Animation 1A - Formative Reflection

 Introduction to Animation 1A has been my first time animating or using tools of animation, and over the course of this class I have developed my skills in visual storytelling. In week one I was surprised by how long it took me to animate a loop, and how much thought and preparation went into every frame in order for it to make sense. The time it took me to finish exceeded my expectations and made me rethink how I prepared for each project. Now I plan in advance to be finished well before the deadline because of how time consuming the work is. During the course I have tried animating traditionally and digitally, and I think that digital animation is my preferred medium. I have been animating using photoshop, and it has allowed me to work quickly while playing animations immediately and making adjustments and changes as I go. I did a loop animation and bouncing ball exercises traditionally, and found that I took less risks in animating because of the time it takes to test animations by photographing them beforehand, and the time it takes to edit mistakes by erasing or redrawing altogether. In week 5, I created my first real character and interaction during the Smears and Distortion animation, and I pushed myself to convey personality and create a connection with the audience. I chose to create a really simple character and scene, so I was surprised by how much I could do with this simple illustration and the way it was able to communicate with the audience only through eye contact. This project took the most planning and research for me, and I looked at the movement of other characters with distortion and eye overlapping in order to draw mine moving. I think that I still could have exaggerated it even further and used more stretch in the movement of the character. This animation was also my first time using a boiling loop, which I really liked adding to a scene because of the motion and personality that it brings while making the tone more playful. The part of the animation process I enjoy most is seeing everything come together and watching animations and adjusting them. Since the process is so difficult and tedious, it is really rewarding when an animation comes together and the illustrations that look strange as a stand alone drawing turn into a smooth animation. So far this course has taught me how to embrace the animation process and value the skill and time behind even really simple animations. I think that moving forward I want to continue to put extra effort into the foundational skills of animation and the building blocks required to animate in order to produce the highest quality films when making something more advanced. I really appreciate how even a bouncing ball can have a personality when animated properly, and I am inspired by the versatility and range of really simple objects and characters in animation. I think that I will continue to focus on this moving forward rather than super intricate characters and scenes. This approach to characters has improved the way that I tell stories as an animator and an artist.