READING & WRITING:

Chapter Five – Weird Science

Animation is a creative medium that encourages animators to experiment with the techniques they use. This is because experimentation is how animators can research and develop their ideas. By exploring new ideas of ways to animate, animators can create more engaging final projects.

For my stop motion projects I explored using My Little Ponies versus LOL Dolls in creating more dynamic movements. The LOL Dolls have ball joints; this makes them more poseable than the My Little Ponies which are in fixed, majestic positions. Though the LOL Dolls are not able to stand up on their own, the My Little Ponies can stand on their own. From experimentation I was able to find out the pros and cons of using both toy types. Based on my experiments, I chose the My Little Pony for my motion test animation since she can stand on her own.

Chapter Six – Sound Ideas

Sound is often an after thought when it comes to animation, but the best use of sound in animation is for it to lead the story. There are two types of sound, diegetic sound which comes from a source that is on screen, such as a chewing sound coming from a bunny eating a carrot; Versus non-diegetic sound where the source of the sound is off screen or simply implied to be on screen, like when you see Bugs Bunny eating a carrot, but it sounds more like a woodchipper than a bunny. Taking diegetic and non-diegetic sounds into consideration will help create more entertaining animations.

In my own storyboards for my Pony Fright stop-motion, I plan to use diegetic sound to dramatize when the ghost pony is unmasked, by using the sound of a record being scratched. While my storyboards for Doll House Rock uses entirely diegetic sound.

Blazer, L. (2016). Chapter 5: Weird Science. In Animated Storytelling: Simple Steps for Creating Animation and Motion Graphics (pp. 72–85). essay, Peachpit Press.

Blazer, L. (2016). Chapter 6: Sound Ideas. In Animated Storytelling: Simple Steps for Creating Animation and Motion Graphics (pp. 88–99). essay, Peachpit Press.

RESEARCH TO INFORM:

I think that the animation is cute, and I like that it uses both 3D elements for the characters and then the 2D background. The ending of the animation is unexpected and very funny (even if I do feel a little bad for the smaller guy).

This animation is adorable, who doesn’t love dogs? I like that that all the characters and so many elements are felt. This was a very ambitious animation with all the scene changes and actions happening throughout.

Fair warning that this one will make you sad, but it is still cute and heartwarming. It uses croquette dolls in an interesting way.

This video is the animator’s first try at stop motion. I think it is very successful in having smooth movements. The way it has the clay in motion I find intriguing as well.

Only the first 35 seconds of this are the animation, the rest are the behind-the-scenes for how the animation was made. The video shows the process of creating everything from the sculpting of the character to sound effects.

CREATE:

When I started creating this little stop motion test, I thought the hardest part would be getting all the frames I needed. Instead, the hardest part ended up being the composition of all the frames. I took the photos with my phone, which took the photos in the .HEIC file format. Adobe Premiere Pro does not take .HEIC files, so I had to use Adobe Lightroom to turn them all into JPGS. This was not the real kicker of this process; it was constantly renaming the files to get the sequences in Adobe Premiere Pro to work and contain all the needed frames. In the future, I will be extra sure that I have my files appropriately numbered before going into Premiere Pro to make it easier on myself.

The story of Pony Fright took some time to plan. I honestly decided on the toys before the story. I wanted a plot that was simple, and I thought a little Scooby Doo inspired short would be cute. The dance party is at the end because I don’t know how else to end it, but it is also a nod to all those early 2000s animated movies that always ended in dance parties. I feel this animation will be the easier story to create than Doll House Rock.

Doll House Rock is an idea I had as soon as I looked at my dolls. Since the moment I got them, I thought they would be cute in a stop motion music video type thing. I chose the Beaded Necklace format for it since it applies easily to the music video format. I think creating this animation will be more difficult than Pony Fright, but I am more excited by the idea of Doll House Rock.