Responsive: Final Critique

For this crit, we had the chance to present everything that we had done for responsive, both for individual practice and collaborative, but this time there was more of a focus on how we presented our work, rather than the content. I've never really made art boards before, only presented work on the college's templates, so I decided to keep my art board design simple and clean.

Individual Brief One - Boards for Scream Street

Individual Brief Two - Boards for LoopdeLoop LOL

Individual Brief Three - Boards for LoopdeLoop SISTERS

I tried to keep the style consistent throughout my boards, and the only thing I changed was the colour of the boarder and the logo that I featured accordingly. The majority of the feedback I got was in favour of the way I had presented my work, though I did get a conflicting comment that dislikes the use of colour in the boarder.

Feedback on Individual Practice

As the majority of people liked the way I presented my boards, I think I'm going to keep the style I have chosen, though I may revise the comments I include. I may write a little bit more about my process and what the brief was about. 

Feedback on Collaborative

Unfortunately, we didn't have any boards to present as Tyler wasn't able to get them printed in time for the crit, but I had presented our 'final' animation on one of the computers which we were able to get feedback on. Again, the comments suggested that people liked the animation, though there seemed to be concern with the way we had displayed the disclaimer at the end. It was suggested that we consider the size and the font. Other than that there were no suggestions for improvement, so after I have revisited the text I think we will be good to submit!

Tyler's Art Board and Email Confirmation of Our Submission

Update: I have since updated the text at the end of the animation, and submitted our animation to YCN, along with Tyler's art board that he prepared for final crit. It didn't say anywhere on the brief that we needed to provide an art board, but it did allow for supporting work if it was labelled appropriately in our submission folder, so I thought it couldn't hurt to send it off too.

Responsive Collaboration: Finished?!

There weren't many people that turned up for the 'audition' of our narrator, but it was nice to see that Tyler had come along to help out with recording. As there was two of us it made it easier to get across what it was we were looking for, and we found that Max was able to voice the story the way we wanted, which was enthusiastically. We did have to do some re-shoots as some words were mispronounced, but I'm certainly happy with the audio now. I did have to do some editing to the animation as the timing was slightly out, but at most it was only the addition of a couple of frames so it wasn't that much of a pain. This has definitely made me realise the importance of nailing the audio early, so you don't have to go back and add frames or remove them. 

At our last critique I had asked Tyler to make crucial components such as hay bales for Jack to poke at with his pitchfork and 'information bubbles' to display the proteins of the cows, as well as any other components he would like to add to our scenes. He did just this and I was able to improve one or two of our scenes, and export the final takes of the animation, and slot them into one Premiere file. To begin with I was a little bit worried at how late Tyler had left it to get the components to me as I wanted to assign a bit of time to prepare for final crit and post-production, but I had managed to slot in the new additions and animate them quicker than expected, so everything worked out well in the end.

Once this was done we were able to get started with post, which I also took charge of. When we were in the sound booth, Tyler recorded himself making noises that could be used for both the Giant and Jack. I don't know how serious he was about using these noises in the final cut, but I played around with them and I liked how they brought the characters more life so I decided to keep them. I used Audition to change the speed and pitch of the audio to make Tyler's voice deeper so that it was more suitable for the Giant. I similarly did the same for one of Max's 'moos' for the cow at the end, and I think it genuinely sounds like a cow, which is great. I'm still none the wiser on how to use Audition, and I think it would be worth spending some time to get to know the program, as I have been able to create some good sound effects with basic knowledge, so I can only imagine the things I'd be able to do if I knew what I was doing. 

For the remainder of the audio, I searched for some ambient sounds online, and found some that were royalty free and didn't require crediting. I lowered the volume of the tracks so that they didn't overpower the narration and sound effects, and even though they are only subtle, I think they have greatly improved the animation. It really gives you a sense of space and makes you feel as though you're out on the farm. 

Finished Animation?

Myself and Tyler would be happy to submit the animation now as we both feel there's nothing else left to add, but have decided to wait until after the final crit - that Tyler is going to make art boards for, considering I took charge of post - to see if anyone has any suggestions of improvement, considering we will have a week to make additional changes. 

Responsive Collaboration: All Scenes Completed...

...Well, I say they're completed, but I've still got a few tweaks here and there do, but as a whole I'm really pleased with how the animation is looking. The timings of the visuals seem to fit nicely with the audio, which we are planning to get re-recorded hopefully sometime next week. I asked a bunch of my friends if they'd be willing and also posted on our LCA Animation Facebook group to see if any one was interested. I got a few responses, so I'm going to allow all that applied to record a couple of takes so me and Tyler can choose the voice that is most suited for the animation.

All Clips

As it is I that knows the people who are 'going to audition', I will be the one who will book out the sound booth and get everyone together to record, though I have given Tyler the option of coming along to help out/hear the recordings first hand. I think it would be beneficial if he comes along, as it means we can make a decision quickly and can move onto editing the audio rather than having to meet up to discuss the options we have, which will definitely be more time consuming.