Improvements Based On Crit + Final Version Of Animation + Personal Reflection

After hearing about Simons concerns surrounding our animation, with it being too long and that the final scene looks off, today I decided to improve up this. The most pressing issue was the time in which the animation currently sits at, 3:10, which is 1:10 above the time specified on the brief (2:00). Originally I thought that this would not pose as much of a problem, as it shows that I have gone over and above in order to create an animation. However I now realise that I have been given at time limit and by going past it shows that I have not fully understood the brief. This would not be acceptable if done on a professional production, with a time specified by the client and so why would this be any different. 

My reason for going so far past the time was that I wanted my main contribution to the project to be done to the best of my ability. This lead to me adding in additional actions to Moom in order to better fit the brief of a comedy. This had the effect I wanted, however cause the animation to be far too long. I was then worried if I increase the speed of certain scenes that the animation would become too confusing to follow along with. I also did not want it to lose its comedic timing. However it was useful to hear the critique about the pacing of the animation from Simon himself, as he was the one who requested that the speed increased. This must meant that he was able to understand what was happening, to the point that it felt unnecessarily slow. 

I started the improvement by firstly watching back the animation in Premier Pro and noting down shots which seemed to overstay their welcome. By trimming them down this was an easy time save. I then started to increase the speed of certain scenes in order to save time. After doing this to a few scene, I actually found that the animation looked much better, with actions performed by Moom looking more fluid. This added to the cartoonish actions which increased the comedy making the animation more enjoyable to watch. For some shots I sped up only parts which seemed slow and then spliced it with the original version. After going through the animation I found that I was able to get it all the way down to 2:20, which fits in the 10% stated on the brief. I am really happy that I was able to do this as not only did it improve the quality of the animation, but now I know that my marks will be based on the quality of my work, rather than the fact that the animation is too long. 

I then put the animation back into Audition and moved around all of the sound files to fit what was going on, on screen. This was a long and tedious process however it was worth it in the end to create a better animation. I really feel that the sounds add a lot of character which I was unable to convey solely through the characters actions. 

Another change I made was to the final scene in which Mooms face becomes distorted. Simon felt that this was unnecessary and did not match the rest of the animation, causing it to negatively stand out. I decided to remove it, replacing it with a simpler laugh. 

Final Animation

Reflection 

At first I struggled a bit with working in a group as I quickly learnt that everyone works to a different pace and standard. This meant that when certain jobs were assigned to certain people, the work was not getting done on time. This then messed up the flow of work in which I produced as I was unable to get an understanding of what stage the project was at. As the project was marked individually, I wanted to make sure that regardless of what others in my group were doing, my work was always done to the best of my ability. I found myself completing other jobs within the project, which weren't done by the assigned people, in order to make sure the project stayed on track. I mainly did this for my own benefit as I struggle to see the final product, if their is not a clear path as to how you got their. I find that continuing on becomes confusing as I have not shown the processes as to how I arrived upon an idea. I ended up not only completing my jobs as the Researcher, Cinematographer, Sound Designer, Marketing, Pre-Viz Editor, Animator, Compositor and Editor, but also, 3D Modeller, Layout Artist, Producer and Story Director. I felt bad that a large majority of the final animation, is all my ideas, however I had to constantly produce work in order to keep the project going, to ensure we as a group would meet the deadline. I realise that I don't always use my time wisely when working on other projects and so I end up producing work which seems rushed. I did not want this to be the case for this project as It would effect others on the team and so I kept to a strict time schedule in which I wanted to produce work by. By doing this, I managed to give myself a lot of time with the final animation and was able to produce a final piece of work in which I am proud of. Although we were met with challenges within our group, by the end we were able to come together and had a workflow which benefitted the final quality of the animation. My team was reliable enough by the end to allow me to focus all my attention solely on the animation side of things. Overall I am happy that we were able to finish the project in time for the deadline, with a piece of work I feel matched the criteria. By doing the research at the beginning, it allowed me to have a greater understanding of comedy and characters, which I feel reflects in the final product.