Finished!

Here's my piece.

I'm happy with it. I feel the colour palette works the way I wanted it to. I presented all of my work to the class and received positive feedback. Someone even mentioned that they liked how well the crispness of the character worked against the neutral backgrounds. I was really happy to hear this as it's what I was aiming for - as mentioned in my earlier posts.

First Half Down...

I've completed the first section today.

I also altered some movement at the beginning where the hand jerked slightly - my tutor spotted it. I smoothed this out. 

It actually took a lot longer than I expected because I stupidly made the mistake of somehow erasing everything else except the hand on those frames. In order to fix this I imported the video I'd already rendered so that I could simply draw over those frames that I'd lost. I'm glad I was able to think of this solution.

I have also figured out how to add a page to my blog, ready for my report.

I haven't forgotten about the written part of this module and so I've made the section. I just can't wait to finish the animation and not to have to worry about it any more.

I've started animating the second half of the animation.

I've made the rough animation for her bent over at the drawer searching for her odd sock. I've decided that she'll throw out a bra, a pair of pants and a white sock that flies past the camera. I'm really happy with it so far.

Here's the second background:

I have been delayed today, due to ridiculous issues with my graphics tablet - not drawing properly in Photoshop and losing pressure sensitivity.

Progress

Yesterday and today I've been animating away.

So far I've got 3 completed seconds and another 4 seconds drawn out roughly which need polishing with clean outlines and colour.

It's looking like my animation might be 13-15 seconds, rather than 10. That's if I want to include the big sigh - but it might look fine without it.
The hand-in can be 10-20 seconds so as long as it's at least 10, I'm okay.

First Background Finished

So my first background is done.

Hopefully it transmits my idea of clean, neutral, fresh and simple.

I'm quite happy with it and I'm hopeful that my character will look good in this environment. Unfortunately it can't be as detailed as my original designs (primarily, the shading) due to time restrictions. However hopefully it will work and the character won't be too jarring against the background.

After thought: I may have to add handles to the end drawers.

Another couple of Perspectives

Here are just another couple of concept drawings on the bedroom.

I think I've chosen the colour scheme with beige and brown as that's more in-keeping with my overall idea. I also think introducing a purple might attract too much focus and I don't want the backgrounds to be noticed in that way. They're just an indication of what room she's in.

The Snippet of Story to Animate

I've been thinking about which but of my story I want to animate.

Since I only have a couple of weeks to animate - alongside my other modules of course - I'm wanting to make a piece that isn't over-ambitious but something that has some interesting movement, if only subtle, that works well as a stand-alone piece.

I think I would like to animate Page 2 shots 6-7 to make up roughly 10 seconds (probably a little longer). 

I think this part will work nicely because it introduces the odd sock straight away and I'll be able to use my splash of colour to acknowledge its importance. It will also make sense and the viewer should have a reasonable understanding of what it's about. And I'm really excited about little smooth bits of animation; particularly secondary movement of the sock and bits of clothing she will throw/pull out of the drawer.

The 'Look'

I've been thinking about contextual research for my work.

I'm struggling to find animations that are similar in style to what I have in my head.

Because my story and setting is relatively traditional, in my mind I have a traditionally animated appearance but it's simplified.

Pieces that come to mind are Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, because they feel the most traditional to me. Belle in particular comes to mind when I think of a well-known character that has a similar appearance to my female character.

I also feel that these images are good examples for my style in terms of their use of colour and focus of detail. The characters are much crisper than the backgrounds and they stand out. Obviously I won't be able to achieve how flawless both the characters and their backgrounds look here, however I hope to portray a likeness of contrast in the imagery I'll create.

I also found a piece online called Marin by Leo de Wijs.

This also shows a contrast in colour; not only through the character being more distinctive than the environment but also in the object (like my sock).

The simplicity of shape in this is also more preferable for me.

When I think of the animation I want to create, I have in mind a good, subtle movement with some exaggerations. I think of Iron Giant and how seamless it is.

After speaking with a couple of people they've also mentioned examples following the style I'm looking for.
Snow White in the enchanted forest is a great example of the more distinctive character against muted backgrounds.

And also the Twinings advert; the beautiful imagery is quite highly detailed but again it follws the style of traditional animation with the contrasting focus/ use of colour.