Final

Evaluation

I started this project with an indecisive attitude towards choosing what object I wanted my animation to be based on. I had lots of different options, but I finally made a decision that I wanted my object to be a coin. I hoped that by choosing something quite simple and common, there would be a broad range of ideas and approaches I could utilise for this project and I wouldn't be tied down to anything too specific. My research into coins started by looking through a collectors coin album. This gave me the chance to look at a variety of coins, old and new, from all over the world. I found myself very interested in the markings engraved on the coins, so I researched into what these illustrations meant. I focused on British coins since we are living in London and the audience would be able to relate to it. My research led me to find out that the lion wearing the crown jewels on the 10p coin symbolises the pride of Britain. I decided that this would be the coin that I want my animation to be focused on. I had several ideas but the one I liked the most was the idea of the lion in the coin coming to life. These ideas were all fine but they lacked any particular meaning, they were all just visually pleasing. I wanted to play more on the idea that this lion is supposed to represent the pride of Britain, so I thought it would be quite ironic given the current economic crisis to have the lion act like a playful kitten and inside of letting out a mighty roar it would let out a sheepish meow. 

The Making Of

The main difficulty I had when creating this animation was dealing with the amount of drawing that it entailed, I also found it hard to get into terms that 20 drawings would equal up to 2 seconds. This pained me as it was too late before I realised this, which led to my animation being shorter than expected. I also wish I could’ve experimented more with sound, so that there are no silent moments in the animation especially when the cat is running around. I also found out when I was editing it on Final Cut Pro that I would’ve been better off using Dragon rather than iStopMotion. However, after finding this out I decided that I didn’t mind that much about the grainy, boil-ridden quality of my animation, I really think it suits the quirkiness of the cat.  

Sound Possibilities

The most important sound in my animation should be the "meow" at the very end. Another sound effect I had in mind was the sound of coins dropping which would give the lion a fright, but then he'd be intrigued which leads him to jump out of the coin frame. I was thinking that it would be a good idea to add the sound of glassing smashing in the empty frame after the cat runs across the screen for comedic value. I'm still debating whether I should have some sound as he's running like paw steps. I'm also debating whether I should have some kind of song during the titles, I was thinking a crackly old fashioned version of 'Rule, Britannia" which could then suddenly warp and cut out like a record player suddenly being stopped as the coin rolls in.

Cat Movement

When it came to actually drawing the frames, I needed more help with making it move. Even though he's a lion the whole point of the animation is that he's more like a cat (or even a kitten) therefore I needed more research into cats and the way they move. I also looked into my favourite comic book artist, Jeffrey Brown. I have a book by him called Cat Getting Out Of A Bag and its filled with sequential images of all sorts of cute cat-like tendencies. This book really helped me get a feel for the way I want my cat to act and even his funny expressions. It gave my animation a more lighthearted feel.

Lion Locomotion

Since I've chosen to animate the lion, I researched into the way the animal moves. I found Eadweard Muybridge's Descriptive Zoopraxography really helpful. He thoroughly studied the movement of animals through electro-photographic investigation in 1872.

I used this Zoopraxiscope of a lion walking as a helpful guideline as it captures each stage of the lions body as it walks, also when the dial is turned it becomes an animation. 

Planning

At first I had the idea that the animation would show a hand coming into the screen which would drop and a few coins, the 10p coin would roll away so that it would be the focus. However I decided that intro isn't really relative to the animation so I cut it out and I'm going to start the animation with the coin rolling into the frame. Maybe there will be the sound of coins dropping beforehand. I also had so trouble decided which coin I wanted to focus on, it was between the £1 coin with the dragon or the 10p coin with the lion. To solve this problem I listed each coins pros and cons and decided that the 10p coin would prove to have more meaning in terms of the narrative. I was drawn to the dragon at first because I could experiment with it flying and I had the idea that as it was flying the cityscape of London could pass by at the bottom of the frame, however this idea would just be visually pleasing. With the lion I feel the animation would be more of a statement, as the lion is meant to represent the Pride of Britain but I would represent it in a playful manor with the animal letting out a meow rather that a mighty roar.

Joanna Quinn

I found that this animation by Joanna Quinn really related to my idea. The fact that this animation shows the pride of Britain but portrays it in a really playful way and in the form of an animal is very similar to my idea of the lion in the coin coming to life and representing Britain in all its glory but in an ironic sort of way because the lion will just be a playful feline.

 



 

I also found this video on youtube of Joanna Quinn working. It was really insightful to see how she animates. Her work is very expressive and you can see how she does it which I found really interesting. With my idea I need to research into the way lions and cats move to make my animation a true portrayal. Although for this project I don't think it's neccessary for it to be 100% accurate in terms of movement just as long as you get the idea and the feeling of the movements.