Digital animation

  Themes - themes include animal cruelty and animal care, these themes are apparent in films such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. 

Characters - Wallace and Gromit (The series centers on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving inventor, along with his companion Gromit, a silent yet loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic dog.)  

Shaun the Sheep (Shaun is the main character of the series and the leader of the flock. He is a clever sheep and keeps his head. He has a good friendship with Bitzer and very smart. He is voiced by Justin Fletcher.)

Timmy Time (Characters. Timmy is a male black and white lamb who is the titular character and enjoys being in the spotlight. He is three years old in sheep years and later turns four in the episode Timmy's Birthday.) 

MORPH (Morph was a stop-motion Plasticine character who appeared on Tony Hart's art-themed children's programs, from 1977's Take Hart to Hartbeat and SMart. His final appearance was in 1993.)

Environments - The animations typically take place in the fantasy world of the advert or film, the films take place in towns and rural areas that are animated. 

Styles - The styles that are created by the studio are typically claymation and are aimed at a younger target audience which means that the style of the films and TV shows. Some of the adverts cross-over with the 'real world' e.g. the DFS advert had Wallace and Gromit in it and includes other clay characters. 

Narratives - The narrative of most of the animations from Aardman studios are stories that appeal to the target audiences and also the stories are in a comical way that everyone can love.

Event-driven and Character-driven 

One area to explore is wether the animation is event-driven of character-driven 

For example, many disney films are character-driven, and one of the commercial reasons behind this is the flogging of expensive merchandise to brainwashed/ stupid children. 

In a film like grave of the fireflies, however, the characters' actions are shaped by the context of a firebombing raid in a Japanese village during WWII. This is more an event- driven narrative, even though the film focuses on two young protagonist. 

- Shot by shot list 

- script 

- storyboard 

- contingency plan 

- gant chart 

- production schedule 

- location reece 

- risk assesment 

- copywriting 

- concept art 

- set design 

Vladamir propp time 

-The villian 

-The helper 

-The princess or prize 

-Her father 

-the Donor 

-The hero 

-The false hero 

-The dispatcher 

Todorov's equilibrium theory: 

- Interpretation of breif 

- Purpose, medium, target audiences, run time 

- developed storyline with focus on events/characters 

- Synopsis/treatment 

- Sketches 

- Storyboard 

- 

2D/3D backplate 

Te cop-out option would be to source these from google. Produce you own - you could photograph them for 2D backplates, or model them out of old shoe boxes, cotton reels and pipe cleaners, or use 3D programs such as Autodesk, 3Ds max or maya 

SWOT analysis: 

Strengths:

What makes it unique 

How does it use generic conventions 

how does it meet its purpose 

How is it engaging 

Weakness:

What is it missing 

What are the limitations

What are the obstacles, and how might these impact the final product 

Opportunities:

Based on the breif, can you expand the target audiances

Are there any opportunities for online revenue 

This is for a yearly event, but could you roll it out as an animated short or webisode 

Threats: 

who is the main competitor 

Distribution problems 

how can it be accessed online   

Risk assessment: 

 

Visual and audio effects

You'll need to create an offline edit for your animation, then apply a variety of visual and audio effects to create meaning in the final edit. 

Log sheet 

Before creating your animation, you should create a log sheet 

The log sheet is used to identify time codes with descriptions of all shots. 

Appropriate footage can then be selected from the log sheet for the animation 

Offline editing: Its the stage where your raw footage is run through a program that transcoded it to have a lower resolution. You can then use that lower revolution footage to edit your film. Think of it as the storytelling stage. Focusing on timing of cuts, the pacing of the story, and communicating emotions 

Online editing: better through of as the finishing stage, is where you'll reconnect those resolution files to the original, full quality footage. There is also colour correction, effects work, final titles, and audio are brought into the film. It is at the end of the online stages that you export the completed file    

transitions: 

once the offline edit is complete, and you've made notes for corrections, you'll need to produce the final edit. 

One of the first considerations in cuts (and length) and transitions. you should avoid using transitions just for the sake of it. Think about what those transitions mean. What kind of effect are you trying to convey.  

Cuts and transitions
(straight) cut
dissolve
fade
wipe
dip (to black/white) 

A jump cut is in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly if at all. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forward in time

Elliptical editing: whereby parts of the story are purposely omitted, leaving the audience to 'fill the gaps'

Cross cutting: editing that alternates between two or more spheres of action occurring in different places, often simultaneously

is a concept where whatever you put after a cut helps to tell about the character as a person by their reaction to what they see this can help give the audience a better understanding on the personality of the character ad form their opinion on that character. 


The cutting room floor

A technique in film editing in which series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time and information

Graphic matching

The creation of strong visual similarity between shots, encouraging audiences to make connections between them

Colour control: 

What kind of colour palette, or colour scheme, will you use in your animation. you can apply filters in post-production to generate meaning. 

Titles and Graphics 

Graphics and title cards can help you to generate the appropriate mode of address for your audience

AKIRA connotations 

Red stands out contrast to the background connoting danger and fear with the dark background making the creepy feel. 

TOY STORY connotations 

 Childish colours connoting youthfulness - dreamlike and magical 

SNOW WHITE connotation 

classic and regal - background looks like smashed mirror 

Audio effect 

Dubbing 

Incidental music 

Noise print 

Wild track