The Classical Elements: Preparing to Animate

I had asked a few people about what Matt had suggested in the critique, and the responses I got were pretty varied. A few people preferred the novelty number candle, where others liked the idea of having a more abrupt and tragic ending, so in the end it was entirely down to which I preferred and which I wanted to work with. As much as I like Matt's idea, I still think I'm going to go with my own, simply because I like that particular character design. Also, the addition of this character allows me to get more varied camera angles, which will be more pleasing for the viewer.

The next thing I had to think about was the way in which I was going to produce the animation. I wanted to try and produce this one digitally, as I have not yet done much digital drawing and I want to gain experience doing so, but as I don't have photoshop at home this would mean I would have to get my animation finished before I break up for Christmas, which is in two weeks. Which was not going to happen in any way, shape or form. Not when I have other projects to juggle.

So with digital animation ruled out as an option, I was fully prepared to start animating traditionally. That was until I had a discussion with Mat (teacher Mat) about where I was up to. I explained my idea and my plans for having the camera zoom out to reveal more characters as the animation progressed. He pointed out that it would be much easier to digitally produce my characters, I could easily move and scale the characters, which would be very time consuming if I were to hand draw the transitions. I then realised that my characters barely move, so if I were to draw the animation digitally I could have the bodies on a background layer, or simply copy them over to a new frame. Then I would only have to draw the flames on each layer to make them flicker. Matt also pointed out to me that I could buy Photoshop for £8 a month. Which I can afford. So lets go digital.

Well, at least try it.

That's what I've done here.

 Candle Characters - Outline and in Colour

I drew my candles in Photoshop to see what they would look like. I started off with the basic outline, and then remembered that I could quickly add colour by using the paint bucket tool and brush. So I did that, and as much as I like it in black and white, I think the addition of colour greatly improves the aesthetic of the piece. So it looks like I'm going to go for digital. It's going to be much quicker than traditional and it will give me more experience in a field I am interested in. It also means that I will be able to add colour, as I think I maybe rushed for time if I try this by hand.