Questionnaire

1. What do you feel was your greatest accomplishment this year? What was the single biggest learning outcome that you achieved?

My biggest accomplishment this year was being able to persist in spite of repeated failures. My Biggest learning outcome is understanding that I shouldn't be focusing too much on the end goal. I did learn a lot about constructing stories.

2. What one piece of advice would you give future students? What helpful nugget of wisdom do you think they should know in order for them survive and flourish on this course?

Don't be a perfectionist. Stick to the deadlines on the course. Do the best you can do and then move on. Don't let your pride get in the way of the animation.

3. What mistakes did you make, or regrets do you have about the past year? How do you plan to tackle and avoid these issues in the future?

I worked hard but not smart. I caused myself more work then was necessary, by dramatically changing my story constantly I kept sending myself back to square one. On top of this I choose a tedious process to animate. In future I must aim to not fuss over my work, and to pick a realistic animation process.

My Process

Firstly i would draw the character.

Then i would use my light-box to trace the drawings 12 times in pencil. 

Then i would lightly erase the pencil markings.

On six of the sheets the outline was drawn in oil pastel, on the other six sheets the fill was drawn in marker.

Once scanned the images would be brought into Adobe After Effects. 

The images are then edited. This is done separately for the Fill Layer and the Line Layer. Then they are combined.

They are cut to a sixth of a second in length in a minute long composition.

"This composition is known as fill 1".

Then a new composition is made of the right length of the scene.

This is known as "fill 2"

"Fill 1" is placed into "fill 2" as many times as necessary. In this case it was 3 times

Next i make a new composition called "fill 3". In "fill 3" I place "fill 2"

This mean that i can now edit "fill 2" in it's entirety. I now apply the extract keying effect removing the white from the scene.

After one has repeated this process with the related line layer, it is time to unite them. 

When both layers are present I invert the fill layer. 

Now it's time to place the figure in the scene. 

I change the levels of brightness and contract on the man. 

The background is created by applying liquid Fractal Noise effect to a solid layer in a composition then bringing that composition in and turning it into a Overlay layer and applied to a water coloured page. This same is done for the sky just it is a gas fractal noise effect. These layers are angled to give a feel of depth.  Contrast and brightness levels have also been changed. 

The end product winds up looking like this.

For more complex scenes I would draw the limbs separately.

Light Box

 I made myself a light box in order to work from home. It was pretty good.
 I cut a square in the top of the box and placed acetate over it. I cut a square in the side of the box in order to insert a light through it. The inside of the box is covered in tin foil to reflect the light back up at the acetate.

Drowned out, 8 scenes unfinnished