Summative Reflection

Summative Assessment 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. 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. The final project of Animation 1A has taught me how to adapt when faced with challenges, and the value of post production additions. I started by animating using Photoshop and importing drawings from illustrator, but photoshop stopped exporting rendered animations and I needed a solution. After speaking to our technician I decided to use After Effects, meaning that I needed to learn a new software to complete the project. This cut into my time significantly, forcing me to make alterations to my original plan and shorten my animation. I learned that it is extremely important to plan for complications to arise while working on a project and to give myself more time to work than expected. This project was my first time using sound in an animation, and I found that it made significant changes to the film and the expression of emotion. Through music and sound effects I was able to totally change the meaning of the movement of the shapes and give them personality. This is especially important considering that my animation is of very simple shapes. By using post production I managed to answer the brief better and produce a more complete animation.