Week 1 Reflection
This week we began the lip-synch unit of Visual Narrative. I didn’t have much of a plan going into the week, just knowing I wanted to use my audio as opposed to the ones provided. It took me most of the week to decide between the two audios I had found; one of which being funny and the other more serious. Doing ‘unserious’ animations has always been more of my comfort, so I was feeling inclined to pick the funny one. After making some mood boards and some sketches I found myself more attached to the serious audio, wanting to push myself out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed going back to in-person classes this Friday. Seeing my peers and using the equipment we have access to in class, as well as getting to receive feedback from teachers all helped me a lot. I know that feedback and instruction will be an important part of this process going forward.
Week 2 Reflection
This week we continued constructing the preproduction for our project. Obviously this stage can be challenging because of the amount of decision making and for me, the feeling of uncertainty during this week was huge. Because of our relatively limited time on this project, the choices we make preproduction can’t really be reworked and dictate everything that will come out of the next few weeks. Although I thought I’d finished mood boarding last week, I realised by Friday that I still needed a lot more research on things like colour, environment, clothing, character design, etc. I kind of feel like I’ve started over a few times and its been frustrating. Im worried I’m behind and just hoping by the end of the week I’ll be over this bump. Its hard feeling like I just want to get it right, but being too indecisive or being scared that I’m not able to execute things the right way. Hopefully by next weeks reflection I’ll be able to write about the decisions that I’ve made and feel confident about.
Week 3 Reflection
Week 4 Reflection
This week was the last of preproduction. Ive found it hard with having class online because it doesn’t allow the space for teacher and peer feedback or getting the access to the equipment we have on site. As well as finding it generally harder to work productively in my own space. I worked on backgrounds this week and it was difficult and I found myself feeling discouraged a few times. I think I still need to do a bit more research and some more trial and error before Im going to find something Im satisfied with. This week we also had our first tutorial on Toon Boom Harmony. Because of my experience using Adobe Animate, I found it to be relatively easy to get the hang of it since it has a similar interface. Im excited to use this software in the next few weeks and get a real introduction to the software that we’ll be using for the next 2 years. I’m hoping by Tuesdays class that Ill have my background and x-sheet completed.
Week 5 Reflection
This past week we worked on Toon Boom for the first time. I haven’t used it before but I was surprised at how much the interface reminded me of Adobe Animate so I didn’t feel so lost. Im still a bit behind in my pre production which is frustrating but working on my storyboards this week made me feel a lot more confident in beginning to animate. We had other work due in the Informed Practice class so I was a but more focused on making sure I was able to submit that on time. Im worried that the lack of time we have to animate will make it difficult to apply the 12 principles very well and wish that I had finished preproduction faster so that I could have started animating earlier. Im hoping by next week to finish all my frames and begin in betweening.