After going through these tests to visualise the xylophone, I found my original experimentation plan to test a single attribute (form / shape / line / scale / path / repetition / composition / colour / texture) one at a time really restrictive, even when I combined a couple of them. I found myself constantly overthinking things (trying to meet that specific attribute), and really difficult to separate them without thinking of them as a collective whole.
I was also feeling concerned about how long just visualising one instrument took me, and now I'm feeling bit worried about my scope. After some further reflection, I decided to switch my final output to visualise the Peter and the Wolf suite instead, as at least the work that I do for the tests can play a part in the final piece of animation. While if I had stuck with Fossils, I was concerned that I won't have time to make a final animation after doing all my tests.
I wasn't quite happy with how my animations turned out either as again I feel like my limited skills with Toon Boom Harmony holding me back. My responses felt very "rigid", and I was losing that freeform mark-making technique which I really liked from my Week 3 sound exercise. Perhaps I need to look into this a bit more.
Stop: Stop using my original test/experimentation plan as the method doesn't work for me. Stop animating to Fossils' instruments.
Start: Look into more intuitive ways to produce these experiments that allow for more freedom in mark-making. Start animating to Peter and the Wolf instruments.
Keep: Keep learning Toon Boom Harmony. Keep trying. It takes time to learn new software.
By Helen Kwok
Email Helen Kwok
Published On: 27/09/2019