Design Process
Coming up with Ideas
I chose to do an animation for our team project because it would be easier to share files and do the work remotely compared to a game, and a short film would require all of us to be in University together for us to make progress, which often wouldn't be possible.
To find some inspiration on what we could make our animation about, we looked up some short animations on YouTube, including some animations that were on the University's animation channel. While looking up animations, we made observations on each animation regarding their length, art styles used, etc.
After writing down some basic points about what our animation could be, we set up a WhatsApp group chat that we could use to communicate.
I then went back to my desk and made these notes:
https://rooshilh.blogspot.com/2022/10/animation-story-ideas.html
During this time, I noticed Chris doing sketches on some template paper and asked him what he was drawing. His explanation was that it was a random idea he was having which involved a person getting angry at a video game. I really liked the sound of the idea, so I asked him if he could take this concept further and make a rough storyboard out of it.
Roles
In the following couple of weeks, I thought about what our group roles could be and posted these notes in the group chat:
I also made list of the roles we could follow:
- Director: Rooshil
- Producer: Georgia???
- Writer: Rooshil, Chris
- Storyboards: Chris
- Model sheet: Chris or me???
- Sound: Georgia
- Animation: Chris, Rooshil
- Compositing: Georgia
Time Plan
While Chris worked on making a second, more substantial storyboard and I worked on a Script, Georgia made a time plan for us:
Script Writing
I started the script as a play-by-play of events that could happen in the animation, separating each scene with a title. As the project went on, I had to compress and shorten certain parts of the script to better fit the story we were telling.
Character Design
Animating
To start off, I posted in the group chat a list of what each person could do in the animation:
- Sketching - Me
- Linework - Chris
- Colour - Me
- Sound, checking on progress - Georgia
I was unsure of what Georgia could contribute to the animation, as she had made it clear that she was not comfortable with the animation process. Because of this, I deliberately gave her roles that would fit around what we were doing, such as sound effects and backgrounds.
While I made the character sketch in another program called Paint Tool SAI, we used Adobe Animate for our animation, as it was the only software we had sufficient experience with, due to using it in class.
From there, we developed a pipeline through which we could get the animation produced, with me completing the first pass sketches and periodically sending chunks of work to Chris, who would finalise the linework and bring it back to me. From here I could add colours and make the final edits.
This went on for a quite a few weeks until I had all the material to put it together.
Editing
From here, I could stitch the individual clips together in Adobe Premiere to complete the animation. However, the file I made did not include elements such as sound and game footage to go over certain scenes.
I initially wanted Georgia to add the sounds effects and game footage, but she was unable to do so due to having difficulties accessing the Adobe Suite. Therefore she could not directly contribute to creating the animation. Instead I asked her to develop the PowerPoint for the Presentation day.
I entrusted the task of adding sounds and footage to Chris instead, who quickly attached them to the project and sent it back to me.
From there, I made final edits and adjustments as necessary to make a coherent final piece.
Bibliography
osro1113 (2017) Afternoon class - animation short film (2014), YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAYDRIbXFAc (Accessed: October 10, 2023).
osro1113 (2020) (OO) - Animation Short Film (2017), YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJprFGzH0k (Accessed: October 10, 2023).
uhanimation (2018) Pine - University of Hertfordshire, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3UEsGi2mq0 (Accessed: October 10, 2023).
uhanimation (2022) True colours by Chloe Lindsay, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBYa_lDJnxg (Accessed: October 10, 2023).
Best SFX (sound effects) catalog to Download | Artlist - Royalty (no date) Artlist.io. Available at: https://artlist.io/sfx (Accessed: January 17, 2023).
YehuGamer (2014) Street fighter 2 champion edition | ryu vs Ken, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2uNXlN6xYA (Accessed: January 17, 2023).
M.Bizarro (2018) [tas] ryu vs Ken (SFII: The world warrior), YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_FKYRZWV60 (Accessed: January 17, 2023).
Perfect Turrican (2022) Streetfighter II - Arcade insert coin - capcom - 1991, YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/532wcLESQhw (Accessed: January 17, 2023).
Evaluation
During the course of this project, I have learnt a lot about what it means to work in a team and communicate consistently with my teammates. At the beginning I was quite apprehensive about it and initially struggled to talk to my team and delegate tasks effectively. This was partly due to my group being made up of generally quiet people, so I often had to be the one to speak up and take charge, which was a challenge for me. However as I went through the semester and engaged in modules such as the Global Charrette, and ACE, both of which heavily involved teamwork, I feel like i've become a lot more confident.
Unfortunately there were some common issues throughout the project which could have been managed better. While I eventually got into a good rhythm working with Chris, working with Georgia was consistently difficult, as she was often absent from class and group discussion and not able to contribute to the animation. This was a source of frustration for us. That said, the contributions she made to the group such as doing the time plan and the presentation was much appreciated.
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