LO1: Report

Studios:

Jellyfish Studios

Ardmann Studios:

Ghibli Studios:

Ghibli:

Ghibli Studios is a type of animation style/studio that uses 2D animation to create really intricate and clever products. Some of their most famous products are Spirited Away and Howls Moving castle. These are both feature length films that are made using 2D drawing and animation techniques.

One of the biggest changes between 3D animation and ghibli is that the animations are all hand drawn whether that be on paper using pen and pencils or using drawing tablets to create the frames. The style uses a lot of low frame rates in the products because this adds ore of the desired cartoon look that ghibli is know for.

The studio themselves is an independent animation studio who produce all of the effects and the products themselves this means that they can create easily recognisable styles for their animations that they have become well known for.

The target audience of the animation is young teen so 16-25 both male and female because of the natures of the animation and the gore that is in the film. e.g. shot below with blood on the screen. This allows the animation to be able to more accuratley tell the story through the use of gore and other effects.

Show:

Spirited Away:

Spirited away is a feature length film that is one of the best know animations that they have produced. The animation is about a little girl who has to survive through a dimension where humans are turned into monsters.

The animation style allows the film to really create a scary and suspenseful show that captures the audience's attention. The style of the animation also allows for the product to be easily recognisable and stand out when compared to the current selection of animations. The film was made using frame by frame animation to create the effect that the animation is os famous for. The film also would have a taken a very long time to make because of the animation style.

Jellyfish Studios:

Jellyfish studios are an animation studio who specialises in 3D animation they have made many different projects some of their most well known projects include Dreamworks How To Train Your Dragon 3. They created the baby dragons in the film as well as using pre existing models from the previous films. They are based in sheffield and have collaborated with other companies from all over the world. They also make vfx in big films such as Rogue One A Star Wars Story.

Another Animation studio is Ardmann studios. They are a stop motion animation studio. Who use little models usually made out of plasticine and they the take a photo and then move them and then take another photo until they have enough to make a episode. This is one of the more traditional styles of animation and often takes the longest. their most famous piece of work is the animation series wallace and gromit. This show has run for many years and has become one of the most famous pieces of animation in the world.

A different style of animation is 2D animation this is where the characters and the scenes are all either hand drawn or drawn on a computer using a mouse or a tablet. This can then be animated using either symbol animation or hand drawn frame by frame animation. Symbol animation can be used to significantly speed up the animation process and increase the rate of work that can be done by the studio it also makes a better product and simplifies the process for the animators.

There are several pieces of software that animators use such as Adobe Animate blender 3DS Max Maya these are all industry ready software that some are free and some are payed for. This means that some are open source and some are closed source this means that the software cannot be modded. The open source software can be modded and often have many plugins created for the software. Because the software is open source it means that anyone can use the software and create animations. For the paid software students can access most of the software through schemes for schools setups by the various different companies.

Shows: 

How To Train Your Dragon:

Digital 3D Animation

This is a series of 3 films and a long running tv show the film have become Dreamworks best known product and they are primarily an animation studio that specialises in 3D animation. They often collaborate with other companies such as Jellyfish studios to help them on certain arts of the product. the genre of the film is a sort of adventure in the first movie then it turns more to a love adventure film in the second and third film. The films had a bunch of main characters the most notably of which are Toothless and Hiccup. The brand that has been created form the series has become extremely popular. The work that jellyfish are responsible for are the Baby Dragons in the third and final movie. The target audience is someone who is about 6 and then has grown up with the brand until the films stopped being made around 18. (I was the target audience).

The models in this scene allow the audience and the animators to create emotion in the scene such as hope and joy for the audience the models have been created and positioned in such a way that means that the shot will be able to create emotions. The scene also represents the start of the enigma of the movie.

The target audience is kids and young teens (8-25) male and female this is because of the look and the theme within the animation and the models themselves for example the shot above shows all of the main characters which shows off the models and will appeal to more of the target audience.

Wallace And Gromit:

This is an old Animation series that has become on of the best and most famous examples of any animation. The studio that made the animation is called Ardmann studios. they are one of the oldest studios and the best known. They use a style of animation called Stop motion animation this is one of the longer ways to make an animation. The target audience for the animation is around 4 to about 60. This is because of the brand that it had built and the fans that have grown up with their work meaning that they have  a loyal fanbase that has increased. They still make other shows such as Shawn the sheep with is a kids show that is still shown and produced today. They also made Wallace and Gromit and Shawn the sheep films that were not just shows on tv. Their genre for the animation is usually comedy with a bit of drama.

For the show the characters and the models that are used have become iconic and allow the audience to be able to connect more with the characters. This not only makes the animation and the series more successful but it also allows the audience to enjoy and become fans of the animation. The models are created in such a way that they are lovable and this allows the target audience to enjoy the animation more.

The target audience is teens to young adults (8-35) male and female. This is because of the themes of adventure and the larger than life character models and environments. The models are made to look lovable and this allows the audience to get much more attached to the characters.

Most Famous Example:

Disney:

Disney started off as a animation studio with Mr Disney making defining the 12 principles of animation all of the other studios at that time and still to this day animators still use the principles that he made and used in  his work. The work that he did has become iconic he created the character Mickey Mouse and made several frame by frame animations of paper to create one of the most famous animations in the world. The animation that is played at the beginning of most Disney films the animation of Mikey on the boat. It represents the start of modern animation and the 12 principles of animation.

Another thing that Disney is very good at is using animation to create ideal self's and telling storylines that have become one of the most loved and known storylines in all of animation such as Frozen and the Jungle Book. Some of these animation have become some of the most famous and well known animation ever made both using 2D animation and 3D techniques.

Animation Styles And Techniques:

3D Digital Animation:

This is the most common type of animation for most animation based films this is because of a couple of things. One of these is that the animation can be done digitally removing both a lot of time and effort to having to recreate each frame again the computer can store the data for more than one frame and this allow the animators to focus more on the fine detail than the basic animation itself. Another advantage for this type of animation is that it can be a very quick and easy way to render out scenes or to block out the movement and then pass on the scene to another team it allows for the easy streamlining of the animation process. This will allow the whole project to be a lot more efficient and a lost more cost effective while still achieving the same level of quality.

2D Digital Animation:

Arcane:

This is a modern 2D and 3D animation with the backgrounds being 3d and then using cameras and perspective to make the 2D animation seamlessly blend the 2 methods and make a better product. This is one of the first animation series to use this technology. It is an effective way to create the animation it is also faster and more efficient because they can make one 3D scene and then change it instead of having to redraw it on each frame, significantly speeding up the process. It was also a show about characters from a game meaning that the animation brought attention to the game and the game brought attention to the series. The series is an adventure and its theme is steampunk sci fi. The target is anyone from 14 to 24.

For other kinds of animation there is the technique of drawing out individual frames and then either manually putting them together or using software like adobe animate to animate parts in these frames. this type of animation has evolved from frame by frame animation using paper and pens to be able to create massive shots using amazing artwork strung together on a computer to create visually unique and stunning products. In terms of the hardware that is used in this type of animation it ranges from paper and pencil all the way to workstation pcs which use a drawing tablet to simulate and allow the animation complete control over the frame. Because there is less computer input it means that this style of animation usually takes a very long time because of the small amount of artists that will work on a project to keep the style the same.

The scene that is showed here is one of the largest of the establishing shot it shows the audience the world where the story will be taking place and allows them to look at at the models and create and join in much more with the story-world, this in turn allows the audience to enjoy the animation a lot more. It also uses the idea of ideal place with the audience being presented an idyllic landscape which they can then imagine themselves in.

For this animation the target audience is (16-25) young teens mostly female. This is because of the shows use of blood and gore to tell a more interesting story. It also has models that will appeal to this age range. Example below. Another reason that it will appeal to the target audience is because of the models such as the props in the series such as weapons and viechles appealing and fitting in with the dystopian theme of the animation.

Different Cultures:

Different places in the world will use different styles of animation because of their culture. For example in Japan where Anime was created they use a vastly different style of animation to that of the USA who uses a lot of 3D animation. Both of these styles of animation have the ability to look and produce amazing final products. The styles themselves vary in that one will use only 3D assets an animation techniques using models. While the other is 2D animation usually Cell animation. The different types of animation in different cultures allow the animation to create ideal self's for the audience as well as creating both visceral and emotional reaction from their audiences. Whether this is Anime or Dreamworks they are both very good at creating fans and brining fans together through social media. Allowing the animations to gain more intrigue by people talking and getting excited about the animation.

Frame-Rate:

Big big difference is the frame rate at which the animations are made for the style of anime they are created using a much lower frame rate this is because the style is almost like and animated comic which means that the drawings can be really high quality but the frame rate will be a lot lower compared. To 3D animation because that style uses computer to allow them to create the product digitally. While Anime would have been hand drawn when it was first created.

LO1 practicing software

The software that will be using is adobe animate for most of the animation (and possibly blender for some 3D cgi shots to add variety to the animation). The reason why I have chosen to use adobe animate is because it has all of the features I may need such as being able to handle 3D as well as 2D animation. It is also able to allow me to be able to rig directly inside of animate without having to use separate software this simplifies and streamlines the workflow making me more efficient when I actually make the final animation.

For parts of the animation I will also be using the 3D software Blender to create parts of the animation. I am using this software to create the 3d parts of the animation. For example I will be creating the opening using 3D animation instead of 2D. I will also create other scenes in the animation using this technique

I have made a simple video showing how I have proven I can use the software and use the basic tools such as tweening and manipulating shapes in the software to achieve the desired effect.

Video for practice anim

LO3: Production Schedule

 

LO3: Evaluation justification of frame rates and duration

For the frame rate of the animation I chose to use 24 frames per second this allowed me to create a much more cinematic and nicer looking animation.

I made the animation around 1 minute 20 this was so that I could keep the audiences interest while I was also able to convey the main message of the animation. I did this because short form content is much easier and better for younger audiences to understand for example ticktock and youtube shorts.

LO3: User testing

The feedback that I received for the animation was all positive withe the people that I showed it to saying they really liked the style and theme of the animation. The only improvement that they could think of was to make the animation a bit longer and add a couple more animated shots to replace some of the less visual parts of the animation. For my next steps I will take onboard my audience feedback and add some more shots to the animation. Allowing me to make my animation a lot better.

LO3: Project files

The files for each of the shots in the final animation were kept on a SD card that I could use to transfer the project between devices so that i could work on the animation no matter where I was and which device I was using.

LO3: Log Assets And Footage

 

LO3: Create And Edit Assets

This is one of the first shots that I made for the animation. I first started by using 1 layer to create the original shape and colour of fire. I did this by using the paint brush tool to allow me to create the images. I set the smoothing of the brush to the highest level to ensure that the strokes were much more joined up and smoother.

I then added a second layer and added another drawing of the fire in a different colour when these were then animated it allowed me to create the effect of a fire burning at the bottom of the page. I then also added a text layer to the shot which had a fade in effect as well as some movement and then a fade out effect.

For this shot I decided to make a circle and animate the amount that this circle was going to filled in with either green or black. I first made the circle layer and then put the green layer underneath the circle. I was able to use the onion skinning tool to show me where the previous frame had coloured in allowing me to create a much smoother animation.

I then added a black layer that covered over the green layer to represent the audio that went with the shot. I then finished up the shot by adding in some text to help illustrate and communicate the purpose of the shot to the audience.

This is nother shot that I made using adobe animate the photo itself was rather simple to create. I used a technique of fading in and fading out the text with some various frame by frame movements. I achieved the fading effect by setting the text to a different colour on each different frame. I did this until the text was completely black and i then reversed these frames to achieve the opposite effect fading from black to white.

For this shot I then wanted to get the effect of time passing by as the shot continued. I achieved this by for every animated frame I increased the year by one I then continued to do this for all of the frames up to the 100th frame. This allowed me to show and create the passing of time throughout the shot and let the audio fit in much better with the shot.

This is another shot that I used the same fading and jitter effect for. The only difference is the time the that the text needed to stay on screen for. In this case the text needed to stay on screen for about 3 seconds. So I simply moved the frames that had the fade out to later in the animation.

For this shot I wanted to and some kind of background so I imported some free video into after effects where I then layered the footage over the exported video to create the final shot I then used premier pro to create a side crossfade effect on the shot.

This was the next shot that I made. I started this shot by getting some more footage of a forest burning. I then used a mask in after effect to achieve the same text effect. I then fine tuned the position of the text and the video to make sure that the shot was clearly able to be read.

I then added the shot to the final timeline in Premiere Pro I could then change the speed and the duration of the shot.

For this shot I used the same text effect to create the title end sequence. I first placed the text on the page in red and then made the text overlayed with the footage.

The final shot had to be changed slightly because of the need for a longer fade out and the speed of the footage that was behind the text.

This shot was on eof the longest because of the amount of time that the audio was. I first used a simple image that I got from the internet and animated a fade in and then I also added another layer that had the animals fading out.

I used another layer to create and animate the red crosses that appear as the audio is played. The animals slowly get crossed out to signify the extinction of the species. I then added one final layer to the shot which allowed me to make a animated fade to black so that it would fit into the rest of the sequence.

This is the audio effects file for the animation it contains all of the effects that I have used throughout the animation. Such as the water sounds and the fire as well as the paper writing.

This is the audio for the narrator. For the entire animation.

This shot was one of the most complex to make because it used many different layers. The first layer is composed of the map of the uk which I have then added an animation that adds lots of lines that increase in number as the animation plays.

I then added the final layer to the shot. Which was to use a green colour to slowly unfill the outline of the UK this simulates the industrial takeover of the country and the end of the natural landscape. I then added this shot to the final sequence.

 

LO2: Script

 Script For Unit 10 Animation 

Opening scene 10 seconds 

1. This is the earth 

2. The earth has just broken the population milestone of 8 billion people. 

3. That means that for each square mile on earth there are approximately 129 people. 

4. This includes the whole of the world's surface, When in fact 70% of the world is covered by water. 

5. As a species we only inhabit 10% of the world. This means that the rapid expansion of humanity has led to relentless exploitation of the world's natural resources. 

 

6. Over the entire course of our existence, we have lost 95% of the animal population. This is partly because of natural selection, but the number has been greatly enhanced by the effects and action of humans. The biggest of these actions being the destruction of their natural habitats like the Amazon rainforest. 

 

7. The rainforest is being cut and burnt down at a faster rate than ever at 78 million hectares being lost each year. 

8. The rainforest is home to many different and unique species. Some only being found there. This means that with the destruction of their home they are becoming extinct. The rainforest is being cut down to allow for unsustainable farms that ruin the land that they are built on. 

 

9. All these factors combined means that the destruction of the entire rainforest seems likely. The current estimate is that all of the rainforests will be gone by the year 2100. This is within most of our lifetimes. This means that we are the last generation that will be able to stop this catastrophic natural destruction. 

10. 
    

10. There are many different things that we can do to limit the spread and damage caused. For example, we can stop using single use plastics. This will dramatically reduce the amount of waste that we produce. 

We can also recycle more to make sure that we reuse as many resources as we can.

11. All of these small actions can have a massive impact on the environment. We can stop this but only if we all put in the effort.