A Peer Review

For my Peer review, I have chosen the animation created by Rhys Jenkins, Dominic James and Aaron Vickery. Their animation approached the issue of Inclusion. Using Lego figures to depict the story behind a poem written by Randy Basset. 

I'll start by getting the criticisms out of the way as there aren't many. The only issue I felt was apparent was the sound. The reading of the poem overlapped into a different frame and the words disappeared before the verse had been read out. The boys explained about this issue, saying the had trouble with inputting sound onto Zu3D, which is completely understandable as I, myself, encountered similar issues.

Overall I really enjoyed the animation. It was beautifully creative and their choice of music added a feel-good factor to it. My favourite parts include when the characters walked forward, one by one whilst Sister Sledge's 'We are Family' played in the background. Also, when the Lego figures all took a bow at the end. It was such a short part of the film, that could have easily not been included, but really gave it something extra. 

I also loved the fact that all the Lego Avengers were included in the credits. Brilliant, guys. Really enjoyed this animation. Here it is....

Stop-motion Animation



This is the stop-motion animation created by myself and Feba Philip. We decided to do cut-out animation and were asked to convey any kind of message through in a short two minute animation.
We split the 'jobs' accordingly, which was difficult as some things required a lot more time than others.
Seeing as we had never attempted making an animation before, we decided to use the Zu3D software available on the university computers. It is fairly straightforward to use as it is designed for school children.
I had the task of drawing all the frames and cutting them out, where as Feba was responsible for taking pictures of every frame, sound effects and editing, as well as some of the drawing. We uploaded the images and sounds onto Zu3D together, although this was more Feba's strength because when a technological error occurred, I was totally baffled.
When first set this task, I was really looking forward to the process. However, I don't think either of us realised how time-consuming a task it would be. Drawing the images took me a total of nearly 30 man hours, what with aligning the images as much as possible so it flowed well, colouring in and cutting everything out.
If we had planned our time better, I think we could have gotten made the animation flow much better, as it is, its a bit 'jittery'. The software we used also made it difficult. Zu3D is very basic and easy to use. I think that the requirements we were looking for and thinking about for producing an animation, went beyond what Zu3D could offer. We didn't have too much of a problem with the imagery, however, it sticks in places. The sound was where most of the issues lay. Sounds would layer over other sounds, meaning it was difficult to move them about when adding/subtracting frames. Some sounds would completely disappear and although it is possible, the software would not let us turn the volume up/down on certain sound effects.
It was a very frustrating experience. If I had to do it again, I would definitely not choose cut-out, possibly 'claymation' instead. I would also plan my time better, so I would have more time to add the extra frames needed to make the animation flow.
I have massive new found respect for anyone who creates a good stop-motion animation.