Evaluation

In my film opening, I decided to create an animation, working on my own. This was chosen to show my skills of creating and animation and not having to rely on anybody. I have chosen to create my animation using still shots; this is one of many ways in making an animation, another way is CGI (computer generated imagery) which is used in films such as ‘Beowulf’, ‘Harry Potter’ and Shrek’. These are made by using the computer to create a character from the use of green screens and body suits, where the actor wears it and a camera videos it and catches the movement of the actor and then the computer can be used to create the character. CGI can also be used to create a whole film or create parts of it, such as mythical creatures. However, my animation was a still shot and is relative to 'Aardman; animations productions, such as ‘Wallace and Gromit’ and ‘Morph’. The production only lasted around 30-45 minutes, or other films such as ‘Chicken Run’ lasting 1 hour or more. But behind the making of these productions, a lot of time is taken from pitching a story, scripting, voice recording, making the characters and settings, filming and editing. This is why Aardman normally takes around 1-2 years till a new film or production is out. This reflects on what I have done for my production, as I have spent 5-6 hours on filming/ taking pictures alone, and this was only done to create a 2 minute film opening. And this didn’t include the time taken on the planning, story board, script, voice recording or editing.

My media production represents gender mostly, as women have domination over men. I have chosen this so that it would reflect on the characters original backgrounds. Such as the character of Tifa has a background of being tough and not being pushed around easily. The way that I have used this in my production is by using dialogue, tone and actions. ‘Do you want an arm taken off?!’ This shows that’s she has domination from the dialogue and tone used and posture of the figure. The human also has more domination over all the figures, as she can control them in how they move and what happens. This is shown when she enters the room and moves the figure to where she wants it. This point also reflects on me and how I made them, as I had the most domination as I was controlling how and where the figures were throughout the filming of the production.

My production would be possible instituted and distributed by ‘Aardman’, ‘DreamWorks’ and ‘Pathe’, as they all have a background of working with animations and getting a good variety of audience. I chose ‘Aardman’, as they create still shot animations and would be useful towards my production. I have chosen ‘DreamWorks’ and ‘Pathe’ because they have worked with the animations made by ‘Aardman’ and together, they have made a success in the world. ‘DreamWorks’ have also distributed other films such as ‘Shrek’ and other motion pictures such as ‘Sinbad’ and many more.

The audience of my production would be aimed towards ‘Final Fantasy’ fans, as they would understand the characters backgrounds. The games and etc. made from ‘Square Enix’, where the figures are from, are rated 12+, meaning I would have to include this in my audience. However, my production is a comedy and adventure and is suitable for the whole family. And is based around the stories of ‘Toy Story’, and ‘Small Soldiers’, meaning that my production is family friendly. And from the feedback received from the viewers, I have come to a final decision that my film will have the target audience of 8+, meaning that my production would be a ‘PG’ if rated.

In my product, I have attracted my audience by using comedy to my advantage from the dialogue and play on words. ‘What do you think?! I feel like a doll’. This was used and was a play on words as they figures are dolls, yet they don’t want to admit it. This combines well with the type of film I have decided to make. I have also made it so that it would want the audience to know what happens on the adventure that the figures take. This was by making it slightly unclear at the start and making it slightly obvious at the end that the film was going to continue, this was because of the slight cliff-hanger, as the figures were about the leave for the adventure. Possible questions that the audience could ask themselves. Is the adventure successful? What do they encounter?

In the making of my film opening, I have used ‘IMovie’, with which I have been able to put all the photos I have taken for my film onto this and create them into a film, so that they run smoothly. This was simply done by minimising the amount of time that the photos would be shown to about 5 seconds minimum of each photo. This was an ideal time, as it would allow enough time for the picture to be seen and the next picture to combine and move consecutively enough with the previous. With the spacing done, I was able to record the voice overs by using the Mac to record the voices and editing them by using the pitcher tool, which allowed me to edit the voice by making it sound more female or male. When this was done, I had to split and cut the voice to the exact parts wanted and then had to fit the pictures around the voices, this was either by making then bigger or smaller in time. I had also been able to include simple transitions for the titles which move to the sides slightly to make it visible and different, I also decided to do the titles on a black screen so that they are visible and don’t block any of the film.

From the preliminary, I have learnt how to create an animation using still shot, which is very time consuming but very much worth it at the end. I have also learnt how to create a film using IMovie and put audio with the film, not when it was filmed but in the classroom and using the Mac to record the audio, so that it would be clearly heard.

My Finished Film

This is the finished production. It was very much liked by all who saw it, making it feel like a successful production.

Feedback

When my animation was finished, I chose to show it to a group of children ranging from 8-11, this was so that I can get some personal feedback from children to know whether I could make my film for this age group or not. I created some simple questionnaires for each child to fill out so I can find out their personal thoughts of the film and how it could possibly be changed for better results.

Questions and results:

1. What do you think of the opening to the film?
This was the first question so that I can gain and understanding on what they thought of the film. I received a range of feedbacks from the range of children, most of the feedback was positive, saying how much they loved the idea and such, a few odd ones here and there said that they didn’t really understand it, meaning that I could possibly explain it better.

2. Would you like to see this film continued?
This was to find out whether the film drew the audience in or not, if not I would need to change it so that it would. However, all the feedback was ‘yes’, meaning that it was successful in drawing the audience in and wanting to see more.

3. Does the film appeal to you or your age group?
The majority of this feedback was positive as most of the children selected ‘yes’, whereas a few others selected ‘no’. This helps me with the decision on what age group I can fit my film for. From this, I have come to the decision that my film will be from the age of 8+.

4. What score would you give it? (1= bad, 5= excellent)
With this question, I asked the children this so I can gain an understanding, overall of what they thought and what score they would give it. 9/10 of them gave a ‘4’, which represented very good. And 1/10, gave it ‘5’ which represented excellent.

This means that the film opening was a success and that I have obviously done a good thing by receiving all these positive points. This all means that my film opening is a success and possibly means that my film would probably be very good towards a bigger audience.

Range of shots in my film

In my animation I have used a range of shots, this is a small list of which ones I have used.

Low angle shot

Medium shot

Establishing/ high angle shot

High angle/ close up shot

Close up shot

Feedback for first draft

Feedback for the first draft of my animation
The class watched my animation so far and was given feedback on what they thought of it and if there were any possible improvements that could be made to it. I gained a various amount of points from each person, which can be very useful to my development of my animation.
Layla:
It’s weird switching from pictures to video footage.
Will be batter once sound has been included
Cool pictures – like it
May need to flow more
Good effort
Like it when the boy was sat on the sofa with the dog
Sophie:
too jolty
clever how you did it
amazing effort
Becky:
smother editing needed
need sound
Good and different idea
Mr Turner:
More clever ideas needed like the characters watching the PSP film on the sofa with the dog next to him
Range of camera shots needs extending- even though some sequences are there, you need to have a better shot reverse shot sequence for the dialogue.
Must explore close ups
Music?
Interacting with the environment is good- more of them!
Sam:
Less jolty actions possibly needed
Better lighting needed possible as some seems were a little too bright
Maybe some music in some areas of the film?
It was a little crowded in some areas of the film
Larger range of shots?
Very clever, must have taken you ages
Good interaction
Rosie:
Shots could be smoothed together, bit jumpy
Good idea- looks like you spend lots of time on it
Redo pictures in some areas as they are unfocused and fuzzyAll of these points are very useful to me and will help me make my animation better when it is complete. And I shall consider these point, even though I understand the narration and audio needs fixing as it had none, but it shall have some when it

Youtube: Sora on a date

Research

This animation was found on YouTube and uses similar figures to the ones I use in my animation; however this animation is filmed, rather than photos. However it does use a few photos for movements of the figures heads or arms.

With this video, it contains non-diegetic music, which is supposable played in the setting (bar), which is the blues, making it combine very well with the setting and create a good opening. The lighting also combines well with the setting, as it was quiet dull and added to the feelings of the characters, as they were drunk and such.

In the next scene the characters are seen in a museum, where this contains more light than the other scene, making it brighter as it fits with the Egyptian theme of the room. However one part stood out to me, the creators hand was seen in the shot moving the figures, this means that he could have checked this and made sure that the camera didn’t capture him using his hand in the scene.

The whole animation had a good number of interactions with the settings, such as the character’s playing snooker at the bar and reading things in the museum on display. This makes it good as it shows that the setting wasn’t just there, they used it for a purpose.

The voiceovers of the animation were all done by one person and the non-diegetic music quietened when the characters were talking, making it clear on what they were saying, making this good. The camera recording was a little shaking, making it look a bit bad, yet it also helped making it look like the characters were moving more, even when in still motion.