Introduction

The production format of a piece of media relates to how it is presented to an audience – a story could be presented in the form of a 2D animation, a 3D animation, a traditional short film, a comic book, a music video or any similar method of presenting a visual piece of media to the viewer.

For the Creative Project Brief assignment, I started by considering a few different production formats, and then created my final project idea based on that. The formats I considered for my project were 3D animation, a short film, and 2D animation.

3D Animation

One way that I could present my project would be in the form of a 3D animated short film. This would be creating, texturing, rigging and animating 3D models in Maya, complete with backgrounds and other effects in post. For me, I don’t think that I am confident enough in 3D to be able to create a whole animated short from scratch but, with more practise in Maya, I could do that down the line.

As for the genre I am working in, Sci-Fi, I think that 3D animation is perfectly suitable to present Sci-Fi visuals and themes. Below are some examples of 3D animated Sci-Fi films – Spider-Man: Into the Spider verse, Robots and WALL-E.

Short Film

Another way I could present my project would be in the form of a short film, shot with cameras using live action subjects and actors. This would mean filming the short film, editing it, and adding effects in post. I think that if I were going to make a short film, I would not choose Science Fiction to be the genre because I’m not practiced enough in VFX to create convincing or aesthetically pleasing effects – however, I’m sure that I could create a Sci-Fi film that is more grounded in reality and uses VFX sparingly or not at all, like the movie Primer. In general though, I think that the idea I have for my film about an alien planet and outer space would not be suited to the live action short film format.

Below are some examples of short films – A Trip to the Moon, Bottle Rocket (short film) and the Wallace and Gromit series.

2D Animation

The format that I have chosen for my film is 2D animation. To create a 2D animated short film, I would have to storyboard, animate and then edit in post. I think that 2D animation is more than suitable for the Science Fiction genre as anything that can be drawn can be animated, and so even the most detailed ideas can be animated in 2D for a fraction of the money it would cost to make a live action feature out of them.

I chose 2D animation as I am the most practised in it, and so I would be able to gain further practise at the same time as creating something I am confident in.

Below are some examples of 2D animated films – Paprika, Spirited Away and The Iron Giant.

Conclusion

Overall, researching these production formats has helped me to consider what I want for my animation, as well as my strengths and weaknesses in film making and animation. Passion Pictures, the ‘client’ for this brief, work in all 3 of these production formats, but 2D animations seem to be the most prevalent. This would mean my idea fits with their library of former work.