Study Task 4 - Evaluate

As usual, I needed to write an evaluation for this module. This has probably been the hardest to write, considering that the circumstances have been the most bizarre and inconvenient yet.



Link to Evaluation

Study Task 3 - Boudicca

Below is our final outcome. I am really pleased with what my team and I have accomplished, especially considering the circumstances.



Link to Boudicca

Study Task 1 (Week Commencing: 11/05/20)

I tried to make the smoke look better this week by slowing down the speed. It is still slightly off but I'm worried about time, and I'm happy with the colours and shape so I am willing to move on.



I also quickly edited an opening shot of the Leeds Arts logo which I wasn't aware was a requirement until later, as I had only planned to include one for the outro.



I facetimed my group again. We are planning to finish work this week so we can submit at the weekend. We also talked about sharing out the remaining scenes so we have a better chance at sticking to this schedule.

One of the extra roles I took on was colouring the run cycle Harry animated of Boudicca's daughters. On facetime he told me he had drawn the daughter in shorts and a tank top which, considering this is set in 60AD, isn't accurate at all so this was frustrating.



Above is the run cycle he gave me. I was that distracted by the trainers and ponytail that I didn't even realise he had also gone off design by changing features such as the eyes and hair. Also, despite telling the group to work on 12fps, this file was saved at 24fps.



The first thing I did was change the frame rate to 12fps. I feel this fixed the timing issue however, created another issue as Photoshop wouldn't let me draw on every other frame. So, I had to redraw each frame in a new file. Admittedly, this made it easier for me to fix the errors in design, and add the correct clothing.



I then got to work by colouring the daughters' run cycles. I designed two different dress patterns as she had two daughters, and I didn't want to just copy and paste the first one.



While I am much happier with the timing and the fact she is dressed more appropriately, I was only asked to colour this scene, so the fact I had to spend time redrawing every frame was a bit annoying.

I finished the pitch bible this week and updated my blog. Rhys edited everything together on Friday while Harry and I were talking to him over facetime. I plan to submit all of my work over the weekend as I'm worried about my laptop and internet speed as recently, they have both been extremely slow and I don't want to miss the deadline because of this.

Press Pack Task

Alongside the documentary task, I put together our team's press pack. I illustrated some icons of the team and tried to make the PowerPoint very visual by incorporating stills from the final outcome. I also kept the bullet points short and succinct as not to overwhelm the audience with too much information.



Link to Press Pack

Study Task 1 (Week Commencing: 04/05/20)

At the start of the week, we facetimed again. I wasn't very happy with one of my scenes, so I told my team I wanted to cut it out entirely. I listened to their feedback and in the end, we decided to speed the footage up as to fix the timing. I am much happier with the shot now.

I worked on some icons this week to add to the press pack presentation. The designs are only simple however, I wanted to make sure they all fit the same style, which was based on the avatar I made for my PP2 presentation. I also wanted to make them slightly varied by showing a range of different expressions.

The musician also got back to me with the extended track, which I forwarded to my teammates.

Link to Music

I added some clouds to my arrow shots. However, I need to see what this looks like in the animation because I'm now concerned I've used the wrong background. I have messaged my team asking if they notice and if so, we will make sure to flip the scene for the final outcome.



I feel the clouds add an extra dimension to the shots. To keep up my online presence as this is a long project, I have been posting short clips to my Instagram page to keep my followers entertained.



I have been feeling really unmotivated this week. Still, I tried to get as much work done as I could. To take my mind of animating, I focused on my other study tasks, such as the evaluation and continuing to work on the press pack.



I added clouds to my scene of the Iceni men, as well as Harry's shot of the Romans.



I wanted to add some smoke to scene 9 however, I couldn't find a way to make it work. Similarly with the clouds, I struggled making it look right while still sticking to the style of the backgrounds and characters. I got inspiration from the shows I'm currently watching however, I need to work on the timing as at the moment, it doesn't look right.



I spent the rest of the week working on my own projects to take my mind off the stress surrounding deadlines, such as another sticker design for my etsy page, and a collaboration with another classmate.

Study Task 1 (Week Commencing: 27/04/20)

Harry and I came to an agreement about me taking on one of his shots. For this shot, I watched a video of an archer breaking down the most iconic arrow scenes in films for references.



He then completed the other shot in this scene however, I explained it wasn't exactly what I was after. So as I have time, I decided to animate that shot too, which I roughed out first to see if I could do it. Then, I started adding the arrow's outline to give it form.



I added the backgrounds to my final shots. I had planned to refine this by adding spots of light to the character from the trees however, I struggled doing this so I may just leave it. I also need to make sure I have enough time to work on the press pack.



We facetimed again this week. We discussed the progress we had each made, and Rhys took that information and made an updated Gantt chart. As I was ahead of schedule, that is why I offered to help with the other's scenes, and I now have time to go back and refine the scenes I have completed so far.

I also wrote out a list of credits for Rhys to include in his final shot.

Originally, Harry said his brother would write the score for this documentary. However, he then informed me he no longer wanted to do it, so Harry took the role on himself. This was a little concerning as Harry had other jobs to do that were more important. I had also sent some examples of the sound I was looking for, and what Harry had made so far wasn't exactly what I was after.

So, I reached out to my Uncle Dan who is a drummer. He followed my direction much better as I told him the main inspiration was Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam and the Ants, and other tracks with heavy drums. He got back to me within the week, and I'm very happy with this track. I have asked him to extend the outro slightly as at the moment, the song cuts out before the credits roll.

Link to First Draft

Near the end of the week, I added some backgrounds to the arrow scenes.



I also added a string because I thought it looked better. Next week, I will experiment with some cloud animation so the scene looks more polished as at the moment, I don't think it is suitable for our age range.

The colours are too bright and it doesn't work with the atmosphere the previous scenes set. If I can't fix it, when Rhys edits all the clips together, I will ask if there are any filters he can add to make it a little more gritty.



I am very happy with how this arrow shot came out. I will continue to refine it over the next week however, there isn't much I'm planning to change.



At the end of this week, I started putting together our team's press pack. I didn't mind taking on this role as I was ahead of my schedule and the other's needed to focus on their scenes. I struggled to understand this task based on the information we received in the presentations made available to us, so I did some research myself and watched some tutorials on how to build one.

I am still awaiting some screenshots and information, so this isn't the finished presentation. However, I feel I have added everything I can at this moment in time.