https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl Made with eyes on the prize en-us 2016-09-27 14:48:54 UTC 2017-03-15 09:50:37 UTC hello@padlet.com thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/126688423 In today's session, I have worked on developing my skills within claymation, working in ones, twos, threes and four's. I managed to improve on the bouncing ball animation, as I worked on improving my squash and stretch technique. I do need to improve on making there balls look like they are rolling, as when it came to doing that I tended to forget to twist the ball slightly so that it looked like it was moving, rather than travelling in a straight line. I felt confident with using the software itself, as I know how to edit and replace frames, and work on different techniques.

So far I have looked at many different styles of animation ,and what is best suited for different styles of content. I will look further into this as we go on to see what is the best for the Ident that I am going to create.]]> 2016-09-27 14:50:36 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/126688423 https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/127233792 Today I worked on both production testing and audience research. 
This morning, I went to the animation room and worked on looking how to animate using claymation, and I looked at developing my skills with this style of animation. I managed to make a short clip of a man bouncing a ball off of the ground using the squash and stretch technique, and I also managed to work on general character movement.
From doing this I have found that this is the style of stop motion animation that I am actually going to do, as I feel most comfortable working with it. It is also easier for me to create character models.

There are some improvements that I need to make however, as when it comes to actually creating characters I need to make improvements there, as the character I used today was just a basic stick figure with a face. In the final product, the characters will need to be more detailed.]]> 2016-09-29 13:08:12 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/127233792 https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/128796098 This week the research I have carried out has informed my initial ideas in the sense that I now know that Pixilation and Claymation are the two best styles of animation for me, as having experimented with the both of them these are the two that I feel most confident with. 

I had some difficulties gaining information from my questionnaires this week, as I posted them online so I didn't know who would do them, and in return it meant that I didn't get many results, however they had a wide range which was good for me gathering data. In industry Practice, I wouldn't have just posed the questionnaire once on one online site, I would have done it across a range of places to ensure that I could get a lot of results from people. 

 changed the way that I approached my research this week from my first year FMP in the sense that I didn't go around asking people in my class for their opinions as they would have been bias, and it wouldn't have helped me find anything out for my survey, which I found actually worked better.

For the next project I work on I will look into doing more primary research in a wider range of choices, as I didn't get as much as I hoped to this time, so that is something I will need to alter for the next time I do it.]]> 2016-10-06 13:20:09 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/128796098 https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/130443347 My research and own ideas today have influenced my design concept in the way that we conducted some testing today on pixilation, and we have found that to make the people move fluently, we will not fit our legs off of the ground in the video, as it makes it flow without looking too jumpy. 
We merged our ideas of using the colour schemes that are bright from claymation into our pixilation test as it makes it stand out and easy to see, whilst also referencing the brand.
Our Ideas I feel are ambitious as I feel that nothing else has been done quite like this, and in professional practise, the pixilation videos take a lot of time to complete, and it needs more than one person to operate the camera and movements to let it flow. One problem that came up today was learning how to operate the new camera, as we didn't know how to change the ISO because the photographs were coming out too dark. To solve this we looked in the cameras options and saw the ISO was set to 400, and we needed it to be 800 for the lighting to work effectively in the room. We looked at the settings and managed to change it, which allowed us to get brighter images.
Relating to our audience of families and children, we really need to take care in over exaggerating facial features so that they can really see that we are trying to convey happiness and safety, as we are not going to include a voice over. This is so that when they watch it nobody will be confused, and they will show them what families feeling safe are about. 
I will make sure that this gets referenced in the storyboards, so that when it comes to filming we remember.]]> 2016-10-13 14:04:50 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/130443347 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/132064881 This week, the investigation and exploration of techniques that i did included first hand experimentation on pixilation, as I learned the best way to make movements work so that our video could look good. I also looked into experiments on garageband, working on the script and outlining the narrative for our production.
These all went fairly well, however I didn't always keep on track by staying on time, some of the documents such as the script took longer than I initially set for myself, which didn't matter too much in the long cause because I managed to complete some work at home. To improve, I need to work a bit more on my time management, as this will allow me to complete more tasks in one day. 
The impact that the research that we conducted made on our concept this week is that we have definitely decided that we are going to use pixilation for our video now, as from the testing we believe that it is going to be the best for our audience, as we feel that a real video is more relatable than one made from clay or whiteboard.
The problems that we faced this week did include the fact at one point we weren't sure weather or not that pixilation would be the best choice for our video, as before we conducted our tests we looked at the making of some videos, and they are very time consuming. We thought that this could be a problem for us as we believed that clay may have been a better option for us, as we thought that we could spend more time in the studio animating rather than going out, however when it came to us conducting tests we found pixilation to be an excellent way of portraying feelings without words.
In the industry, My role of being a script writer and narrative outliner hasn't been as professional as someone in the industry as I took a lot of time to come up with the concept of the video, and it took me a while to finally get the ideas down on paper. Also, big companies have whole teams of story designers to come up with the videos concept, however I worked alone to make sure the script was completed, with me referring back to my team mates on our ideas that we had.
After half term I would like to work on my skills working in a team, as I would like to allow my team members to have more input on the video, as I feel sometimes I take charge and listen to what I think is best. If I improve this, then our group will flow better together.]]> 2016-10-20 13:43:57 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/132064881 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/135099447 This week, I have been working on the pre production documents for the ident that we are creating, and I have also been working on the pitch and powerpoint for when we present to the client. I feel That this week whilst I was working, I did get slightly distracted, which did effect the time I took to complete the work. It also means that against the grading grid, I would only have to rate my working ethic as satisfactory, as I feel that I could have spent more time working than I could have done whilst speaking to others. 
I feel that The quality of my planning has improved this week however, as I feel that in the meeting minutes I speak about what tasks I am going to complete, and I really explained how I am going to do them. I may not have completed all of these tasks on time, as some days I may have set myself too much to complete. I feel that my planning has been refined and consistent, as I feel that when I set myself tasks I can clearly understand what I have to do for each day. However, I don't feel that my planning and research is quite coherent and self directed yet, which is what I need to work on to improve my grade. 
Overall, I feel that with each week I am improving on tasks, which is good as I feel that with my progression I can work towards getting A higher grade.]]> 2016-11-03 14:41:04 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/135099447 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/136261728 In today's session, I worked on getting the timings right and ready for my presentation to the client in a weeks time. My section of the pitch cannot be longer than 4 minutes, which was a slight problem for me initially as mine went slightly over, however it is now sorted thanks to me taking out sections of text that didn't read as well as I thought they had done when I had initially written them. 
My pitch clearly states the narrative of our ident, why we chose to use the format that we have selected, what we are going to include that the client has required and the experimentation and audience consideration. This is all so the client can get an understanding of what our group has to offer, and so that they can be reassured that everything should go to plan. 
Some improvements that I still need to make to my powerpoint would be on the slides, as they are more factual than visual at the moment, and I need to include a few more images for the client to view whilst I present to them. This is because if I just left it how it is now, the presentation wouldn't be interesting to look at, and if there is just text on the screen the client might be drawn to reading that rather than listening to what I have to say. I have made some of these improvements with images on slides, however I am waiting for the final documents for the storyboards before I can continue adding images.
We feel that our group is going to take the client's interest as from the research that we have conducted on the existing idents, the majority of them that are stop motion seem to use clay, which is a good format, however we have tried to differentiate from this by using the format of pixilation. This is because it looks interesting for an audience to view, and it separates the content from the hundreds of clay idents that already exist.
I feel that today I have been very effective at setting my own targets, as I have taken into consideration what needs to be done before the end of the day, and if there was any extra time I set myself a bonus target to begin working on completing some props ready for production. This is so that our group has a chance to get ahead, and we will have more time to spend on practising our pitch rather than spending all of the remaining time on pre production and testing. 
I also feel that my focus was maintained a lot better today than in previous sessions, as I knew I was working to a deadline because I had to leave early to attend a UCAS talk, so I really focused on completing all of my work for the day before I could go. This allowed me to stay on track and complete the work on time.
For homework, I need to go back over the previous work I have completed for pre production and refine it, explaining why I have chosen to do something instead of just describing what research or information I have gathered. I also need to complete any tasks that need to be done for pre production, and prepare for the Pitch next week to the client.]]> 2016-11-08 22:47:41 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/136261728 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/136722330 In The lessons this week I have been working on making my presentation the best that it can be, so that when it comes to presenting the powerpoint to the client then I can know what I am saying and hopefully it comes across as professional. 
At the start of the week the timings that I had for my part of the presentation were a bit off as when I had timed myself it was slightly over 4 minutes, which is bad because I can't go over the time limit, as I will be backlogging the people that are presenting after me if I do this. 
My powerpoint considers the audience when I speak about the research that I conducted, and how we considered that the ident we are creating needs to make sense for them, and it needs to be interesting to them.
The animation techniques that I developed today were in pixilation, as we developed a further understanding of how we are going to animate the characters looking at their phone, and how this is going to look on screen. We did run into a few problems where the lighting from the phone was too bright for the camera, however when we lowered the aperture for the camera this sorted it out. This has also allowed me to understand how to use the camera better, and I now have an understanding of what I am going to do when it comes to creating our final product. 
The parts of the animation that should hook the audience is the quirky style of pixilation that we have chosen to use, as it is quite stange and eye catching, with a humours element to it, which should interest children and young people. This is because the characters don't walk in the conventional way in the style we have chosen to use, we are going to have the whole video without their feet leaving the floor. 
The audience will be aware of the logo and the brand Families Feeling Safe as the leaflet that features in the video will contain all of the relevant information, and the video will end with a fade to the logo. Today we conducted a test on how it would look typing in the website, and we believe that this is going to be one of the last sections of the video.  ]]> 2016-11-10 14:08:07 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/136722330 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139391919 Working on pre production finalisation and powerpoint
In the sessions this week so far, I have been working on completing my script and finalising it for pitch on thursday. This is so the client can get a good idea of what our project is and its content. Also, If we can make the client understand the concept of our video, then hopefully it will be easy for our audience of children and young people to understand. 

I encountered some problems with my timing on my script as at first when I began speaking and timing it the script was over 4 minutes long, which was a problem because we only get 4 minutes during the pitch to get our point across and I need to make sure that the client understands the concept of the video before we leave. To solve this I had to work on my timings with how quickly I spoke, coupled with shortening down sections of my notes that weren't vital to the video. 
This worked as it allowed me to shorten the content of my video down to about 3:45 out of 4 mins which gives me the perfect amount of time to speak about what I need to say. 

In the next session I am going to present my powerpoint to the client, and give them an idea of what our project is about. ]]> 2016-11-22 15:51:51 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139391919 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139391995 Presenting to client
In Today's session my group Studio 99 presented our pitch and our idea for our Ident to the Client, Protective Behaviours Training and Services. We as a group had a total of 4 minutes each to present our idea based on our different job roles to the client, and to get feedback from them on what they think our ideas were like. 
The presentation went well, however my main problem was that I went over the 4 minute time limit, which then put my other group member Callum behind when it was his turn to present. 
This would be a problem in working practise or at university as when it comes to presenting in the working environment I would be given a set time to work on my section of the powerpoint, and if I were to go over that time, I would be cut off. Fortunately I wasn't this time, however this is going to be something that I am going to have to practise in the future.]]> 2016-11-22 15:52:04 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139391995 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139392058 Animation day 1
In today's session, we began working on the final animation for the client, Protective Behaviours Traning and Services. Today I was the camera operator, and I worked on taking the photos for our pixilation ident. 
Today we did encounter a few problems whist we were on our production, as some of our shots that we were taking were too dark for the audience to be able to see. 
This isn't a huge problem however, as we have already filmed the majority of the video today, so when we get into college tomorrow we will have time to re shoot some of the scenes that aren't up to standard.]]> 2016-11-22 15:52:14 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139392058 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139394424 Animation Testing]]> 2016-11-22 15:58:14 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139394424 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139394579 2016-11-22 15:58:40 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139394579 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139394635 Animation testing]]> 2016-11-22 15:58:47 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139394635 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139725042 Animation Day 2
In today's session, we completed all of the filming for our video, re shooting some scenes from yesterday that weren't up to our standard of the other content. 
We worked on shooting the different scenes in our different locations throughout the day, and managing our time so that we could fit in everything that needed to be done today.
We did encounter some problems with lighting whilst shooting because we decided to use natural lighting to make the video look more authentic, however the problem with this is that it alters throughout the day. To solve this we had to end up changing our camera angle for the lighting to not effect the video, which ended up improving the video because it meant that it gave us another camera angle for the video, and changed it up slightly instead of it being another standard mid shot.
In the next session we need to start on post production and editing, so that we can begin putting the final product together ready to gain some audience feedback.]]> 2016-11-24 09:55:15 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139725042 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139777311 In today's session, we began the process of editing our final video. We have taken all of the images that we have taken on the camera and started to edit them in Final Cut Pro. 
We started placing all of the clips in order on the video editing software and began changing the timings of the clips to make sure that they were the right speed so that it is readable. ]]> 2016-11-24 15:03:27 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/139777311 https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/140538936 In today's session, our group worked on continuing the editing process for our video to make sure that it is ready to present to the client. We looked into the different types of audio that will work well with the final product but we found it to be best for our audience if we use a royalty free song as it has more depth than a song that I have created in garageband. 
One problem that we have had with our video today is the fact that it is too long at certain points throughout, and it extends the story when it doesn't need to be done. For us to change this, once all of the images are in final cut in the right order then we will have to change the timing of each photo from two milliseconds to one millisecond so that each photo takes half the time to move. This we feel will be better for the audience as a whole as then it will take less time to get to the main part of the plot of the video, so they are less likely to get bored of the video and click off, as this is effected from the research I originally conducted on the research into attention spans of people and if they aren't interested in the first 8-9 seconds then they tend to click off of the video. ]]> 2016-11-29 15:43:18 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/140538936 thomas_gamble https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/143863060 This week, We presented the video to the client, gained peer feedback and audience feedback, gathering information so that we could evaluate our process as a whole. 
I felt that the feedback that we gained was very useful, as we found out that a common factor across the majority of people asked said that the style of animation was interesting and creative, however the storyline of the ident wasn't too clear to people as they thought there needed to be added subtitles or narrative for it to work better. This was interesting for us as a group because we found this to be a good way for us to realise that we as a group understood the story because we wrote the storyline, but because we didn't include a written narrative on screen, it was hard for people to see what was going on. 
The client enjoyed the creative style of the animation and the backing music, but they thought that our ident was a better advertisement for their website rather than their company as a whole. To change this we would have to re shoot slightly, making more of a short story in the ident rather than two people looking at the company site. 
The video as a whole we feel did turn out well visually, as we liked the way the movement in pixilation worked, however we thought that we would like to improve the story for the video if we were to do it again. 
Overall I feel like I would use the style of animation again in a video, however I don't feel like I could use it for the whole video, I would feature the style of animation as something extra to watch.]]> 2016-12-15 15:24:28 UTC https://padlet.com/thomas_gamble/26dag0afdgfl/wish/143863060