Here is my final piece of work
My Mechanoids Animation (old):
Completed animation Resub:
My poster:
Introduction: For my brief, I chose to create a world within my Pc. Within this world are a number of characters with a classic battle between good and evil. I created a story which allows me to introduce the 3 main characters “good guys” who will have to outwit the main evil character and his sidekicks. It is a story which will allow the key characters to grow within the story and encourage viewers to wait for the next episode through the introduction of cliffhangers at the end of each episode. The main evil character will be introduced with a back story for viewers to understand why he is creating chaos. I also have brought all the characters together under a unique name ” Mechanoids”, this gives a rough idea of the character design and creates interest for the casual viewer to learn more. The introduction poster also creates interest as the main characters are shown but which one is good and which one is evil?
What went well: Overall, the production went well, my main areas I am happy with are:-
Project control: I introduced a kanban system at the beginning of the project and key dates for me to achieve the required outputs, this kept me on track to finish at the required deadline.
Story Board: I created a rough storyboard to allow me to develop the short animation shown above. This allowed me to move the story around and allowed me to think about how to show and introduce the characters to the viewers without giving too much away about their personalities or skills. It also allowed me to place some humour and also a small fear factor into the trailer. One of the characters glowing in the dark came from the storyboard development.
Character Development: I created and developed each character step by step from concept art to finished work, these steps can be seen in my Concept design blog. I researched typical evil character looks and introduced elements such as a dark Dracula style cloak on the main evil character and also introduced Evil looking eyebrows to change the Hench men’s look. Within the concept art, you can see the difference between a bright innocent looking happy character and then a sudden change to evil looking. I also wanted to develop a comedy look for the Henchmen, the introduction of accessory style evil eyebrows helped me to do this. I will also look to develop their characters in a style which is linked to ‘Slap stick’ style comedy whereby nothing goes right for them and the main Villain has to try to put things right. My main good guy characters I developed to be unusual with one having no arms and spiky ball shaped head, this will be explained later in the series and his actual skills demonstrated building on the suspense and interest. I also developed physical characters through the use of Lego to confirm their proportions and paid for a soft toy to be made in the finished design of one of the characters to support the development and confirm if it looked right.
Poster: I developed a poster to advertise the animation, using bright colours to attract attention. I studied poster design and placed the characters in positions which showed what may be happening in the story. The villains were placed high in a place of power looking down on the good guys. This gives a feeling of dominance towards the evil guys, the main good guys are shown in the foreground with an innocent look which should make the viewer start to feel sorry for them
Even Better If: Overall I am happy with my submission, and I believe I could make it better, this is what I would look to do:
Client Research: I could have gathered real life data by putting a real survey out to my target audience during the creation of my storyboard. This would have helped me really design the animation and characters closer to what really interests the majority of people. This would then result in increased viewers to the animation helping the further development of the series.
Evil Characters: More detail as to why each character appears (particularly the Henchmen as they look strange and do not appear to be too menacing. I could have included a brief introduction or a Narration to explain the backstory.
Narrator: An introduction of a Narrator and opening and closing credits in the Animation would have helped to build suspense and more interest. I could have used the Narrator to close the story with a standard strapline such as coming to you soon or watch out someone coming.
Music: The introduction of music into the trailer, using it to build drama or jump scares or, even to create a comedy moment would really improve the animation. Music can be used to change the feel of a scene from Scary (The Shining music) to Laurel and Hardy music (Comedy).
What would I do differently? I think for next time I would change the following:
I should spend less time researching, developing my characters and more time animating.’ This would create a more detailed and involving animation to watch, and the introduction of a Narrator and Background music would make a big improvement. I could have also looked to introduce some kind of tagline to get people talking about it more.
Conclusion
Overall, I think that my production has gone well, and I was able to make and submit everything before the deadline. I could see some improvements being made as the characters and story were developed. I think the main characters are strong and are clearly split between good and evil.
I believe my animation fits in well with my target audience as I have animated a scene that would appear within the series itself. I think it fits in ok with the Passion Pictures audience too.
Although with more real life client research I could have really confirmed my ideas and made more improvements.