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Introduction:

The objective of the Bloomsbury brief was to create a short children's animated e-book that had to be up to 5 minutes long. Our task was to then find a suitable story for this brief that would appeal to a large audience of a certain age range. To do this we had to conduct a focus group and conduct some primary research to understand what people would enjoy to see the most. We had to go to a public library and see the children's books to see what common themes occurred that we could also include in our books. We had to work in teams without much guidance, and solve problems to learn how to work independently.

Bloomsbury Brief:

When I first read the brief, the first problem I faced was that I didn't know how to animate so I wasn't sure how I would create a children's e –book. This was a problem as if I couldn't animate I wouldn't be able to complete the set task. Whilst actually creating the product, at first I found it hard to get used to Using Final Cut Pro to animate as I had lots of problems with the key framing to get my characters to walk across the page. This was a big problem, as at first when I created my characters and made them move, they would fly around the page rather than walking in the path that I wanted to set them. I easily solved this however once I head learnt how to use key frames to create a walking path for each of the characters to walk in. We also had problems with the audio equipment at one point, as we didn't know how to use the boom mic to record our sound effects. This was a problem for us, as we needed to record the sound effects to include for our Foley. To solve this problem the sound effects we used weren't actually on the boom mic, we used recording software on our phones to record our Foley effects. Although not as professional, the sound turned out well. I feel that our ability to solve see problems was good as whenever sketching came up that was tricky we didn't give up on the e-book, we looked how to solve the problems differently.

Research:

We had to conduct a range of research for our e-book before we could create it so that we could know what our target audience would be. We conducted a focus group to ask people what sort of ages they would read on their own, and what they were into at that sort of age. We also asked people what they thought about an educational book, and they seemed to like the idea. This research was important to us because it allowed us to see what were the most popular options, which then allowed us to achieve our plan. From my focus group I conducted, people thought that an educational book would be best for the set target audience of 5-6 year olds, as you can make something interesting that could teach them something at the same time. They thought that would be good because it is interesting and educational at the same time, which can help Children whilst they are learning the basics of reading. My research was successful in generating ideas for audio and visual problems, as we immediately came up with the idea to make a book about the fear of the dark. To do this the room would have to go from light to dark, so we would have to solve the problems of working out how to make a light background go to darkness. This was a problem for both of us as neither of us had worked on animating before, so we would have to research how to do this on final Cut. This problem was easily solved when it came to making our e-book however, as when it came to changing the room from light to dark, we just made the same background image with black walls instead of white, then did a cross fade effect so it looks like the lights were turned off.

Visual Problem Solving:

The most challenging visual/animation problems that we came across whilst making our e-book were trying to get the characters exactly right when the backgrounds changed, as they would disappear too quickly and the background would be there and the characters wouldn’t. This was another problem, as when the backgrounds changed for the next scene the characters would disappear too quickly, so when you watched it through they would disappear too quickly. I believe that I was fairy successful at solving this problem as when I went to solve it, we zoomed in on the timeline so that we could see each millisecond of the video, and extended the character across the timeline so that it was in line with the fade effect, so that they would fade at the same time as the background. Next time however, I would solve this in a more simple way, which would be to compound the clips together as one, then put the cross fade on them both so that they would disappear at the same time. This I couldn’t do however this time around as somehow the characters and backgrounds had attached themselves to the audio clips, so when I compounded them together the video and audio would go out of sync. To change this however, I would have to compound each scene separately as a clip so that they wouldn’t all attach themselves together, and it would make it easier to edit as when I edit one clip it wouldn’t then change all of the others.

Audio Problem Solving:

The most challenging audio/Foley problems for me were recording the narration on the Boom mic in the animation room. This was because although we were in a separate room the microphones would still pick up background noise, and sometimes not record everything that I was saying clearly. This was a problem as when we came to importing it into our final cut file, some of the audio was missing so we couldn’t use it. This meant that we then had to go and re record our work, as it didn’t save onto the device. I feel that we could have done a better job at solving this problem though as all we did was re record it and stand closer to the microphone, so that it would pick up my voice better. To do this differently next time we could go to a room where the sound is kept out, so that it wouldn’t pick up any background noise from anybody working in other rooms nearby. Another problem that had occurred whilst we recorded our audio was our Foley. We couldn’t record it in the animation room as there was a group using it at the time that we wanted to record our sound, so instead we used audio software on an IPhone to record the Foley effects. This was not the best choice as it may have not been the most professional option, however luckily the sound came out clearly, so the audio clips could be used.

Time Management:

The way that we originally planned to manage our time was with our production schedule that we created, which was a document that allowed us to plan out every day that we were working on our e-book, and what exact things we would do on those days. Each day we would also conduct a production meeting to check what we would be doing, and if it was different to what was on the production schedule. I feel that as a group we were good at managing our time, as our e-book was completed ahead of our production schedule, so we had time at the end to go over it and make any improvements if need be. I feel however that the production schedule wasn’t useful for us, as what we planned out we didn’t stick to, as we planned to get a scene completed each day, however we managed to get a section of work done each day. For example, in one day we managed to get all of the backgrounds done, then all of the audio etc. This was good for us as it allowed us to get our work done faster.

Teamwork:

I believe that in our production team, our communication could have been better, as I feel we could have spoken more for the production meetings each day. However, I feel that these were relevant, as they helped us to discuss exactly what needed to be done each day. I feel that if my partner and I spoke more though we could have been slightly more organised with our work each day. I feel that we could have communicated more outside of college to make sure that the work got done, and to split the workload more evenly between the two of us. For example, we could have spoken on social media such as snapchat to take photos of what we have done, so that we could compare the work with one another to ensure that we had everything.

Tasks:

I feel that in the production schedule we split the tasks evenly so that we could both work on each part of the e-book, audio and visuals. However when it came to actually working on the e-book it was harder to split it equally as all we wanted to do was make sure we got it all done by the due date. However we both managed to work on both parts of the e-book, the audio and visuals, so that we could experience every part of creating it. We both worked on every part, but each of us worked more on one half than the other, as we found it was better to get the work done on time. I believe that we could have been more successful at collaborating as when we worked, we didn't sit together and do the work we just each got on with the tasks that we were set on e production schedule and the agenda each day. We did follow the production schedule to a certain extent, however we changed the way we worked on our tasks each day to ensure that it could be completed each day. For example, when we worked on the sound and narration, this was the only time we were both together working on the same thing at the same time, and when we did this it was better as it allowed us to get the work done quicker, and to a high standard.

Future tasks.
If we were to complete a similar task in the future, I would like to work better as a team, as I tend to normally work well on my own, so if I worked with groups more often, I feel I would be better at splitting the work evenly, rather than doing things myself. From our production, I would like to start the editing process as soon as possible, as coming from the project we have just completed, I feel that that is the process that takes the longest to complete, so if we start that as early as possible it can be completed sooner. With the animation I would especially like to make sure if it is a scene based video that I am compounding each scene as soon as it is completed, to ensure that they can't go out of sync or mess up as soon as I complete it. I would recommend also communicating outside of college to do your work also, as you can compare what you have and haven't done to help one another out, rather than just me making sure I have done everything I need to. This will be better as then at the end of the production we would have more time for conclusions and evaluations rather than playing catch up with the documents we haven't yet completed.

Final Outcomes:

Peer comparison:
Compared to the e-books we saw today, our e-book was different to the others in a range of ways, including the music, art style, and the stories. In our book, we had two songs, upbeat and sad, that played throughout the whole book quietly whilst the narration took place. Other groups included songs at the start, and the end of the books, without songs playing in the whole book. The way that others solved the problems throughout their production process has helped me, as I now know of easier ways to solve errors next time. For example, other groups with their e-book whilst editing compounded their clips as they went through, so they didn't encounter any of the problems that I did whilst making mine, as so,e of my scenes merged together so I couldn't undo them. I also learnt to next time use the boom mic to record our foley effects, as they would have come to be more predominant within the e-book if we had done so.

Feedback:
Based on the feedback that I was given from the focus groups and the teachers feedback, I have learnt about what I could do better if I were to do this again. For example, we were given the idea to improve of the background images throughout the e-book, and we could have taken more time into designing each of our characters. The good things that we found out we're that people thought that the theme was overcoming a fear, which was the message that I wanted to get across in the first place, and people thought that the target audience should be 5-7 year olds, which is the age range that we also were aiming for for the e-book. The feedback we were given in class to help improve our e-book before the final screening today was good as we applied everything that we were told to the animation to help improve it for YouTube. We were told to work on timings and sound levels, and once we had done that the e-book was complete.

Professional comparison:
Compared to the children's tv programme Arthur, my e-book is fairly different in comparison, as the art style, music, and animation is different. The programme contains an up beat theme tune, and really well animated, however, compared to my –book with two of us working on it, they would have a whole team of professionals working on each section each week. Also, they have a much higher budget to work on each episode, whereas we have had 10 weeks to work on ours with two people working on every part of the book, rather than having a large team working on just one section.

Self evaluation:
I feel that in the past ten weeks, my skills within the production process have developed greatly. I feel that I tend to take the lead too much, so that can be improved on, however I feel that with the audio and visuals I worked fairly well. This is because I was already experienced writhing using photoshop, and my weak points with the audio section I soon picked up on, as editing audio was not as hard as I thought it would be within Final Cut Pro. In he future, I will apply these skills that I have gained through the past ten weeks, as I feel I know know what to do when working as a team in the future,came I know not to take charge and presume that we should use my ideas. I also now am more experienced in using Final Cut Pro, so when it comes to editing again I now know what to do. Overall however I feel it turned out fairly well as a project, but the characters themselves could be improved, as writhing the animation I would have liked to have their legs walk as they walk.

Evaluate:
I feel that my skills have developed within the audio side of the production throughout the past ten weeks, as before I didn't know how to record audio professionally, or edit the souls levels so that everything sounded okay for the video. I feel that the final video itself meets the expectations of the brief, as we have set our target audience, created a working animation that includes narration, sound effects and music. This meets the requirements that Bloomsbury have set for the brief, and they then could show this to my set target audience with them hopefully watching and enjoying it.

Sent from my iPad

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http://youtu.be/fKpkgBZdLWo

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Today in the lesson, we worked on the finishing touches to our animation, to make sure it could be exported and uploaded by the end of the lesson.
Before this could be done, we had to get our video watched over to check for any errors within the e-book, and then make changes to it. With our animation, the only problems with it were timings, for example as a background changes we needed to change the times that the characters dissapeared, so that they would be in time with the backgrounds, rather than just dissapearing  completely off the screen.
This wasn't an error that I didn't know how to solve, so these adjustments were made fairly quickly and easily. All I had to do was drag the character entity along the timeline slightly so it was in time with the background fading out, so that they would both go at the same time as eachother.
We also needed to quickly change the audio levels of some of the sound clips, as in some places the narration was quiet and the music was loud, and in others you could barely hear the musicand  only the voices speaking.
I feel like we managed to work well at solving these problems today, as they were fairly simple ones that could be fixed by us in a short time to make sure the video was complete. After this we exported our videos and uploaded them to YouTube, ready for them to be screened against the other classes next week.

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https://youtu.be/jfSkiYxRW18

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Today our task was to hopefully finish the majority of not all of the animation within our e-book. We needed to add the rest of the sound effects, narration, characters and backgrounds to ensure that the e-book would be completed on time. Today I have learnt how to make finer edits within Final Cut from the characters animation, as when they move they need to be perfectly in time with the music and the narration. This was tricky to do as you had to time it perfectly, and if it wasn't right you would have to reset the parameter and start again.

We did have a problem that was recurring throughout our animation today, which was that we tried to time the fading animation with the characters leaving the screen ready for the next scene to take place. This was a hard problem to solve, as when the characters were meant to leave the screen, the characters stayed on the screen for too long and we're still there when the next scene took place. However once I had learnt how to solve this, it was fairly simple, I just had to go through the animation frame by frame to make the edit of dragging the character entity back slightly so it dissapeared in time with the faded effect of our animation. I believe that our ability to solve this problem was fairly good as we managed to see what the problem was fairly quickly, and we saw that the problem was hard but not impossible to solve. We managed to see that we had to put the two entity's in time with one another to make sure the character faded out at the right time.

Another problem that occurred was at the start of the day when we began to animate, we couldn't find our video within our event on final cut. This was another fairly big problem as it meant that we couldn't continue with our animation without the file being within final cut. I didn't know how to solve this problem however as I searched the local files within the computer itself, with no luck. I instead had to ask of extra help from a member of staff to make sure that we could recover the files to carry on animating.  This problem didn't take long however as we managed to get back to animation fairly quickly, and it didn't take too much time out of our scheduled plans for the lesson. By the end we did manage to get everything we wanted to complete done, and it meant that we only now have small changes to make to finish the video completely.

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Today in the lesson, we completed a collage workshop on how to create backgrounds using the medium of collage. From this, I have now learnt that this is not the medium that I would like to work in, as I feel that this method is time consuming, and not my area of expertise.

One problem that had occurred whilst creating the collage was that I found that I wasn't very good at using different materials to create an image. I much preferred to use pencils and pens to draw backgrounds out. However, when it comes to making my final e-book, the collage format is more interesting as it adds texture and depth to the image, giving it a 3D feel.

I created my background using mixed media through the use of tissue paper, wooden cocktail sticks, glue, and black card. The result was not effective whatsoever, however this is helpful to me as it means now hat I can eliminate a form of media that I would like to design my book in.

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Today in the lesson We conducted Market research on a different number of already existing e-books, to find out what makes the good ones good, and the bad ones bad. I have now learnt that within e-books, you always need to make sue that the audio is perfectly clear, otherwise it comes out sounding poor, and it makes it sound unprofessional. We also developed the character sketches that we had created in the previous lesson into Photoshop documents, and turned what was originally a basic sketch into a working idea.

One problem that I first came across when I was creating my

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Secondary research:

Based on the secondary research that I have conducted, I have found that in the majority of children's books, the volume of text is to a minimum, and the pictures tell the story mostly. Also, the books don't tend to have many pages, so the stories are ones that have meaning, but can be told in a short amount of time. I have also found that the titles of the books are rather short, and they either rhyme or use illiterate on to make them easy to remember. Based on this research that I have conduced, my book will include a short title, that will probably use illiteration, so that it is easily memorable. Also, it will be a short story, with a morale so that it teaches the children that read it.

Visual imaging:

Whilst creating our first sketches, one problem that occurred was that when drawing out my main character design, I had to create it from two angles, whilst it still being to scale. At first, when drawing, I did this freehand, which then meant I couldn't get the image exactly to scale.

This problem was overcome by me drawing the image within grid lines, which would then allow me to draw a to scale side on image along side the front view, to see the main character from both angles.

Overall I have learnt that if I want to draw the images freehand, i will need a to scale side on image so that the main character will be in proportion throughout the whole book. I have also learnt that to conduct a focus group and gain secondary research is very useful, as it allows you to gain a range of information from different sources, to allow you to gain an idea of what to create within your book.

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My focus group was conducted to gain research based on my children's e-book. I did this so that I could get a range of information, then this would help me base my children's book around it. For example, I asked questions such as, "at what age did you most enjoy reading children's books?" So that I could gather data from my colleagues to gain a sample number of people that like certain things, and want to see them included in the e-book. I gained information such as the main age being 6-7, so that is the target age for my book to be based at. I also learned that the best theme to have for my book is that of fantasy, as my sample group decided that they where more interested in a fantasy story when they where younger.

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WHAT DID YOU DO TODAY?

Today we worked on a mind map, to base our ideas on what our children's e-book will be about and based on. We also worked on a Photoshop workshop, on how to change a photograph to a cartoon like image, by watching a tutorial.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN, HOW?

I learnt both what an e-book is, and how you would go about making one, through the use of the power-point and presentation we watched in the lesson today. I also learnt how to change images and manipulate them to turn a photograph into a cartoon like image on Photoshop, through the use of watching a step by step tutorial.

WHAT SKILLS DID YOU DEVELOP

The skills that I developed were how to use the filter gallery tool on Photoshop, then I also learnt how to change the background by copying the shape, then filling it in a block colour, then changing the opacity to make the image look similar but with a cartoon like affect.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE, HOW CAN YOU DO THIS

TO improve, I could work on the skills of actually copying round the image to add the block fill, as there where times that it didn't fully fill the image, and the edges did come through making it not look as good as it could have.

WHAT PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS WERE FOUND

The problems that occurred where that whilst making them, I couldn't get the image to be the right size to make the file large enough to be used. To solve this problem I had to create a new file, set the type to international paper, then change the size to A4 to make sure that the file would be large enough to use.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT ACTIONS YOU NEED TO TAKE TO PRODUCE YOUR E-BOOK SUCESSFULLY.

TO produce the e-book successfully, I need to make sure that when editing in photoshop I make sure that I get everything cut out and filled properly so that he image doesn't look distorted or strange, and I also need to make sure I go into the file and set the image to the correct size first, which then will make sure the file size is large enoug, nad is printed out properly, without having to scale to fit the media when printing, causing the image to not look as intended.