Experiment: The Defining Moment of Studio Project
This experiment gave me the chance to explore different design possibilities for the defining moment of my studio project. It’s an important part of my animated film that will help set up the logic of my animation world. I was able to play with the idea more thoroughly with this experiment.
The first idea I came up with was turning the texture of the intruded birds into a cardboard-like texture. It brought out the characters from the background and made it easier for the audience to focus on the characters. However, that shift was too subtle for the owl and the sparrow, and it didn’t make sense in terms of the logic of the animation. Hence, a second idea was tested out. After having feedback sessions with Chris and Jeremy (studio 3 lecturers), I cut out some unnecessary character movement in the first version of my animation and focused on the main motive of the shot. The decision then leads to a more succinct second shot and a defining moment that works better than the first trial. I added a camera shake to accentuate the defining moment. Instead of a cardboard texture, I added a layer of drop shadow on top of the owl and the sparrow to show that they are affected by the smoke bomb that happens in an earlier scene. I also tried to focus more on the defining moment by prolonging the moment itself. I used a texture animation as a transformation tool to change the opacity of the original birds in the panel.
After having a feedback session with Nick and weighing out what works and what doesn’t in both tests, I developed another idea for the defining moment. I will be cutting out the texture transformation in the second test and substitute it with an instant shift to half opaque (like the shift for the intruded birds in the first test) with pencil hatching lines on top of the original birds.
In conclusion, this experiment helps me tested out different possibilities for the defining moment and helps me develop the one that would work the best. It also helps me in clearing up some confusion about the logic of my story through multiple iterations: the original birds in the panel will be shifted to half opaque with hatching lines on top only when the intruded birds enter the panel.
By Yee Hui Wong
Email Yee Hui Wong
Published On: 16/05/2021