side to the other and then down the front of the screen.
animatic 16 so far from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.


I knew I wanted it to then go into her point of view, original I was going to have it just cut to seeing threw her eyes, but while I was animating I got the idea of the blink of shock when she wakes up after being smashed on the floor. I think this works better than my original idea.

I know the blink needs fixing on the timing and it wont look like this in the final look, as I know blinks are not just a black line.

17 blink from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.


This is the blink added to the first bit of the animatic.
animatic 17 so far from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.



Next I went onto the memories section and from last week I wanted these to be animated more as they were really static and weren't coming across properly.
I feel they are starting to come across a bit better now that they are moving.
I thought adding more blinks between the memories work work as a good transition between the memories.
animatic 19 so far from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.



Below is with the last memory of the army boot marching towards they screen and then that transitions the screen.
20 so far 2 from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.





Below is the animatic so far but with added music. I have added more of an ending to this animatic. I have repeated the feet part but instead of jumping she takes a step back. I wanted this part to be like she got help or there was hope almost.
But the tentacle part after shows how that she may never get away from the depression.

Both videos have the same animatic but the scores are different.

The first score I prefer as it is sad and the strings sound sad and emotional and i feel it fits well with what I am trying to create.
22 with first score from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.


Below is the second score, although I like it I do feel it doesn't fit as well as the first one, but I want to show both to the class and see what they think.
22 with second score from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.


Music and Sound Effects:

I got all the music off of Ben sound the link is below. non of it is my own music and they are a royalty free site.

I found 4 different one from the link below that I liked but once they were put to the animatic they did not work and did not match. The two above I liked, but as I have said I prefer the first one called Better Days.

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/cinematic

Reference Videos and Images:

Below is the reference videos I have taken this week and I think they will help with my animation. I like the foot one especially as you can see the toes moving as Bethany is balancing and I feel this will add to my character and work. 

Some of the videos have come out smaller, but they are still usable.
reference videos from Summer Davies-Newton on Vimeo.

Ethics Report:
I have known since the first couple of weeks of doing this project I would have to right an ethics report. I have finished it and found it useful to go through the process for future reference and to bare things in mind. I am waiting to hear back from Denise and hope that it is accepted.

Below is the final report.

4^th October – 2:00pm – 3:30pm

11^th October – 2:00pm - 3:00pm

I asked both my Mum and my Dad the 30^th September, if they would be willing to come into University and be recorded in the sound booth and talk about their experiences of Depression and how it makes them feel.

When they came to the university and tried to make sure they were comfortable as possible. Getting them food and drink, making sure they were sat in the sound booth the way they wanted (next to each other). They are my parents so we were chatting and it felt pretty relaxed.

I did give a sheet of basic question:

1.       How does depression make you feel?

2.       How do you cope with depression?

3.       When did you first start to realise you were becoming depressed?

Although I gave them the questions, I did say that they did not have to follow them and that they could say what they felt like saying. I also made sure they knew that we could stop at any point they wanted to. I also made sure they had read the questions before they were recorded and they both agreed they were okay questions.

I felt like the both recordings went well. The first time we recorded my dad need a bit of encouraging from my mum, but they were both happy. It was a shame that the first lot of recordings did not come out as clearly as they should of. The second time we recorded it was exactly the same apart from I only got my mum to record. I still made sure she was comfortable and she was happy at the end of the recording.

Both times we recorded we had to stop a couple of times because of becoming emotional, but we chatted for a while and made sure my mum was the one to say when she wanted to carry on.

If I was to do something similar to this again, or if I had used a person I did not know I would do it very differently.

I would make sure that the participant had signed a consent form, which stated all the questions that would be asked and that we both agreed on the questions, along with what would happen and what they were volunteering too. I would also make sure the participant was anonymous, this would include them being referenced as a letter or a number, whenever mentioned.

I would make sure they are comfortable at every stage of the recording and they felt calm and okay. This including anything from getting them food and drink and just talking to them normally. I would also make sure that what was being asked, they were okay with answering and that if they happened to get upset, that the recording would immediately stop and I would get the participant anything they needed to feel okay again. Even if that meant stopping the recording all together.   

Feedback:

I still need to fix the ending and add too it as it suddenly just ends. The feet are okay and timed okay but the part where the credits comes up need to be moved to after my mum finishes talking as Sam felt it distracted away from what my mum was saying and looking at it now I agree.

I need to hold the black screen at the end for a few more frames to let the audience breathe and her what my mum is saying.

I need to research more into blinks as they are not a black colour and a solid line or colour. But this can be something for the final film not for the animatic.

Everyone agreed that the first score sounded better and so I will be using that one. The second score gave off a vibe of hope, which is not what I was gong for, depression isn't something you just quickly get over.  I still need to think about sound effects and whether they will add to my animation. I hope to test this soon.