Visual Representation - Part 6

Progress Challenge 6: My first animation

You will storyboard and then shoot a short animation featuring a character modelled from play-doh
(which you can buy, or LINK 27 with basic baking supplies).
The animation can be shot with any standard tripod-mounted still camera.

Step 1: Storyboarding

Storyboard must include a basic story format:
• a setting (an environment wherein the action will take place)
• a character or characters (players in the scene)
• a problem for the character/characters to overcome
• a solution to the problem (the story).
You may create any kind of character that you wish. The character/characters do not need to be human, or even organic, as long as it/they have anima (are self-aware, sentient).  Remember that you are modelling from play-doh. Your character will not benefit from fully articulated limbs – work within the medium, and keep the character simple.
The storyboard should include a list of shots, presented in order with accompanying descriptions that
will make any motion, sound or dialogue/narration included in the sequence clear to the reader. Sequence should be at least nine (9) frames long. For more on storyboarding, check out LINK 28.

Step 2: Setting up

Building a set

Your ‘set’ need be nothing more than a plain white surface with a plain white background. You may
provide coloured backgrounds, or individual background details if you wish, but this is entirely optional. Further exploration (optional): Arrange your camera so that it shoots directly down onto the flat surface. This provides a great deal more freedom and eliminates the element of gravity.

Creating a character

This is entirely up to you. Your character need be no more than an amorphous blob without a face, or
just a ball that rolls or bounces around. It is recommended that you not try to build a fully-articulated
bi-pedal character at this stage. Keep it simple.

Placing your camera

Ideally, you need to set up your camera on a tripod. It is very important that the camera stays as still as possible as you shoot the frames of your sequence.
If you do not have a tripod, set your camera (or phone) on a stool or other stable surface, perhaps
secured in place with a blob of blu-tac (watch the data ports on your camera – once blu-tac gets in, it
doesn’t come out).
Set your frame so that the character is clearly in the shot, and has some freedom to move within it.

Step 3: Animating

You may start with your character in the frame, or have them enter the frame as the sequence begins.
Simply move the play-doh form by small increments, and shoot a still photo each time it is moved.
From here, it is up to you to experiment with the medium. There are LINK 29.

Step 4: Sequencing

Once you have created your sequence, you will upload them to your PC or Mac. Place them in a folder of their own, separate from other files or images. Sequencing can be done with a range of programs, such as Flash, Adobe Premier or iMovie. Further exploration (optional): Try refining your sequence using Premier or iMovie. You can adjust the timing of your sequence, or add elements such as sound, music, titles and fade-ins or fade-outs.
Further Exploration (optional): Make an animated sequence using multiple small household objects, eg, buttons, marbles, fridge magnets, pins in a pinboard, etc.
Complete the above challenge and then click LINK 30 to upload.

Answer

I had chosen a comic strip that I had done in the Freelance Cartooning and Illustrating course back in
2010 – 'The Toilet Fights Back'. It is an amusing interaction between a drunk man and the toilet – the
drunkard throws up and then the toilet does it back, and then the drunkard gets annoyed and tries to
strangle the toilet, and what happens next is anyone's guess. This is the sketched comic strip I decided
to use as a storyboard. Also, there is a script I had also written. I thought it would be the perfect topic
for a clay animation.

I used a software application titled 'Clay Animation' to create the video and uploaded/edited it via

YouTube. The finished product can be accessed via these links:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOgKIEv5MLU and;
2. http://sedgieart.blogspot.com.au/

Another one I made is titled Eggs on Toast and has some unusual music to it.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9XhAjvFUSM and it can also be accessed via

http://sedgieart.blogspot.com.au/