A key part of the fantasy brief is understanding the target audience. So, we had a lesson on this topic and I’ll be covering the notes I took in this blog, as well as any extra research I did outside of the lesson. First, it is important to know what demographics are, since they fit into the apprehension of the target audience. The definition of demographics is the statistical data of a population, especially those showing average age, income, education etc. I found it pretty simple to understand what demographics are, as in my head, they are different ways of […]
Author: Tina
Parallax
The animation for our brief has been specified as 2D, and we can do anything that we like (within the genre and target audience) as long as it is in 2D. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot utilise 3D, and use it as an illusion. One way this can be done is by bringing environments to life an effect called parallax. So firstly, what is parallax? Well, Google’s definition is: The effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions, e.g. through the viewfinder and the lens of a camera. Through […]
Bauhaus Logo Design
Bauhaus is a design principle that originated from the Bauhaus Art School in Berlin, operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts. It was shut down by the Nazis as the school was deemed too liberal, but the school still became famous for its approach to design, with the Bauhaus style eventually becoming one of the most influential currents in modern design, modernist architecture and art, design, and architectural education. Their ethos is that you can bring art to functional designs and environments, which has allowed it to survive as a design style. […]
Gender Representation in Character Design
An important part of character design is gender representation. Gender can generally be defined as: “The behavioural, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex” To understand how gender is positively or negatively represented, you have to look into different characters and their presentation in the media. The first example I did a quick investigation on was the film Moana. I chose another film to study, but this was actually a difficult decision. I want to show both good and bad examples of gender representation, but also of both genders. I found that most articles and websites talk […]
Poster Techniques
With the new lockdown, our brief changed slightly for those who do not have the capabilities to complete it at home. There is now an option to complete a film poster, instead of an animation for the final task. I plan to stick to the original, however, the new addition has added another option to try out and experiment with. So, I would also like to try making, or designing a film poster for my show as well, and for this lesson, I learned about the techniques and aspects of a film poster, as a starting point. I’ll begin by […]
Atmospherics
In this lesson, I learned two different ways to bring some more life into an environment, using After Effects: how to create smoke, and embers of a fire, both of which are 2D atmospherics that can really add some depth to a setting. I started out with creating smoke, with a new composition in After Effects (5 seconds) and a solid layer named ‘smoke’. With that layer selected, I went into the ‘effects’ section at the top, down to ‘noise & grain’, and selected ‘fractal noise’. A smoky texture immediately appeared on my screen, but it was not animated. […]
Masterclass – Liquify
Another tool in AE that we learned how to use was the liquify tool. It is a versatile filter that can be used for a number of interesting effects, and we covered the basics (which is only scratching the surface!) We were provided with a clip to work with, and it was a relatively short video of an actor playing the Joker. There wasn’t a lot of movement involved, but enough to see the effect of the tool, and the length would make it easier to render out. Following the instructions, I began by going into ‘effect’ at the top […]
VFX Workshop – Stone Carving
In After Effects, you can create some really cool effects and art, particularly with lettering. I learned how to create the effect of letter carved in stone, which I think would be a really cool way to create a title sequence for a fantasy intro. Demo Firstly, find a suitable stone texture. This should be a high-resolution image with a stone that isn’t too dark or light – so that the letters can be seen. Open this in photoshop and name the layer ‘stone texture’. Once that’s done, create a text layer to go on top […]
Concept Development
A big part of the fantasy brief that we were given, involves concept development, and this isn’t surprising, as it is one of the most essential and critical stages of new product development steps. Once an idea is generated (and usually in the working world, screened for quality), the concept development stage is what follows next – carried out by keeping in mind the needs of the customers as well as the nature of the product. For our fantasy brief, character design is something that is required, so we began with doing some concept art for a character. Everyone experiences […]
Lightsaber Masterclass
QUICK NOTES For this lesson, unfortunately, my notes were insufficient, and as I wanted to long to create this post, I have forgotten most of the detail. I still remember how to create this effect and use the tool, so I will go further into depth if I use it again for future projects. I also want to focus on my fantasy brief and catch up with other posts that benefit the brief. For now, I will simply copy my quick notes from my sketchbook so that I have a reference, and I can show that I have had a […]