Dissertation Proposal

This week we were asked to produce a dissertation outline to help the tutors divide up the students equally and to see what tutors suited best for our chosen subject areas. Here is my outline - a dissertation about animation.

For my dissertation I am going to focus on the area of animation. I have chosen to do this subject because I am very interested in this area and it also coincides with my production project where I am creating my own animation.

I am going to consider the development of animation in the era of Disney and the pencil and paint of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' to the CGI animation of Pixar's latest release 'Monsters University'. I have decided to only look at animation from Disney (1937) to Pixar (2013) because I want to look in to these companies and talk about their connections, differences and styles.

I would like to use the phrase 'from pencil to pixel' to best describe what I am going to try and achieve. I intend to discuss and analyse whether Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) has fully taken over from the hand drawn days of Walt Disney. I am going to examine both sides; comparing animations made throughout these generations, the realism and passion in these animations and also the impact that technology has had on this art form.

I considered looking at a wider range of animation, including stop frame; however I think that this is too broad of an area to cover when I need to be focused on something very acute for my dissertation.

I would like to illustrate that CGI animation is just as delicate a process as hand drawn animation. I want to prove that the same excitement, commitment, love and affection goes in to CGI as it does hand drawn; and although it is more prominent in the industry, CGI has not completely shadowed hand drawn animation for good - but it has for the moment.

I will explore independent makers of animation on YouTube and also other companies such as DreamWorks and Studio Ghibli to show the range of animation that is being produced in this generation and what positive effects CGI has had on the ability to animate. 

I am looking forward to finding out who my tutor is and I think I have an idea because my chosen area is pretty specific. Excited to get started on this because I love my subject area and can't wait to find out lots more about it in my research and development!

Speak Soon!

World of Work Bronze Statement

The World of Work is a big thread throughout the third year of our course and the 3 section are all important to completing the awards. The Bronze statement is all about understanding and knowing yourself. It is about realising your strengths and knowing what you could do to improve. You are expected to choose 3 key strengths and give examples of times that you have used them.

I started working on the Bronze statement this month and I booked in a submission date for myself so that I would have a deadline to work to. I created a statement and sent it to Liz Harrison, who kindly looked though it and helped me make some changes so that I could cut it down to the work count. Here is my Bronze statement that I sent off and I am now awaiting feedback:

Understanding and Knowing Yourself

My three personal strengths of value in a future media career are time management, organisation and dedication. I aim to work for in media, preferably for a company that creates animations. These strengths would aid me in getting a role in a company and secure my position as a valued member of a team. An example of when all of these skills were utilised together was when I worked in a team to create a TV show in just over 2 months. I personally created the schedule that my team agreed on for working hours and meeting times. We chose were required to choose a local guest so I set up meetings with various guests and contacted them regularly to meet up to discuss details of the filming. The dedication to this project is evident in the hard work that I put in for even the small details such as cue cards for the presenter and the shot sheet describing the camera angles. My grade in this module was a 1^st overall reflecting my hard work and commitment throughout.

An area which I would like to improve is my mind set in stressful situations. I am not always the calmest person and sometimes the pressure of work or deadlines can make me anxious.This is because I always want to do my best and I put too much pressure on myself to do so. To manage this in my final year I plan to look at one project at a time and manage the workload through my time management skills. I will arrange regular meetings with my personal tutors because I know that these meetings always help me focus and not become too daunted by the tasks ahead.

Work Values, Motivation, Drive and Energy

I am always willing to work hard; whether it is for a part time paid job or unpaid work for experience in my chosen field. For example, I work for the Students Union as a Digital Content Producer; creating work for their website and advertising systems. It definitely helps that I am interested in the work as this gives me job satisfaction unlike my more mundane part time restaurant job. I would thrive on a job in the animation industry where I could gain satisfaction in working creatively. Big or small; any job related to a final outcome where I can say I played a part in creating a piece of media would be worthwhile to me. Working my way up in a company or even just having different jobs to do will keep me motivated in terms of striving to create work and learning every step of the way. In the media, technological advances mean that I need to be constantly finding new ways to create media and so my dedication to my chosen area would benefit me greatly.

My greatest personal achievement to date is my Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards. My time management, organisation and dedication all first blossomed in secondary school and higher education through the Duke of Edinburgh. Even through the trials and tribulations of the hard work that is needed to complete these awards; I had fun and really learned about myself. I became an efficient team leader, I learned how to read maps and I even learned about my own physical ability. The Duke of Edinburgh awards really make me proud because it is something that makes me stand out in the crowd

My reward for doing this amazing course was meeting the Duke of Edinburgh himself in the palace in London and I also have certificates and medals as proof of the best time of my childhood.

Relating to Others

Working for the Students Union is very much a team effort. Last year I worked on  5 projects with two other students who also do media courses. We were all very motivated and excited to do the work because we knew that it would look great for our future employers. Being friends with my two teammates did help the work but this also made it difficult to confront them when something was not going to plan.

For the most part, we worked hard together and divided the roles of camera operator, photographer, editor, organiser and communicator equally so that we all took turns doing each of these. We wanted each other to get the best out of the experience, and not just think about ourselves.

However, on 2 occasions I was faced with the problematic task of confronting one of the group about their selfishness when it came to some of the work. The situation occurred when we were filming in a boxing gym for a sports promotional video. One of the team decided that they would do most of the filming which I didn’t personally agree with. I talked to the person privately after the session to express my view and to listen to their viewpoint. I calmly talked to both group members and said that I think the camera tasks should be split more evenly and that we need to take into consideration each other’s skills and use them to our advantage. This solved the issue and from this point forward we were back to working as a solid team again.

My Future Planning

I believe that my skills and experience within the media would allow me to achieve my goal of securing a job in a media company. I need more training in the area of animation but I intend to start this process during my final year. I aim to look for courses that I can take to improve my drawing and technological skills. I will also use the sessions at university to practice with the technology and attend tutorials. After I finish university I am considering doing another BA in Animation. Doing Media Professional Studies has opened my eyes to the specific area of the media that I would like to enter. 

Speak Soon!

Freshfields Animal Rescue - Work Experience

Today I had a lovely meeting at the Egg Cafe in Liverpool with 2 people (Kate and Elaine) from the Freshfields Animal Rescue Center. We were discussing films that we are going to make together as part of a campaign about Bull Breed Dogs. They would also like other films making to do with their Rescue Center. Here are the notes I made during the session.

• Music suited to the films - sad and happy (royalty free - no budget)
• Promoting awareness of bull breeds
• Positives of re-homing these dogs and the negatives (euthanasia)
• Elaine would be doing the voice over for the videos
• Want to make an impact
• Awareness of bull breeds and the need to neuter them
• Need to show the euthanasia in a way that shocks people but isn't real
• A day in the life of 'Flint' the dog. The way the dog sees the process of animal rescue
• Showing the dogs friendships and relationships with humans
• 3 videos: dogs point of view, facts and figures, documentary of rescue center
• Text showing facts - impact
• Claw 2014 - animal event showcasing these films next year at their stand
• End of the year deadline (possibly January)
• Full days filming - catching the dogs calm and sad (not irate)

We have a lot of work to do, so we are keeping in touch via email. They have kindly offered to pay for any transport costs we may need because the centre is quite far away.

This work should be great and the reason that I applied for it is because I am passionate about animals and would love to make a difference in anyway I can to those animals that need our help. Can't wait to get started on this and meet all the lovely little dogs we will be working with.
I will keep you updated on what happens next!
In the mean time, here is their website if you would like to have a look!

Freshfields Animal Rescue

Speak Soon!

Production Project - Individual Presentation of Ideas

So here is my presentation for my individual production project idea. Ideally I want to work by myself so this process has helped me realise a schedule and what I want to do in terms of story. Have a read through and just see what I gave to my tutors to show where I am currently with my project.

Working Titles

I wanted to have a fun and relatable title that depicts what the film will be about but also entices the audience in; so here are a few ideas:

When Salt Met Pepper - (When Harry Met Sally)

Love and Other Utensils - (Love and Other Drugs)

Salt and Pepper - (Romeo & Juliet)

What Happens in Kitchens - (What Happens in Vegas)

27 Appliances - (27 Dresses)

Eat Poach Love - (Eat Pray Love)

The Condiments of Love - (Just something I came up with)

Description of  Project

For my final production project I am going to create a 8-10 minute stop motion animation. The stop motion is going to be the story of a kitchen that comes to life when the family leaves each day. The main story line will be a romance between 2 of the kitchen objects (yet to be decided but most likely to be the salt and pepper shakers). Secondary storylines will be various relationships between appliances and objects such as arguments over pride of place and also friendships among the items. The idea is that when the family are at home the kitchen is silent; the family has no idea, but when they leave the kitchen is alive with many personalities and narratives.

I have researched into many different forms of animation; object animation, stop motion animation and general computer animation. My main influence for the project is Pixar Animation Studios and in particular their short film 'The Blue Umbrella'. This film brings to life objects that you would not usually give personalities to; for example in Toy Story the toys have faces and are meant to be people, animals or characters. They bring to life grids, gutters, windows and anything that could be given life around the streets of the story world. That is what I intend to do within the kitchen. I want to animate objects that don't necessarily have faces but could be given emotion through movement, sound and music.

I would like to give about 10 objects main roles in the stop motion; I think any more and this would be too much of a challenge as I would like to do this project alone. I will also have stock characters that will fill the backgrounds of scenes; these again will just be general items found around the kitchen such as herbs and spices. I think having these background characters will flesh out the story world; from what I have researched, in Aardman Animations such as the Wallace and Gromit series this really gives a sense of depth and reality.

Parameters

I will need 2 or 3 actors to be the family in the short live action scenes of them entering and leaving the house and occasionally interacting with the objects in the kitchen. The family will be a husband, wife and one daughter (teenager).

I will also need to choose the main object characters using kitchen appliances, utensils, foods, etc. I will script the story and then choose these objects accordingly. I may have to buy some of these components.

I will be shooting the whole project on a Canon 7D from the university equipment store over my own camera; this is simply because I can get a better quality from the 7D than I can with my personal 1100D. I have already enquired about booking this camera for a long period of time as I will need it for the whole project duration and this is definitely possible.

Format/Platform of Delivery

Before I release my short stop motion animation film, I will create some sort of advertisements through various social networks. I can create posters and release short teasers through my Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more. I can also blog about the progress of the film making process which may also captivate more of an audience. Getting people interested in what is to come will be the aim and doing so will give me a chance to receive feedback through the YouTube comments or on other social networks after the release.

I intend to release the short stop motion film on my personal YouTube account which already has all of my work uploaded. I will also blog about my film on Blogger using the account that I keep up to date very often. I also have a Vimeo account that I can upload this film to; giving it a wide range of platforms as well as sharing it to Facebook and Twitter.

The idea would be that the story is the first of a sequence of storylines within this household. I would release this short film and then create advertisements on my Youtube, Vimeo, etc to tell the audience that I will be releasing other short films that will be coming soon. I can then release other short stop motion animations that follow the same structure; objects coming to life in an empty household. This would allow me to carry on using the same family and same house to show the connection between the first short film and any that follow.

Another story could arise within the short films through this format as people begin to see the characters of the real life family develop and move forward in time.

How The Project Will Be Shown

I will do a short introduction of the project; talking about inspirations and the techniques used because these are important components to me during this filmmaking process. I want people to know where I am coming from and what the project means for me personally. This way I can ask for comments and feedback afterwards to see if people saw what I want them to see.

I will be showing the film on a projector through a DVD link because this is the quickest and most straightforward way to do so to a large audience. This means there will be no buffering time and no waiting for any programs to load.

Schedule

I would like to finish the Creative Media Practice module before I begin the Production Project so that I have only 1 practical piece to concentrate on at a time. This way I can focus all of my efforts in to this final piece of work. The timetable here shows everything that I will need to do leading up to the start of filming and also the shooting and editing schedule.

I have tried to schedule everything around my university timetable and also my part time work and activities. I have also left time to do the academic work that is required of me in this final year.

Date	Time	Action	Outcome
09/11/13	10am - 6pm	Scripting	Have a basic script set out for fleshing
10/11/13	10am - 6pm	Scripting	Fill out script and have it proof read
11/11/13	10am - 6pm	Scripting	Finish script and have the final copy for storyboarding
18/11/13	12pm - 4pm	Casting and Objects	Choose objects and send out casting notices
19/11/13	10am - 6pm	Storyboarding	Begin storyboard process and development
22/11/13	1pm - 2pm	Casting	Have casting day and choose actors for live action scenes
23/11/13	10am - 6pm	Storyboarding	Carry on with storyboard process and development
24/11/13	10am - 6pm	Storyboarding	Finish storyboard and have it arranged in order and displayed
25/11/13	12pm - 4pm	Set	Buy anything needed, complete check list of objects
26/11/13	9am - 2pm	Book out camera	Practice using 7D and choose settings for shoot
28/11/13	9am - 4pm	Lighting (book lights)	Practice lighting the location and shoot without characters
29/11/13	12pm - 5pm	Rehearsals	Have rehearsals with live actors to run through the script
30/11/13	4pm - 8pm	Rehearsals	Rehearse using objects in the set - practice movements
09/12/13	12pm - 4pm	Shooting	Shooting live actors scenes
10/12/13	10am - 4pm	Shooting	Shooting live actors scenes
13/12/13	12pm - 4pm	Shooting	Shooting live actors scenes
16/12/13	10am - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
17/12/13	12pm - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
19/12/13	10am - 4pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
20/12/13	12pm - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
22/12/13	12pm - 6pm	Edit	Stitch together photographs in After Effects (each scene)
23/12/13	12pm - 6pm	Edit	Stitch together photographs in After Effects (each scene)
06/01/14	10am - 4pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
07/01/14	12pm - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
08/01/14	4pm - 8pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
09/01/14	10am - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
10/01/14	10am - 4pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
11/01/14	12pm - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
13/01/14	12pm - 6pm	Shooting	Shooting objects scenes
14/01/14	10am - 6pm	Edit	Stitch together photographs in After Effects (each scene)
15/01/14	10am - 6pm	Edit	Stitch together photographs in After Effects (each scene)
16/01/14	10am - 6pm	Edit	Stitch together photographs in After Effects (each scene)
18/01/14	12pm - 6pm	Edit	Stitch together photographs in After Effects (each scene)
19/01/14	10am - 4pm	Edit	Start full edit of film
20/01/14	12pm - 6pm	Edit	Continue with full edit
21/01/14	10am - 6pm	Titles	Create title sequence and credits
23/01/14	10am - 4pm	Edit	Full film edit
25/01/14	12pm - 6pm	Edit	Full film edit
03/02/14	12pm	Rough edit finished	Have a rough edit to present for feedback
21/02/14	5pm	Finished product	Have final edit complete for screening

Risk Analysis and Contingency 

Here are some general risks that could happen, the likelihood, severity, level of control and also a contingency place for each of them.

Risk	Description	Likelihood	Severity	Level of Control	Contingency Plan
Location	Not available	2/10	4/10	8/10	Have timetable shown in advance and allow for rescheduling
Missed scheduled event	Accidental schedule mishap	1/10	5/10	6/10	Allow room for rescheduling in the same week or even day
Loss of files or photos	Deletion of files or technological fault	4/10	7/10	7/10	Have a constant back up of files. Use home computer as it is more reliable than university
Lighting	Not consistent throughout shoots	3/10	7/10	8/10	Practice lighting before shoots. Compare first take to last shoot. Allow use of post production tools
Objects	Objects are moved from position	2/10	5/10	9/10	Shoot takes in chunks so they don't need to be left. If they do put 'do not touch' signs in place
Actors	They don't show up for shoots	2/10	6/10	8/10	Allow for rescheduling but constantly remind them when they are needed for filming

Photographs

I have taken some photographs of my preferred locations and also some objects that I might use for the shoot.

Speak Soon!