OUAN505 - Discussing Roles:
In order to make our project more organised, we worked out certain roles between us and who would like more practice and experience with certain aspects of the post-production. We decided amongst us that Alex would work on the title sequence which was simply the opening of curtains combined with an overlay of text quite possibly splitting and sliding off screen along with the curtains. David would work on the end credits of which would consist of small animations or images of each character surrounded by a bounding circle which would move onto screen and display the end credit text in a sequence of roles followed by the specific people who engaged in them.
Seeing as our soundtrack sounded a little unenthusiastic and blues-like, a fellow offered to give it a trial run and sing for us on Monday. Katy happily agreed to volunteer and sing our lyrics over a backing track of which we were very pleased about. This will then require minimal editing of which can be done in the space of a day.
I will be working on the poster aspect of the post-production of our project. This will require me to have a good knowledge of graphic design of which I am keen to work on. I am also very fond of working in Illustrator which will be a fun and beneficial task for me. We all work in a fairly consistent style and communicate appropriately to get all three aspects done on time and in the right style.
Showing posts with label Production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Production. Show all posts
Friday, 24 April 2015
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: A Song of Type and Titles
OUAN505: A Song of Type and Titles:
To help us understand type and titles a little bit more as we have merely scratched the surface of what vast knowledge lies within graphic design, we were given a session on playing with type and how this could benefit out project for Applied Animation. I now have a rough understanding of kerning, leading, typing on a path, what fonts make for good projects and why, connotations behind certain fonts, and so forth.
I'm currently reading a book called Typography by Harris/Ambrose which is actually quite useful in giving me a recap on the things Annabeth taught us. My ideas for our title sequence were things like 'The Good Life' title sequence where quite blocky text is revealed around an object (could be a piece of fruit or veg to relate to the band). 'Eating Healthy with HiVit' has a nice ring to it.
There are also some useful websites such as
To help us understand type and titles a little bit more as we have merely scratched the surface of what vast knowledge lies within graphic design, we were given a session on playing with type and how this could benefit out project for Applied Animation. I now have a rough understanding of kerning, leading, typing on a path, what fonts make for good projects and why, connotations behind certain fonts, and so forth.
I'm currently reading a book called Typography by Harris/Ambrose which is actually quite useful in giving me a recap on the things Annabeth taught us. My ideas for our title sequence were things like 'The Good Life' title sequence where quite blocky text is revealed around an object (could be a piece of fruit or veg to relate to the band). 'Eating Healthy with HiVit' has a nice ring to it.
There are also some useful websites such as
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: Set So Far
OUAN505 - Set So Far:
Our next step is to hook up the curtains on the front, neaten the whole thing up and make sure everything is stable, create the microphone, fix up the recording song of which might be recorded again due to apparent 'lack of enthusiasm', and recreate the strawberry as David wasn't happy with the stability of her.
Our next step is to hook up the curtains on the front, neaten the whole thing up and make sure everything is stable, create the microphone, fix up the recording song of which might be recorded again due to apparent 'lack of enthusiasm', and recreate the strawberry as David wasn't happy with the stability of her.
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: The Making of...
OUAN505 - The Making of...:
Whilst trying to work out the best process for creating both our keyboard and microphone, I did a few quick sketches after talking to both my godparents who are both DIY and prop and set-making enthusiasts. They gave me a few really good ideas and tips for creating the instruments, making sure they were both lightweight and sturdy enough for movement.
I then gathered up all the materials I will need to make these and now all I have to do is create them.
Upon creation, the microphone didn't actually stay together made just out of clay because of the weight of the top bit, and when made with a q tip, the head of the microphone was too small. I will have to work out the best method of creating a microphone before the start of next week as we need to animate.
Whilst trying to work out the best process for creating both our keyboard and microphone, I did a few quick sketches after talking to both my godparents who are both DIY and prop and set-making enthusiasts. They gave me a few really good ideas and tips for creating the instruments, making sure they were both lightweight and sturdy enough for movement.
I then gathered up all the materials I will need to make these and now all I have to do is create them.
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: The Set so Far
OUAN505 - The Set so Far:
Despite the long gap of a week we had with no work, we set to work straight away by getting the curtains set up, cut and ready for the stage. Alex and I also worked on putting in the armatures by sliding wire through the plastic fruits and then securing them in place with pliers. We then used Milliput on the joints to keep them stiff and realistic.
So far, we have the curtains cut and ready to attach with the curtain rail I bought (with hooks), we have the plasticine to mould around the fruits and veg so that they're finished and ready to animate, the song needs to be produced which I shall do on my return from my holidays next week, the drums are done but need painting and a logo attached, the guitars are arriving through post soon, and the lights are all set up and working but need electrical tape to secure them.
What we need to do:
- Lighting electrical tape/secure power supply for RGB LEDs
- Varnish stage
- Fit 'parquet flooring' (holographic card)
- Secure 'Hi Vit' in glitter card to back of stage
- Model the characters further
- Produce song
- Finalise a storyboard
- Paint drums and secure logo
- Make a keyboard
- Make a microphone
- Attach curtains
- Fit back curtains
- Animate!
Despite the long gap of a week we had with no work, we set to work straight away by getting the curtains set up, cut and ready for the stage. Alex and I also worked on putting in the armatures by sliding wire through the plastic fruits and then securing them in place with pliers. We then used Milliput on the joints to keep them stiff and realistic.
So far, we have the curtains cut and ready to attach with the curtain rail I bought (with hooks), we have the plasticine to mould around the fruits and veg so that they're finished and ready to animate, the song needs to be produced which I shall do on my return from my holidays next week, the drums are done but need painting and a logo attached, the guitars are arriving through post soon, and the lights are all set up and working but need electrical tape to secure them.
What we need to do:
- Lighting electrical tape/secure power supply for RGB LEDs
- Varnish stage
- Fit 'parquet flooring' (holographic card)
- Secure 'Hi Vit' in glitter card to back of stage
- Model the characters further
- Produce song
- Finalise a storyboard
- Paint drums and secure logo
- Make a keyboard
- Make a microphone
- Attach curtains
- Fit back curtains
- Animate!
Saturday, 21 March 2015
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: Bought Materials
OUAN505 - Bought Materials:
As it's my nature to love spending money on artsy things, I went on another shopping spree for curtain hooks, red velvet curtains, and an eyelet puncher and eyelets! Here are the things I have bought today and how I plan to use them:
As it's my nature to love spending money on artsy things, I went on another shopping spree for curtain hooks, red velvet curtains, and an eyelet puncher and eyelets! Here are the things I have bought today and how I plan to use them:
I plan to, as it's quite obvious to see, punch holes for eyelets into my fabric after measuring and cutting the velvet (against the grain to minimise fraying). I then plan to fit the eyelets, screw in the curtain wire hooks and then set up the wire to hang the curtains off. This will give a lot more realism than simply using glue on the curtains as we want to be able to move the curtains as realistically as possible.
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: MDF Staining
OUAN505 - MDF Staining:
As part of the MDF board process for our theatre, I decided to do some research into staining MDF board and how it would affect the wood and how exactly the lighting would be affected also. Our tutor told us that varnishing the wood would make the surface sticky when hot lights were shone on the surface which would be a pain to animate with. Also, large pools of light would show up as varnish is highly reflective and shiny.
Instead, I thought about staining the wood to simply change the texture and colour a little bit as I know you can get small sample pots for around two pounds at most paint shops and hardware departments. I looked up some videos on how to achieve this look of 'floorboards' that I was after to make it a more realistic stage.
The lady in this short clip demonstrates how easy it is to get a streaky effect simply by wiping with tissue to get a floorboard effect, I think by doing this, it would be more cost-effective and save on wallpaper paste and brushes and printing pictures of floorboards out to then paste onto the wood which was our first idea. However, if we were to paste images of floorboards on, from prior experience the paper would peel off under hot light and be effectively useless to us.
The lady in the film uses sponge brushes that can easily be found in kids' craft shops for about a pound for a set. I will pick some of these up with the varnish. I believe that it is less messy and means you can simply soak the sponges in hot water to use again. Varnish easily comes out if soaked whilst still tacky. Here is another research video that I watched to help with my choice:
As part of the MDF board process for our theatre, I decided to do some research into staining MDF board and how it would affect the wood and how exactly the lighting would be affected also. Our tutor told us that varnishing the wood would make the surface sticky when hot lights were shone on the surface which would be a pain to animate with. Also, large pools of light would show up as varnish is highly reflective and shiny.
Instead, I thought about staining the wood to simply change the texture and colour a little bit as I know you can get small sample pots for around two pounds at most paint shops and hardware departments. I looked up some videos on how to achieve this look of 'floorboards' that I was after to make it a more realistic stage.
The lady in this short clip demonstrates how easy it is to get a streaky effect simply by wiping with tissue to get a floorboard effect, I think by doing this, it would be more cost-effective and save on wallpaper paste and brushes and printing pictures of floorboards out to then paste onto the wood which was our first idea. However, if we were to paste images of floorboards on, from prior experience the paper would peel off under hot light and be effectively useless to us.
The lady in the film uses sponge brushes that can easily be found in kids' craft shops for about a pound for a set. I will pick some of these up with the varnish. I believe that it is less messy and means you can simply soak the sponges in hot water to use again. Varnish easily comes out if soaked whilst still tacky. Here is another research video that I watched to help with my choice:
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: Band Logos Part One
OUAN505 - Band Logos Part One:
Ad part of establishing a well-known band brand, we needed to create a cheesy-looking logo that fit in with an 80s theme. I looked up some popular band logos like The Beatles and decided to create a similar one just for reference. I looked at 80s colour schemes and eventually came up with some of these small examples. I will message these to the group to see what their suggestions are in order to move forwards and get these logos sorted as soon as possible.
My personal favourite is the 'Beatles-esque' logo alongside the vinyl record logo as it looks futuristic and very pop-cultured. I like simplicity over all other aspects of logo-design so I reckon that these two might be the most successful among the group due to ease of visibility on stage and lack of complication which is an advantage when displaying these on the drum kit. I measured out the size of the drum kit for accuracy before creating the logos.
Ad part of establishing a well-known band brand, we needed to create a cheesy-looking logo that fit in with an 80s theme. I looked up some popular band logos like The Beatles and decided to create a similar one just for reference. I looked at 80s colour schemes and eventually came up with some of these small examples. I will message these to the group to see what their suggestions are in order to move forwards and get these logos sorted as soon as possible.
My personal favourite is the 'Beatles-esque' logo alongside the vinyl record logo as it looks futuristic and very pop-cultured. I like simplicity over all other aspects of logo-design so I reckon that these two might be the most successful among the group due to ease of visibility on stage and lack of complication which is an advantage when displaying these on the drum kit. I measured out the size of the drum kit for accuracy before creating the logos.
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: Being Ethical, Being Good
OUAN505 - Being Ethical, Being Good:
As part of our learning curve in our second year and particularly in this module, we are learning what it means to be ethical and professional. How are we working with our peers? Are we being a suitable animator with respect for our team members and staff? Are we treating everyone fairly? Well, for me to blog about this and demonstrate how I as a member or team work with others, I can safely say that so far we've done a really good job in keeping in contact with others and staff regarding work and other matters.
To begin with, our group (Alex, David, myself) contact each other predominantly using Facebook chat. This might seem unprofessional to some but it is really the easiest way of getting hold of someone and distracting them from their daily browse through their News Feed. Who wouldn't want to talk about work whilst snooping through someone else's profile out of boredom? We felt Facebook was clean, simple, and easy to use. It was always at hand on our phones and wherever else we may need to contact someone.
In terms of emails, our student emails were used to send emails to members of staff regarding questions, advice, guidelines and general help with our work. We didn't actually email Roger Berry regarding the set making as we intended only to pop down for an initial chat to see when he was free but being a helpful member of staff, he kindly offered to make it there and then for a small fee of MDF board.
When it comes to sharing work, Google Docs/Drive/Slides was perfect for what we needed. If a set of work boards or ideas needed to be discussed in person but not everyone was available, sharing it to those members on Google Drive meant that they could view any images or pieces of work and we could then discuss without losing out on time. This was particularly helpful when coming up with a band name as there was some squabbling (light discussion maybe?) when it came to that.
All in all, we've treat everyone fairly as best we can. There have been some team issues not with myself regarding politeness to others, but hopefully this will resolve as we're all old enough to deal with this and sort it out. I as a member of our group wish for peace and understanding, and mainly just to make a fantastic piece of animation!
As part of our learning curve in our second year and particularly in this module, we are learning what it means to be ethical and professional. How are we working with our peers? Are we being a suitable animator with respect for our team members and staff? Are we treating everyone fairly? Well, for me to blog about this and demonstrate how I as a member or team work with others, I can safely say that so far we've done a really good job in keeping in contact with others and staff regarding work and other matters.
To begin with, our group (Alex, David, myself) contact each other predominantly using Facebook chat. This might seem unprofessional to some but it is really the easiest way of getting hold of someone and distracting them from their daily browse through their News Feed. Who wouldn't want to talk about work whilst snooping through someone else's profile out of boredom? We felt Facebook was clean, simple, and easy to use. It was always at hand on our phones and wherever else we may need to contact someone.
In terms of emails, our student emails were used to send emails to members of staff regarding questions, advice, guidelines and general help with our work. We didn't actually email Roger Berry regarding the set making as we intended only to pop down for an initial chat to see when he was free but being a helpful member of staff, he kindly offered to make it there and then for a small fee of MDF board.
When it comes to sharing work, Google Docs/Drive/Slides was perfect for what we needed. If a set of work boards or ideas needed to be discussed in person but not everyone was available, sharing it to those members on Google Drive meant that they could view any images or pieces of work and we could then discuss without losing out on time. This was particularly helpful when coming up with a band name as there was some squabbling (light discussion maybe?) when it came to that.
All in all, we've treat everyone fairly as best we can. There have been some team issues not with myself regarding politeness to others, but hopefully this will resolve as we're all old enough to deal with this and sort it out. I as a member of our group wish for peace and understanding, and mainly just to make a fantastic piece of animation!
Friday, 20 March 2015
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: Whacking out a Logo
OUAN505 - Whacking out a Logo:
For the drum kit we were thinking about creating a logo that would stand out so that the audience could easily tell what the name of our band was. After much discussion and quarrelling, we ended up going with Hi-Vit, a catchy, nifty name for our band. It featured a vitamin-related word which was a good idea as words solely revolving around fruit OR vegetables wouldn't be so appropriate.
The size of our drum kit had to be measured so that the logo could be accurately designed. We wanted to base our drum kit on that of such bands as The Beatles and the way that most popular bands have their logo on the drum.
For the drum kit we were thinking about creating a logo that would stand out so that the audience could easily tell what the name of our band was. After much discussion and quarrelling, we ended up going with Hi-Vit, a catchy, nifty name for our band. It featured a vitamin-related word which was a good idea as words solely revolving around fruit OR vegetables wouldn't be so appropriate.
The size of our drum kit had to be measured so that the logo could be accurately designed. We wanted to base our drum kit on that of such bands as The Beatles and the way that most popular bands have their logo on the drum.
OUAN505 - Applied Animation - Production: Making the Set
OUAN505 - Making the Set:
Today after a long break from Applied Animation, we decided to get making to set and get on with creating some dummy armatures so that we knew how to go about making the real ones. We popped down to see Roger Berry, the woodwork guy, and he kindly offered to help us with our set. He created a top down view for us in a 3D woodwork software program and began to cut out our pieces and mitre them for us. We are to pop back at lunch and pay him for the MDF and pick up the set to then put together and fix in place.
We will then proceed with decorating the set and playing around with the lights in order to see if everything works on set. It is quite a large set so we decided to keep it in the stop-motion room so that it wouldn't need any transportation. Also, all the Dragonframe software is in there so it will make life a lot easier for us to have our own space there.
I will take some photos of the process of our set and pop them up here shortly.
- Afternoon -
We have very thankfully received our beautiful little (rather large in fact!) set with many, many thanks to Roger down in Woodwork. Roger kindly cut out the boards for us, mitred them and glued them in place for stability. We then paid him and proceeded back up to the room where it will spend most of its life as a mini theatre for our Hi-Vit band. Photos will be posted below:
Today after a long break from Applied Animation, we decided to get making to set and get on with creating some dummy armatures so that we knew how to go about making the real ones. We popped down to see Roger Berry, the woodwork guy, and he kindly offered to help us with our set. He created a top down view for us in a 3D woodwork software program and began to cut out our pieces and mitre them for us. We are to pop back at lunch and pay him for the MDF and pick up the set to then put together and fix in place.
We will then proceed with decorating the set and playing around with the lights in order to see if everything works on set. It is quite a large set so we decided to keep it in the stop-motion room so that it wouldn't need any transportation. Also, all the Dragonframe software is in there so it will make life a lot easier for us to have our own space there.
I will take some photos of the process of our set and pop them up here shortly.
- Afternoon -
We have very thankfully received our beautiful little (rather large in fact!) set with many, many thanks to Roger down in Woodwork. Roger kindly cut out the boards for us, mitred them and glued them in place for stability. We then paid him and proceeded back up to the room where it will spend most of its life as a mini theatre for our Hi-Vit band. Photos will be posted below:
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