FMP- Test Shots/Rough Edits/Experimentation/Pre-Production/ Bibliography & Evaluation.

My Idea

I am making a 3 minute length- animation, music video where it focuses on a person (ideally a girl) gazing through a telescope. Whatever you see through this telescope animates- but only through the telescope at that moment until she breaks the lens in the telescope while putting it away. A few things happen before- which introduces animation in some way- before she goes to bed- a rolled up piece of paper hits her and she opens it to see it animate.

Pre-Production

Other word documents: Saturday Morning (1), storyboard 2017

This is a table I made, listing each shot in my telescope scene. Even though I hadn’t filled out every, single shot- it gave me a rough guideline on how to start filming it in general. It became a very essential piece of equipment when it came to filming- which saved me a lot of improvisation. I realized from this- how important planning was and how important it was to know everything in great detail.

The Main Outline of my Animation, Music Video-  in a nutshell…

The Telescope Scene- in full detail

Location Photos

Proposal & Pitch

Proposal- my ual project proposal 2017, old schedule

Pitch-  pitch, my pitch 2017, new (schedule.)

Risk Assessments

1. risk ass college 2017 1
2. risk assessment 2017 2
3. risk assessment 2017 3
4. risk-ass-college-2017-4

Crew List

The family dog and the mother are a maybe, in my cast list.

1. crewlist 2017

Rough Edits

19th May 2017  

22nd May 2017

24th May 2017

If I had to have another target audience then: families/families who have children.

My mum’s opinion, ‘It would be better if Olivia could look back again into the telescope, before the animation continues. As well as the getting rid of the first clock, because it doesn’t suit as a insert in that particular scene. With also making the moon open its eyes again- to then fade out the end to black before the quote comes up.’

My Teenage Target Audience 

Lily’s opinion, ‘I really like the animation, but did you use a filter to make it black and white? Maybe you should look into colour correcting to black in white instead- because then it would darken it- to make it look less like day.‘

Charlie’s opinion, ‘I don’t think you need to have the TV at the beginning at all, because it makes sense on it’s own.’

Feedback

Experimentation

Blogs- (Further Research)

1. Different Styles Of Animation
2. Inspirations for my FMP (From Conducting Research)
3. Camera Shots (For Pre-Production.)

Camera Slide testing- for the feet pans. I wouldn’t have had to test out feet pans- if it wasn’t for not having a camera slider that day. So I had to improvise and think of how I would capture this shot another way. I tried using a wooden board and a towel to put the camera, to make it slide smooth without any interruptions. I tried using a board of wood and a towel- it worked pretty well, but I thought I could do better. So I went onto placing the tripod on it’s side, but that didn’t work at all. But then my Nan suggested using a tray and then placing the camera in it- it worked just as well as the board of wood and a towel.

With the Camera Slider

Without

This is a video of me colour correcting my footage, because my footage was looking grainy. So I decided to heighten the colours, the saturation etc… which makes the footage seem like it was filmed in better quality. But from doing this experimentation- I found that the more you lighten the footage- the worse and the more unnatural the footage appears.

Test Shots

-Reaction Shots-

(Obviously I would have to work on focus- as well.) So my aim for this type of shot in particular, is to be used twice within my animation, music video. The main aim is to show relationship between actor and object- with this it shows the audience what’s important. I also want to use this shot to help convey emotion and reactions- so ideally I want the shot to be more like this….an extreme close up of the eye, eyebrow and the edge of the telescope lens. 

First Appearance- showing my actor looking through a telescope.

Second Appearance- showing the expression of Shocked and Surprised- after she sees animation through the telescope.

-Zooming-

(Obviously I would make the zoom a lot steadier and a lot slower- I may even be further away from the subject, before I zoom in.) So I have a scene within my animation, music video- where my actor will be lying on the bed- staring up at the ceiling- after the loss of her telescope. With the bulls-eye shot- it highlights the actor in the scene and shows the characters importance and emotion. Along with the added, dramatic slowness of the zoom- it creates suspense- it shows that my actor is thinking about the telescope- shows sadness and boredom.

-Framing-

Basically me testing on how to convey and capture different camera angles- aka- this is a medium shot.

Animation- This is me- experimenting with different types of animation- most of it based around stop motion and using paper- to help animate a scene. This is entirely for testing and seeing what I could do- and how I could put this into play with my live footage and overall animation.

1. Binoculars effect- very little detail- simple drawings and background.

2.  Again simple drawing- a little bit more detail- plain background.

3. I used flash- purely to see what I could do, as an inexperienced animator. Computer animation- colour- less plainer background- more consistent animation. But too Cartoony- not as polished as it could be.

4.  Same drawing as the first animation- but without the frame.

5. Much more detailed! The moon’s got more definition now, but still simple and a bit plain.  

6. This Animation is much better! It’s much more crisp and consistent. The moon is more kiddie like- without it being over the top. In this video- the camera recording was unsteady, in the process of making this animation. In a way the background is a bit light, I think that we could do something about that background- to make it look more like space.

7. Here we go! The recording is still, the stop motion is much longer and consistent. It has a wonderful starry background- that gives the animation more of a feel, that the rocket is travelling in space. 

8.  Me and my mum- testing the paper rolling scene. Because when it comes to the day when I’m filming for real with my actor, we got to animate it as my actor is sitting on the bed. 

More Test Shots!

Explain how you have managed to overcome creative and technical obstacles

How I have overcome creative and technical obstacles is that I have researched into different animation styles- so that even for an unexperienced animator like me- can find a style to do with very- little skill. Another way I have overcome creative and technical obstacles is that I have decided to do more live action footage and then add in snippets of  animation. The reason why I have done this is because doing a whole length worth of animation takes much longer than I thought- so by putting in live action footage along with it and adding snippets of animation where appropriate. It allows me to be able to tell a story better and much more successfully- instead of being drowned in 3 minutes worth of animation. And lastly I have overcome creative and technical obstacles by using no hardly dialogue or background noise- its means that  I don’t have to worry too much about noise interference and the quality of the voices. 

Bibliography

Bibliography final final final 2017 nachos

Final Edit

Final Evaluation

fmp evaluation 2017

Camera Shots (Extra Research for Pre-Production) FMP 2017

Camera Shots

How to use the camera to convey EMOTION on your film & video production!

Distance

In order to convey mood and emotion to an audience- you have to think about the distance that you place- between the subject and the camera itself. So for example: Close-ups are used to commonly illustrate to show a character expressing emotion- with this it helps to allow, the audience to form a special connection and close attachment to the subject.

Wide Shot

Wide shots are commonly used to help define and establish the space- as well as they can also be used to allow the audience to have a sense of the where abouts of the character, within the scene- which stands relative to that space. In a wide shot- the subject would take up the full frame- as the subject doesn’t take up the full height and width- the room around the subject- allows of being thought as safety room.

Mid Shot

Mid shots are commonly used to help tell the audience that there is something about your characters or to help convey their relationships. The medium shot within itself is very good for displaying how it would look in the flesh or how you would see a person in real life- through your eyes in casual conversation.  It also appropriate for when the subject is talking- without the use of expressing too much emotion/intense concentration. With lastly being able to deliver information and for your subject to be comfortable, emotionally neutral with the allowed room for hand gestures and movement.

‘Creative Shots’

Reaction Shots

A Reaction shot displays a person’s face listening or reacting to something. This shot is a shot that cuts away from the main scene in order to show the reaction of a character to it. A reaction shot can also help to advance a story- add to performance and show feeling- as well as it gives editors a choice and flexibility.

Over the Shoulder Shot

The Over the Shoulder shot is filmed from behind the subject- so usually to display this shot they tend to show the back of a person’s head- which is often cutting of the frame just behind the ear- or shot from behind the one shoulder. So generally it gives us the point of view of a character- which would obliviously include the characters shoulder or side of the head.

Point of View Shot

The Point of View shot is shot to make it look like it’s from the subject’s perspective. But you can tell from the way it’s shot, that it’s obvious where the point of view actually is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSxOjBIjyhI

Even though my project isn’t a commerical- I was inspired by the use of camera angles shown in this John Lewis advert. They used a simple story line of introducting- then a happy montage to then have conflict and resolution- to then top it off with different location, angles and number of actors to make it really effective!

Audience Profile (not for FMP- But the TV Unit)

 

Age- We aimed our target audience at 18-24 year olds- so basically teenagers and young adults. The reason is because we are making a Gadget, Tech Show- and Gadget shows and segments are very popular in general with older teens and young adults- especially if they are specifically aimed at older teens and not adults. Also our show is posted on Youtube- a platform which is very popular with teens and young adults- along with the fact that we will be presenting it to exeter college students.

Gender- We haven’t aimed our TV show at a certain gender- Gadget shows and teen shows in general are very open to both genders and with our show- we’ve decided to do the same and be very open with that- our TV show aims at both genders. 

Social Class- Because we are aiming our TV show at teenagers and young adults- they would fit into the category of lower class- possibly middle class. We are simply aiming at lower class because we are showing our work to students and young adults- and I would say, alot of the population is lower class- so we would want it to be popular. I also think It would appear more to lower class people- as the show itself is ‘lower class’ in the way it’s formatted to make it ‘teen friendly.’- something that I would think, would be more likely be on a kids program.

Sexuality- We never based our show on appealing to a certain sexuality- we are very open to any sexuality. It doesn’t seem from what Gadget shows I’ve watched- that they base their show to appeal to a certain sexuality at all. As a team, we want it to be as popular as possible and we want to have a wide range of people to watch our content.

Demographics- So we are aiming our show at teenagers and young adults (18-24 year olds), so they would most likely fit in category E for Unemployed, Students, Pensioners and Casual Workers. They would also fit in category D for Semi- Skilled and Unskilled manual workers.

Psychographics- Teenagers and Young Adults fall into the category of Aspirers- so people who seek status, who are materialistic- focus on appearance and fashion- attractive packaging over content- Typically younger people. I would also say that they fall into the category of Explorers- so people who seek survival, who are energetic, have a lot of individualism, want experinece as well as they are the first to try new brands- which is often younger people- students.

FMP Research Part 2 (2017)

Legal and Ethical Issues

https://www.slideshare.net/BenRay95/legal-issues-in-the-media-industry-13458722

https://gazcruise92.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/legal-and-ethical-issues-in-the-tv-film-industry/

https://www.spielcreative.com/blog/legal-issues-that-arise-in-animation/

http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv037.htm

Concepts, Ideas and Topics

My Final Idea

I am making a 3 minute length- animation, music video where it focuses on a person (ideally a girl) gazing through a telescope. Whatever you see through this telescope animates- but only through the telescope at that moment until she breaks the lense in the telescope while putting it away. A few things happen before- which introduces animation in some way- before she goes to bed- a rolled up piece of paper hits her and she opens it to see it animate.

Young Girl looks through a telescope- she sees a world of animation!

 

Test Shots & Rough Edits

Animation Test Shot 1

Animation Test Shot 2

Technical Requirements

As far as it go for Technical Requirements- I will have to book out a media pack or I can use my own camera- I don’t need to worry about microphones- because I won’t be recording sound. I might need some sort of lighting equipment- if it isn’t light enough outside- as I am filming late into the day. When it comes to animation, I think I will be using Flash CC- so I will have to get this program for myself to use at home- but there is this program at college, if I need to use it. My music might get copyrighted- so I will have to be aware of that- so basically, get permission for it.

Costs, Budget & Production Issues

Costs

Here are my costs:

https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-for-an-animated-video-e-g-common-craft-for-instructions-on-how-to-use-a-website

www.austincc.edu/sfarr/animation-costs.html

Budget

https://www.spielcreative.com/videos/animated-music-videos.html

Production Issues

The production issues will most likely be: The actual animating itself- like if the program doesn’t work, if it loses my work or the program doesn’t animate altogether. With the factor- also that I may not finish it in time. I am also filming- so the camera itself may be an issue- such as: It doesn’t work/doesn’t record, loses footage, SD card doesn’t work etc… sound isn’t a production issue in my case- cause I won’t be recording sound. Lighting may be an issue- as I will be filming late into the day- so I will be more aware of that, as in the past from filming in the dark- they haven’t necessarily turned out well. Also a key thing- that I mainly have issues with, is Music- so I end up picking music that is copyrighted- so just being more aware of that- and actually getting the permission to use the song.

Evaluate and Interpret the Research

How Useful and Valid, was the Research?

Researching was very useful because it allowed me to be able to develop my ideas- as well as it helped me to create a bigger picture of the target audience that I wanted to aim my animation, music video at. It also allowed me to be able to know my competition- what I was up against- the similarities, the successes and why they were big competition in the first place. It allowed me to think about applying this issue into the real world so costings, budget, legal and ethical issues and production issues- just to get you thinking more about the production overall. Not all the research was valid- I know costings and budget are a good thing to know when it comes to producing content in the real world- but it wasn’t a huge necessity to research that. As we aren’t really going by a set budget or thinking outside the box about how much money we give to actors, spend on equipment, possibly setting/scenery… etc…

Which were your best sources?

The best sources were partly from doing my own research- so looking into different animation types and styles- allowed me to be sure of what different animation types were out there as well as what animation types I could use within my own animation music video. Competition was another best source to look at: because I was able to a observe an experts animators style, how they made it successful, the methods they used and how they portrayed the animation within their music video. One more source that I think was the best was looking at the Target Audience- because I was able to gain an understanding of what certain animation, music videos appeal too and how I could apply that knowledge to my own animation, music video.

What research could you have done with a bigger budget/more time?

In the real world, if I had a bigger budget then I could have hired more actors, used more locations, used more filming equipment and I could have bought more equipment for animating. When it comes to more time- I would have been able to research more: into much more depth, into the different animation styles and possibly write a blog post on each one- explaining into much more of what they are and how I could pursue to do this. I could have used more of my time to experiment much more on animating in Flash CC and exploring the different styles and techniques that the program offers me. With lastly I could have taken more time to work with my actor and research more into the different types of shots and camera angles.

How my research has re-shaped my ideas

Original Idea

mind map 1

Different Animation Styles- https://bridgmansblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/inspirations-for-my-fmp/?frame-nonce=a18c3f0a9f

Inspiration for my FMP- through conducting research- https://bridgmansblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/inspirations-for-my-fmp/?frame-nonce=a18c3f0a9f

Competition-https://bridgmansblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/11/competition/?frame-nonce=a18c3f0a9f

Final Idea

mind map 2

Inspirations for my FMP (From Conducting Research)

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/DrawMyCelebrityLife

The reasons why this inspired me:

• I can use a white board to help animate the scenes within my animation.
• With DrawMyLife- it talks about peoples personal stories- it has narrative- it helps display this very well- shows creativity- from my drawings.
• I can put music to this- cause I am making an animated music video- and it would work very well.
• I can also show me rubbing out previous animation/ adding in things that would then continue on the animation (show the eraser and drawing equipment within some of the shots.)- it would demonstrate that I have my own style.

The reasons why this inspired me:

• I can use a white board to help animate the scenes within my animation.
• With DrawMyLife- it talks about people’s personal stories- it has narrative- it helps display this very well- shows creativity- from my drawings.
• I can put music to this- cause I am making an animated music video- and it would work very well.
• I can also show me rubbing out previous animation/ adding in things that would then continue on the animation (show the eraser and drawing equipment within some of the shots.)- it would demonstrate that I have my own style.

The reasons why this inspired me:

• It’s got a wonderful layout- it’s a cute way of displaying pictures and showing off animation.
• I can use this layout to convey a story- it would go great with music- which would help illustrate the story much better other than just using the pictures.
• I can be creative with this and I can be as simple as I want with my drawings- and it would be effective + plus I’ll be animating it as I flip through it.

The reasons why this inspired me:

• The main reason why I chose this one really is because of the amount of flipbooks she used- it could almost illustrate a new chapter of the story- a new event- help make the animation video more dramatic.
• It also adds a lot of interest and helps make it more dynamic in a way- and helps to show more creativity and builds structure to a flip book animation video.

The reasons why this inspired me:

• I can be very effective with my pictures- and the way I animate it by exaggerating my characters movements and exploring into the different persceptives of angles- that will help add more dynamic and more interest to my animation, music video.

Different Styles of Animation (FMP- Extra Research.)

Different Styles of Animation

Types of Animation

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is a technique that allows you to create animation that portrays live action video. So basically this is used within physical animation- where it allows us to trace drawings frame by frame. With this process it creates a sense of realism and played a big part in developing- the modern, physical animation that are used today. So films that Rotoscoping would play a big part in in- is in retro animation especially, such as: Walt Disney films and in the original Star Wars trilogy.

How to Rotoscope

Examples of Rotoscoping

Hand-Drawn

Hand drawn/Traditional animation is a technique where each frame is drawn by hand. It is not such a popular method to use- and as many do say, it’s ‘dying’ out- since the advent of computer animation came into play. But it was the dominant technique in animation in cinema- and it has led to being used to make the most wonderful and inspiring animations of our time.

Examples of Hand-drawn Animation

Flip-Book Animation

Flip book animation is a book- where it contains a series of pictures that animate gradually from one page to the next. So as you flip through the book rapidly, you are able to see each of the pictures animate into one big motion- in order for this to happen effectively each of the drawings on the pages has to be almost the same the previous one- but quite the same- because thats how you animate it.

How to Flip-Book Animate

Examples of Flipbook Animation

Stop Motion

 Stop motion is the process of capturing one frame at a time- but you move the objects in the shots between the frames. So when you look at back of what you’ve got- you start to see the images move quite rapidly. It help create the illusion of movement and therefore help animate it.

Examples of Stop Motion

FMP Research Part 1 (2017)

 

Primary Sources

My Survey

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  My Survey

Secondary Sources

The Gorillaz

The Gorillaz are a British, Virtual band that were created in 1998.- The band are obviously well known for their animation, music videos. What I like about the Gorillaz is that: they have their own animation style and way of conveying their music- instead of doing the regular filming- and they do this for every song they make- so they keep up this reputation. With doing animation, music videos- they are remembered for them and therefore are possibly more successful- compared to something trendy and overused. The overall reviews on The Gorillaz is very good- and as an example I’ve chosen the album- ‘Gorillaz’ – by the Gorillaz- and then checked out the reviews- Gorillaz Review – So overall with this positive feedback- The Gorillaz are big competition- because they are so well- liked and well known, that it might be tougher to compare myself to them and it might be harder for my animation, music video to be popular and successful.

Nicks Corvette Stop

“God damn Gorillaz transcends me to my childhood. This album takes me back to a kid on the school bus listening on my Sony Walkman. I’ll be listening to this until the day I die.” Youtube Link

Pink Floyd were an English rock band- which were formed in London. From looking at other Pink Floyd videos- it seems very typical of them to have animation within their videos. Especially in this video- it shows real footage as well as the odd snippets of animation in between- which makes it very interesting. When it comes to the animation itself- I think this is big competition to compete with- but at the same time- I’ll be hoping to do animation all the way through- so I may have the advantage if my animation is really good. Pink Floyd overall are a very successful band- even if their music isn’t so popular now- they are still very well known, and this shows for their success. review review 2

H.T.F. farmboy

“The music video is perfect and basically sums up school.”

A-ha is a Norwegian band formed in 1982- in Oslo. This video in particular was the big deal back in the 80’s- when no-one had seen animation like this before. It’s  obviously very, well known for the wonderful combination of pencil-sketch animation and real live action footage, and when it came to doing actual the pencil sketching- they traced over the live footage- which is basically the Rotoscoping- something that I covered within my research- when looking at animation styles. I think especially, that this is really big competition- they used a method that took weeks maybe months to complete and I haven’t got unlimited time to do an animation like they may have had. Article

  Youtube Link

Music

LMFAO- I’m Sexy and I Know It

This song, ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’ was released in 2011 by LMFAO- this song is from their second album. They had reached number one in Australia, Canada and New Zealand- where they had charted within the top 10 in nearly every country. (In which it charted.) As well as they hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S for the Groups second number- this meant that they became the first duo to have 2 successive number- one singles since OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” (2003) and “The Way You Move” in  2004. It has also become a meme and the main reason for many parody covers- such as: ‘I’m Geeky and I Know It’ and ‘Santa and I Know It’.

Comments

All-4-One- I Swear

 ‘I Swear’ was released in 1994 by All-4-One- they are an American, male R&B/pop group who are best known for their cover of ‘I Swear’. As a band they have won many awards, such as: Being nominated for The Billboard Award for Song of the Year for ‘I Swear’ (1994), Coca-Cola Australian Music Awards for the Most Popular (1994), Best Pop Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal- ‘I Swear’ (1995) and etc….

Comments

Olivia Ong- Fly Me To The Moon

Youtube Comments 1 Youtube Comments 2

Fly Me To The Moon has a lot of history- because it was sang by many different people, such as: Tony Bennett (1958), Frank Sinatra (1964), Doris Day (1965), and Diana Krall (2002)- but it was originally sang by Kaye Ballard in 1954 which was written by Bart Howard. This cover is by Olivia Ong- it’s a bit slower, more innocent, sweet and more modern- which would allow me to animate easier to the song- as well as it displays a lot of narrative within it, it has a girl singing it- which fits the bill of the actor I want within my live footage- so that’s the main reason why I picked this cover over the rest of them.

Here’s the original:

Comments

Articles

What makes a great animation? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21151539 -Ten Tips for a great animation from Choi Jong-Il.

What type of music is the most popular? https://www.thetoptens.com/most-popular-types-of-music/ -Most Popular Types Of Music In History- Top Ten List.

Target Audience

Gorillaz Target Audience- I think that the Gorillaz target audience is 17-21 year olds. The reason why I think this is because I can imagine this being played in clubs and it would appeal simply because of the amount of drug references, as well as the style of music: mixed beats and rap. I also think that it’s very emo/stoner-ish- with the slow tempo- it brings a very relaxed, chilled out vibe- which corresponds with the very slow- careless pace of the singing- but at the same time it can be very dark and depressing stuff too.

Pink Floyd’s Target Audience- I think that Pink Floyd’s target audience back in the 60’s was very much aimed at any group, but in my opinion- I think it was aimed at very much, older teens of 17 to 25. The reason why I think this, is because the band attracted many different aspects of people because of their different aspects of music and style. The audience gradually attracted people who took psychedelic drugs- and one of the band members played very psychedelic music which led to them becoming a favourite and an attraction. But more so now- I would see it’s more like it’s aimed at 40 to 60 year olds- people who were young in the 60’s, who are appealed to old music and are simply attached to them.

A-ha’s Target Audience- Again I think back in the 80’s, A-ha as a whole was aimed at 17-25 year olds- simply because they were a young, hip band at the time. I think now-a-days, the target audience is more like 30-50 year olds- people who were young at the time- but still listen to this song because of attached memories or just the appeal of listening or just liking old music. 

Target Audience Profile

My Target Audience Profile:

Age- I am aiming my animation, music video at 17-25 years old. The reason why I am aiming my animation, music video at this particular group is because from doing my research on other animated, music videos- I have found that they aim at the same age range and because I’m a teenager myself and the fact that I will be showing it to other teenagers my age, I think it’s a well suited audience and one that would appeal quite nicely. 

Gender- When it comes to Gender- I want my animation, music video to appeal to both genders- because the type of animation it is and the song that I hope to use itself- attracts the attention and likeability from both genders. From my research, there was no particular gender that they aimed their animated, music videos too- it was more so age. Especially the fact that there will be a mix of genders- who will be watching my work- so I want to keep my animation, music video open and free range as possible.

Social Class- I would definitely say that when it comes to my video in particular- I would aim my video at lower/middle class people- because teenagers/young adults in general are lower/middle class- the stage where they begin jobs, lively independently and earn an income- so it fits the bill. From researching- it didn’t seem as if they were aiming at social class in particular- again, more so age. 

Sexuality- For my animation, music video I would aim at both sexualities- It doesn’t seem to be a thing that occured within my research that any of the music video were aimed at a particular sexuality- and I want to keep my video as open as possible- especially the fact that I am aiming my project at teenagers and young adults- so you’ve got to be very open-minded when it comes to appealing to your audience.

My target audience falls under E- Unemployed, Students, Pensioners & Casual Workers- it may even fall into category D- Semi-Skilled and unskilled manual workers.

 

My target audience falls under Aspirers- so….Seeks Status! Materialistic! Appearance + Fashion- (again younger people.)

My target audience falls under Explorers- so….Seeks Discovery! Energy! Individaulism! Experience! The First to try new brands- often younger people- so….students.

 

 

Practitioner 3

Gene Deitch

Gene Deitch was an American illustrator, animator and film director- he first animated movie was called ‘Hobbit’- which was produced in the Early 1960’s. Throughout his career he created characters such as: Clint Clobber, Gaston Le Crayon and John Doormat-He was also an author of comic strips- where he produced comic strips such as: Terrible Thompson!

Awards

As far as Awards go, Deitch won the Golden Seashell in 1969, for the Best Short Film, Obri, he also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his work on the film Munro- in 1981, as well as the CINE Golden Eagle- for Children’s Films/Animation/Experiment- The Hat, In 1984- he won another CINE Golden Eagle, but this time for Education- for ‘Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears. In 1987, he won a CINE Golden Eagle for Children’s Film- ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’, in 1991- he won again another CINE Golden Eagle award for Animation in both ‘The Pigs Wedding’ and ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’-  with lastly in 1993- CINE Golden Eagle for the animation, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble as well as winning the Winsor Mccay Award in 2004. He also was honoured with the Annie Award by ASIFA Hollywood for a life-long contribution to Animation!!!

Training

In 1946- he started off as an apprentice in Hollywood’s animation studio -(United Productions of America) working as an assistant Production Designer on the first Mister Magoo cartoons for Columbia Picture. 5 years later- he became Creative Director of UPA’s New York Studio. He joined Terrytoons in 1955  – a studio that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release, from 1930-1971 and was appointed Creative Director. After being fired from Terrytoons in August of 1958, he moved to Prague- where he worked with William L. Snyder- who was an American film producer. As a result- Deitch went into directing cartoons such as: Tom and Jerry & Krazy Kats.

Critical Reception

“In my opinion I think Deitch’s work is very original, but I think the story isn’t so easy to follow- compared to the other animations I have seen- and for a coloured animation- I feel like it’s pretty basic. The animation compared to the others- doesn’t wow me or inspire me. But it does show me the animators style and it makes me curious to find more animation and explore into an animators style.”

Positive

Playground boy- “Hahaha so funny, I like it.”

Avalon D- “Why do people hate these Tom and Jerry toon, by Gene? I grew up watching them and while not as good as the originals, I never thought they were bad.”

 

Practitioner 2

 

Milt Kahl

Milt Kahl was an American Animator who was also one of Walt Disney’s supervisory team of animators. Kahl is known for his best work on The Sword in the Stone (1963), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Mary Poppins (1964). For every animator- they like to sign their animations with their own signature- for Kahl- he signed his work- with a ‘Head Swaggle’ better known as the ‘The Milt Kahl Head Swaggle.’ As far as Awards go- Milt Kahl won a Winsor Mccay Award in 1977.

Training

‘The Head Swaggle’

Kahl seemed to find over time, that he preferred broader animation- he had a hard time for years trying to get into animating- he was made to focus on the most difficult and less interesting assignments- which other animators couldn’t do, as he was a much better draftsman than him. When it came to a point where he wanted to work on characters such as Captain Hook- he was always put down to work on a different character- such as: Peter Pan and The Darling Children. Luckily for him- instead of just designing characters and not being able to animate them- he was able to in the 1960’s, get back on track to working on broader animation and work on films such as: Sword in the Stone and The Rescuers- which allowed him to become a freer animator for the rest of his career!!!!

Critical Reception

“In my opinion I think this animation is inspirational- it makes me want to go out in search of my own style- so that I can inspire to draw and animate like Milt Kahl did. I find it fascinating how careful and flawless the movement of animation is- and how many frames is takes to result to this. It took a lot of skill- drawing wise- to come up with this- and it’s a shame we just don’t rely on that amazing ability anymore.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQnPQ6QBHLE

 

https://youtu.be/o4jlZoBGQeE

 

Practitioner 1 (2017)

Winsor Mccay

Winsor Mccay was an America Cartoonist & Animator, born in September, 26th, 1869. Mccay was best known for his comic strip, Little Nemo- as well as his animated film- Gertie the Dinosaur in 1914- which was the worlds first key frame, animation cartoon. He produced Little Nemo into an animated film in 1911 in full colour, How a mosquito operates in 1912, The Sinking of the Lusitania and Bug Vaudeville in 1921. From the looks of it- Mccay wasn’t given a lot of awards- but he was given the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Training

He drew throughout his childhood- where he drew in high levels of detail- he drew feathers on chickens and bolt heads on machinery- resulting from a lot of close observation and a cognitive process- he later renamed it as memory sketching. After being enrolled at Clearly Business College in Ypsilanti, Michigan at the age of 19 and skipping classes. Mccay made money drawing portraits of patrons at a dime museum- where it shaped his skills as a commercial artist- where he learned to create images to look like the subject- which resulted in having private lessons with professor of drawing, John Goodison.

Critical Reception

“In my opinion, I think it’s the cutest animation I’ve ever seen- It’s really refreshing and sweet to see the interaction between the animator and the animation- even if it might not be the most effective, compared to now-a- days. Even though the film is silent- it’s still very entertaining and the humour is still very fresh. I kept on waiting for Gertie to lift his left foot up- I don’t know why- but I wanted to see if Gertie would eventually do it. When Gertie cried- it made me sad and when Gertie danced- It made me laugh. It’s a shame that animation is not made for just the entertainment anymore.”