Animation Evaluation

Larry The Dino Animation Evaluation






In regards to reviewing the animation project, I intend to produce a written report.  The project itself has many topics that will need to be individually reviewed. This will therefore take a while to produce. An oral presentation would possibly be less of an in depth review and I may find myself summarizing to often. An audio commentary has similar problems as its far easy to miss information or ramble on about unnecessary topics. Writing a report will allow me to include in depth analysis that focuses on the individual aspects of the animation project.

Once the animation was complete, it was uploaded to the BTEC media's YouTube channel. This is were not only mine but the whole class's work was exhibited. I could also broaden the EStings' exhibition to a large audience by uploading to other online websites such as Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter etc. I could also have entered my short ESting into a number of other competitions (Editing would be necessary) such as film festivals. However as the competition rules state, the final animation should not be entered into other competitions so I have therefore limited its exhibition to YouTube.

In order to gain opinions on the ESting, I sent a number of emails to college students asking for feedback to the animation. I tried to make the questionnaire as thorough as possible without boring the people that agreed to give feedback. In order to do this, I used a variety of questionnaire styles such as multiple choice and small comment boxes. I used Survey Monkey to create my questionnaire. The questionnaire itself is split into seven categories:

- Genre & audience
- Content & narrative
- Style (of animation; claymation, puppets, models, etc.)
- Characters (development, quality of production, costume, etc.)
- Techniques & technical qualities (frame rate, movement, skill in animating multiple actions)
- Aesthetic qualities (the way it looks; mise-en-scene etc.)
- Creative qualities (imagination and flair) .


This is the actual survey that I used:








Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

As you can see , most viewers thought that the ESting was aimed at a young target audience. I was originally unsure of how young the target audience would be, but it has become clear to me that the TA is in fact a range of ages from as young as 12 to late teens (18). The slight Gorey aspect of the ESting raises the target audience as most parents would not allow their child to view violence in any form.













As you can see from this graph, the audience clearly new that the ESting was an animation. However looking at the other results, apart from the obvious choice being animation, most people had different opinions on the genre. As you can see a small majority of thought that the genre of the ESting was a Comedy. Overall, the majority knew that the ESting was an animation, however apart from the obvious, each viewer chose a different option from a Thriller to an Action short.









In regards to the content of the ESting, the results were very positive. The most comment went along the lines of the ESting being "Fun and imaginative" and it being scary due to the violence and gore factors. I'm very happy with these results as I wasn't sure if people would like the violence being used in an animation, which is a genre renowned for its lack of violence. I particularly liked the comment that enjoyed the imaginative element of the short. I decided that mixing the two genres of Horror and Animation, would be a interesting and creative. I was not sure how it would be perceived so i'm very happy with the outcome.



The most popular aspect of my ESting, are the characters. I enjoyed creating both the clay models, as it opens a creative and artistic side of myself, that is not usually exposed. I thought that the Dinosaurs come out very well, both of which looking very realistic but also holding the key clay feel that Aardman gives their characters. I'm therefore very pleased that the characters were also liked, considering that they were one my very first models that I have ever made.



The least favorite aspect of the ESting was chosen as being the ESting's setting. I personally didn't see a problem with the setting when shooting, but looking back at the final copy, i can see how the setting is very basic. Looking back I wish i would have created an interactive setting, with clay trees, stumps, shrubs etc.



The overall opinion regarding the EStings style is very positive, all of the viewers agreed that the claymation was smooth and visually pleasing to the eye.



This question only backs up my previous statement regarding the characters, however one comment suggested that models could moved with more realism. To be honest I agree, with that statement and if I was to repeat the task, I would have been more creative with the way in which the models move. However considering the time restraints and lack of space to record, I feel that the ESting is okay.

Constraints

In regards to any constraints, the simplicity of the short allowed me to achieve the standard of short that I first intended. In terms of legal issues and financial issues, the fact that I didn't have to work with Actors/Actresses means that I did not have to deal with release forms and could avoid any legal issues. Financially I faced zero issues. I filmed in college, with professional grade equipment, including DSLR's, Tri-pods, lighting.

Time Management

Due to the large size of the group, most people decided to work in groups with a small amount of student opting to work alone. I myself had already brainstormed ideas, of which all of them would be fairly easy to shoot alone. Obviously with animation there are now actors and actresses on set, so if I was going to work in a group, it would only be down to spreading the work load and gaining multiple opinions. However, i had previously shot animation and I knew that it would okay for me to work alone on this project. Editing wise, very little work is needed and I finished editing with plenty of time remaining. The Pre-production was the most relentless stage of the unit. Designing the set, models and then creating both took a lot longer than I first predicted. However in my case, it was also the most important, as poor looking models and sets can seem unprofessional and ruin the short regardless of how well they moved and were shot. The actual shooting of the ESting was very quick and efficient. The only issues that took longer than I first thought, was framing the shot. I had initial problems with the Canons 18-55mm lens, so I decided to use a 30-300mm lens that allowed me to frame the shot correctly. Overall I feel as though I managed my time effectively and in the correct production stages. Looking back at the unit, I found that previously shooting a test run, helped the final production as I had gained a little experience as to what worked well and would did not.

Pre-production: 14th - 22nd November

Filming: 25th November - 6th December

Editing: 9th - 143 December

Meeting the Requirements of the Brief

One of the most important aspects of the ESting competition brief, was to abide by the specific rules of the competition.

RULES:
1.
e4 can’t show anything explicit or violent in the daytime, but we might be able to after the watershed as long as it’s broadcastable. So – within reason – your idea can be quite naughty / irreverent / provocative and the like. Use your common sense though; anything too grim or sexually explicit won’t get shown at all.

2.
It HAS to be EXACTLY 10 seconds long. If it’s not 10 seconds long IT WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED BY THE JUDGES. Sorry, but we’re strict.

3.
You HAVE to use one of the 10-second audio beds supplied.

4.
It HAS to have the E4 logo in it… but you probably could’ve guessed that.

I feel that I have effectively met each rule, ultimately allowing me to (If i wanted to) enter the ESting competition next year. Rule one, applies directly to my idea and at first I was unsure of the rules in regards to explicit content and broadcasting after watershed. However after reading this rule, the violent aspect of the ESting would be acceptable in the competition as they would be able to air it after watershed (9pm).

As you can see from the final piece of work I was able to meet the 10 second limit for each short. It was not too much of a problem as even if i had over shot, I would have been able to edit the footage in Premier Pro CS6. I also used one of the supplied audio beds that worked far better with the style of the short that I thought it would. I decided to edit the E4 logo into the short as it would ultimately look far less unprofessional. If you watch the credits, I created a custom E4 logo in a Jurassic Forrest style which faded into the original E4 logo.

I decided that I would obtain feedback by send the questionnaire, to member of my college and family as well as close friends. Overall I was able to source a good understanding of what worked well as well as areas that need improvement. The general response from the people that I contacted was very positive. Most of the people i questioned thought that the characters looked very detailed and that the animation was very smooth.

What I have learn't from the Unit

I personally feel as though I was lucky to find very little issues with the project. Any issues that I did face were easily corrected or altered. I feel that if anything I've learnt from previous mistakes and am able to avoid them completely. I found time management easier than when I first started the year and I believe that its purely down to experience. I had previously shot animation and enjoyed it. I knew that it was something that I enjoyed and allowed me to express my more creative side that I rarely show. The experience that I gained from the initial animation shoot, allowed me to shoot and prepare with efficiency.

Working within the Media Industry

Initially I thought that working a brief would be very easy, as they are usually very clear and easy to follow. However , it soon became apparent that I would struggle to hold back my creative instincts to shoot more and ultimately create something that I would be more proud of. I had begun finding myself constantly looking back at the brief so that I did not go overly crazy with my ideas and so that I would be able to meet the briefs requirements.

Honestly, I feel that animation as a career would be very interesting. The role of an animator seems to suit my personality and it would allow me to reach goals and preferences that I hold. I'm a person that wants to succeed and do everything to the best of my ability. I'm also a person that is rather pretentious and perfection is key in anything that I love to do. I often find myself slacking at things that I do not enjoy. I find it very difficult to control the procrastinator inside. However I've always succeeded and shone in things that I enjoy doing, and animation is one of them. Whether animation would be a viable career path is another question, but it something that I enjoy and will consider studying in the future.