Audition and First Assignment

I have been introduced to Audition. An Adobe application that edits digital audio.

For the first assignment, there is a Cat Burglar animation with no sound. So I will find various audios from websites to add to the sound. In the process, I will also add some sounds of my own.

Computer Animation Research

I have looked at "New Digital Edition: The Animation Book" by Kit Laybourne.
On page 238, Chapter 16, it states "Toy Story was the breakthrough 3-D computer film made by Pixar and distributed by Disney. This stunning achievement did not come from nowhere."

Laybourne further mentions "Pixar's Animation production Group, creatively led by writer/director/animator John Lasseter, spent a number of years working on self-funded short films."



This indicates that Animators had previously worked on 3D Animations before in the past. Therefore it argues that Toy Story was not the first film that was fully made using computer animation. It was however the first film using Computer Animation that was commercially successful.

There are four short computer animated films mentioned by the author that are of interest since they came out extremely earlier than Toy Story.



The author proceeds to mention "Luxo Jr." which Laybourne states "broke new ground with its ability to imbue inanimate objects with personality and emotion. The film was introduced at the 1986 SIGGRAPH convention and went on to win over twenty festival prizes."

This author's argument is that Luxo Jr was the first CGI film that featured believable personality and emotion to the inanimate objects that were featured in the film. It also seems to indicate that it was Pixar Animation Studios' first Animated movie since it's the one in the list with the earliest mention.

Next the author explains "Red's Dream was completed in 1987 and encompassed several technical achievements. A number of scene were rendered with procedural texturing techniques, self-shadowing and motion blur."



Additionally the author quotes "Tin Toy was Pixar's first work to feature the animation of a human character. The baby's face required the definition of more than forty facial muscles, which were grouped by function to allow the animator better control in creating expression. Computation of the final color images was preformed using RenderMan from Pixar, for 3-D scene description. This proprietary 3-D application subsequently was released for desktop hardware suite. Tin Toy won an Academy Award in 1989 for Best Short Animated Film. "




Finally the author mentions the final film "Knickknack was designed in 1989 as a 3-D stereoscopic film to create a unique three-dimensional visual experience. The film can be viewed as a traditional two-dimensional work. The cartoon features an original musical score by Bobby McFerrin through courtesy Pixar."

Three choices (Titles)

History of Animation in the United Kingdom
The reason I'm considering subject for an essay is that is rarely talked about. The history of animation as a whole wouldn't really fit into a 1600 word essay but when it's narrowed down to a specific country then it can actually work. Animation in England started around the 19th century. Animal farm is an example of the early animated films that were produced in the United Kingdom.

(Source: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/mar/07/artsfeatures.georgeorwell)

Mel Blanc: Man of 1000 voices
Mel Blanc was a well known voice actor born in San Francisco on May 30th, 1908. The reason I'm considering doing an essay on him is in 1937 and onwards he has voiced 90 percept of the cartoon characters owned by Warner Bros that appear in Looney Tunes such as Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck.

(Source: http://www.biography.com/people/mel-blanc-9214759)

From Traditional Animation to Computer Animation
Traditional animation as a whole seems to be liked by many animators as it's the old fashioned way of films featuring colourful characters on multiple celluloids and beautifully watercolour painted backgrounds. However 3D animation is also popular with the media as they can present highly detailed  I think this is a good thing to look at in the transition between the old school traditional animation and computer generated animation. After the success of Toy Story, which is known to be the first full feature length movie to be computer generated, animators were suddenly interested in the concept of computer animation.

(Source: http://www.livescience.com/32679-what-was-the-first-feature-length-computer-animated-film.html)

Introduction to Art and Design in Context

This module will be focusing on the aspect of research, proposals and development for an essay.
There are a number of resources available to be used for reference such as internet, books, articles, journals and magazines.

Referencing is a key point in this module as it will conduct further process into the essay. It will prove the points I try to make with factual evidence, even though when it comes to essays opinions can be used as well as long as they backed up by literature.

Fairy Legal Practice Edit

As part of a practical work, we have been given this task to take clips taken from Fairly Legal with all clips presenting different camera angles. This is so that we can use Premiere Pro to practice editing. With this software I can cut, rearrange and take away any scene if necessary. I chose the appropriate scenes to use to add emphasis on the story and dialogue. I tend to change the camera view if I think for the audience to view the character's face is important to observe or not.


One thing I like in particular is when the judge drops the files and the immediate camera change before the files hit the desk. That scene was essential to me as I felt it made a sudden jump for the audience in a similar manner to the female character on the screen.




I think one of my weaker points is attempting to make the dialogue match up with individual clips. I hope I can improve on this at a later stage.

Fairly Legal Editing from Jack Vanes on Vimeo.

Introduction to Practical Arts of Editing & Post Production

This module will be focusing on the editing side in the animation industry.
Editing is known as 'The Invisible Art' due to it being done in a way that the audience will not notice the films being edited. It usually blends together to tell the story fluently.
Editing is taking materials and cutting them up, and then rearranging them. Editing shows where it is (spatial), when it is (temporal) and if it flows seamlessly (Awareness/Continuity). This type of technique condenses the story, changes the camera angles on every take to avoid a dull look from the film only being able to be absorbed from one camera.

I will use this video as an example to further explain the point of how editing is used.



When we talk about spacing, Tony is conspicuously in an interrogation room. The camera angle only shows Tony's face for most of the clip while he is sitting, showing he is the main character. It also makes him look below everyone else.

Since it's the first part of the movie, timing was well spaced out and it was inheritably long so that the audience can take in all the information about Tony.

It advances the story by giving us information that Tony has no living relatives (which is later proven to be a lie, possibly to protect his identity). Tony claims to hate communists and 'Castro.' The audience also learns that he is from Cuba.

The meaning would be that he is the main protagonist. The camera focuses on Tony throughout almost the entire video to make it seem as if we are actually with him, making it appear enclosed. It only switches angles when the main person speaks to give us a face and further information on what is happening.

As a practical task, I have been introduced to Premier Pro. And I will be using clips from Pixabay.com.

Here is the practical task I did.

Pixabay Edit from Jack Vanes on Vimeo.

Introduction to Sound and Image

In this module, I will be using techniques and methods for adding sound to images both moving and still. The module focuses on both the animation part and the visual part.

By the end of this module, 2 assignments will be completed. Assignment 1, which is to construct a set short animated film. Assignment 2 will be to create an animation to a given soundtrack.

For the introduction session, we observed a few animated cartoons and listened to how the sound forms in them. This module is about how sound functions and its purpose in animation. There was a thought about sound, rhythm, pacing and timing.

Learning Outcomes for this module:
LO1 - Design and produce suitable media assets at the appropriate level of quality and complexity.
LO2 - Manage workloads, meet deadlines set and achieve goals
LO3 - Demonstrate competence in appropriate subject specialist techniques.