Unit 5

 

Research

This animation has a simple 2D style which I think helps making it easy to follow and understand the animation and therefore the main message. The main message for this video is to use 4 simple steps to avoid road accidents. These steps are 1: find a place to cross 2: stop at the edge of the road 3: watch and listen 4: cross quickly. The narrator is speaking in a calm and clear fashion which allows you to fully understand every word as well as understanding that it is dangerous but not to get worried when crossing roads and instead stay calm. As well as this by her speaking in a calm and clear voice she comes across more professional which shows that this is not a joke and to take it seriously. The characters in this video are very simplistic which makes you not focus on them but instead the main message of the video.

This safety video’s style is like a tv show as it has some animation but also a lot of real live videos which help make it see more real to the kids that are watching this. In this safety video the main message is to in a case of a fire “Stop, Drop and Roll”. The way they delivered this message is by using repitition which helps make it stick in you’re brain. They also created some cartoon characters which looked very childish therefore appealing to their target audience which will yet again make it more memorable. They use multiple narators as this is less professional than the first one and is mainly targeted at kids. They also speak in a fun energetic high voice to yet again appeal to it’s target audience.

The style of this safety video is all 2D animation. The main message of the safety video is tips on how to avoid drowning or having any accidents in water. The method of delivery here is to show the audience the amazing things you can do with water and how great it can be but then also showing you the downsides if you don’t use safety as a precaution. This way it still makes people want to go and play with water but they will know the dangers of it so can be aware and avoid any accidents. The narrator in this safety video is a women that sounds quite mature and therefore you can trust her opinion as well as her being soft and gentle with her delivery. In the video the characters are used to give examples on the dangers of water. For example they will use a child like character to be the one that will have the accident so it can relate to children as that is the main target audience.

Drawn

The style of this animation is a very simplistic drawn animation. The main message of the animation is the struggles of an elephant and mainly how the trunk is the problem as it gets in the way of his/hers everyday life. The delivery was excellent as they used a nice up beat music so it keeps it in a friendly and not so serious mood. This also makes it funny for a younger audience as the elephant appears to be hurting itself but in a playful way so they don’t have to worry for it’s health. There was no narrator however the information seemed to be coming from a third persons perspective of the elephants life. The characterisation helps with the main message of the video, as the elephant is such an innocent animal but also looks playful so you or not scared of the animal but more happy and enjoying the company of the elephant.

2D

The style of this animation is 2D. The main message of this video is about the dark thoughts you have and trying to escape them. They keep closing in on you cause they are like you’re shadow just another part of you that has all the darkness which is inescapable. The message of the video was delivered well as they used sound and realistic scenarios. For example the sound/music was peaceful at the beginning to show that she was relaxing and could easily fall asleep/day dream. Then as she entered her dream/bad thoughts the music suddenly changed to an fast pace intense sound which scars the audience and makes them feel on the run just like she was in the animation. The characterisation helps deliver the message of the video as the character doesn’t appear that healthy as well as seeming quite sad/scared in the facial expressions.

3D

The style of this animation is 3D. The main message of the video is how we are all the same people and we shouldn’t be killing each other as in a way we are killing ourselves which is just stupid and suicide. The method of deliver was amazing. They used rabbits as soldiers since rabbits are really pure/innocent animals so makes you feel more sorrow for them. They also had a harmonica used twice to symbolise how the enemy is very similar to you and therefore you are killing yourself. A quote I found has the same message as this video “Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide.”

avoiding gruesome information

The best way to avoid gruesome information is to imply what is going to happen but don’t actually show the exact thing. For example in my animation I intend on showing a car about to hit someone but then I am going to have a blank screen for a few seconds to imply they did actually get hit. This way I don’t have to show someone getting hurt at all and it is still suitable for kids.

 

 

Characters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After doing research on these safety videos I noticed that mostly all of the the narrators where nice friendly looking cartoon characters. This is because they want to appeal to kids, as usually you try to teach the safety of things when they are younger so they don’t make the mistake in the future. Due to the characters being nice and friendly looking the children will then trust these characters and make sure to follow what they are saying. So in a safety video you need to make sure that your character is not intimidating or non trust worthy in any way shape or form. Using animals as characters can also work as dogs especially are seen as mans best friend so you would naturally not find it intimidating or scary and therefore trust it as well.

Storyboard/spider diagrams

I started off by creating a spider diagram and writing different ideas I could have and what I could do for a safety video. From the beginning I felt most strongly about road safety so I decided to think of different idea’s for that subject. Like I was thinking should I talk about having you’re seat belt on or how to cross a road etc. I settled with crossing roads and how easy it is to loose focus from whats happening around you especially if you are listening to music or on you’re phone. I think this a big deal in our day and age because so many people have phones which can get really distracting from everything else going on. As well as this even if you are not on you’re phone you can still be listening to music which might drown out the sound of cars and therefore you may not be as as aware. There are also many electric cars now that barely make that much noise when driving so you need to make sure you are not just relying on you’re hearing but instead you’re vision as well.

This was my first idea for the animation but I did not like the idea as I wanted to base it more on people not being alert and although being with you’re friend can make you un-alert it is not as likely than listening to music or being on you’re phone.

I then did another story board and this time I did it and liked it. This one is all about the character not noticing the car because he wasn’t alert and therefore just crossed the road stupidly. I also had him explain what he was doing wrong so that it shows he has learnt from his mistakes and is now teaching us to not make those same mistakes.

Audio

I am going to do the audio last as I will be speaking and adding dialogue however I know that I will be doing it in a calm and friendly manner so that I get the audiences trust and they are not intimidated or frightened of me in any way. I will also add a nice soft bit of music so that they are even more at ease when watching this. I will also add the sound effect of the car pulling on the brakes noise so that they understand what is happening when the screen goes blank.

My Animation/Safety video

First test animation from Animate cc (Ball Bouncing)

First I had to test out animate cc and therefore the whole class had to create an animation of a ball bouncing. I did this by moving the circular object (the ball) to a different position after each frame and then when played back looks like a real motion of the ball. When the ball landed I added a cartoon effect by over exaggerating the squishing of the ball to make it look like it has had contact with the ground. I also used the swine tool which creations a line of motion for the object to go in. You can change this line of motion to you’re preference and it is a more efficient way of making a ball or an object move in a certain line or consistency.

Character

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started off with testing the drawing pad you can connect to the computer. I was just messing around with different looks and styles of animated characters and was just getting a feel for what it’s like. However I realised I want to make mine look more cartoon like than realistic so it can appeal more to kids.

This was my final design for my character, unfortunately I did not manage to screen shot each step of me making this character however it was quite simple. The reason the the legs and mouth look a bit weird is because I made separate layers for another set of legs and multiple sets of mouths. This is so I can animate my character to have his mouth moving so it appears as if he is speaking. I can also animate the legs so it appears he is walking to a location rather than just gliding across the screen. I also added some air pods in my characters ears to add to the fact that he is not alert and probably didn’t hear the car coming his way.

I also created a side view of my character so when I have the scene of him crossing the road you will be able to see him physically crossing it. Also since the view will be from the side it would have been weird if I kept my character in a front view position, no one crosses the road sideways so it made more sense to create another profile for my character.

Background

Before creating the background I looked at many pictures of houses and building from the side view of them which would include the pavement. The image above helped to show how the building was planned and the different areas of it which would of helped if I decided to create a building.  However I decided to do it next to a park.

This is my first background where my character will be walking down the pavement and explaining that he had got into an accident. This is where the majority of the safety video will be. I did not know how to create straight line so I used a rectangular selection tool and then used a pencil and just coloured in that area which therefore made it straight as you can only draw in the selected areas. I did that technique for all the rectangular areas however the trees I just did with a a paintbrush without any help from selected areas so it was all free drawn.

My second background features this car which I made using the rectangle shape tool which I couldn’t find when doing my first background. I did this for everything on the car (the wheels,the window,everything).

I then used the circle shape tool to create a black circle in position for the lights of the car.

I then realised most lights give off a orange/yellow light so therefore I change the colour to yellow so it was obvious they were the headlights of the car.

I then change the opacity of the window so you could see through it as that is what windows are used for. However I realised you could see the road behind it rather than the inside of the car.

To fix this problem I added another red square behind the glass so that it was clear that it was a window without seeing the whole road as well.

I then added another character to drive the car so it looks like someone is driving the car rather than having a car with no one inside it which would’t make any sense.

I then added a seat and a steering wheel to add to the realism of this scene. I then put the glass layer over the character and the whole car so it seemed as if the character was behind the glass. (I did not show it in the image above)

Animating

I started the animation/safety video with 2 seconds of the topic it was about and my slogan which is “Be alert, accidents hurt”. I also repeated the walking process until my character reached near to the end of the pavement.  I did this by swapping which legs were in what frames etc.

I then created this speech bubble using a circle and a triangle from the shape tools and would then put text over  it so it appears to be his speech bubble.

Due to me making three different variants of mouths earlier on I was able to have my character “appear” to be speaking. I did this my saying the words out loud and seeing what type of shape my mouth became on each syllable and then matching that with the one I had made for my character. Obviously I could not master every word as I only had 3 different variants of mouth and there is much more. But it worked for the most part.

In the image above the bottom set of frames were for my mouth movements and the ones above were for when the word was said. So sometimes I would have multiple mouth changes for one word because it had multiple syllables.

This was the last frame before I changed the screen to a blank screen so it was fairly obvious that the crash was implied.

Final Safety video

This is the GIF of my animation however it does not have sound and I think sound plays a big part in a safety video so I am going to add sound and make it a proper safety video.

As you can see I added audio to my safety video. I decided to add dialogue so it is easier for kids to understand in case they are not the best at reading. I also added some nice childish up beat music so that the kids watching felt no stress watching this as well as some sound effects to help make it more clear what was going on.

Evaluation

I showed  my road safety animation to a few of my friends and they said it seemed to communicate well  due to me having dialogue it was easy to follow along to and the music did seem to lighten the mood. They said that the strengths is definitely my audio and the fact that it was quite engaging. They also said that the fact I had the mouth move along to the words was pretty cool but still could have been better. The weaknesses of my animation were that the words sometimes went too fast and also the message of the video wasn’t a %100 clear. They also said I could have put more time into the walking animation of my character but what I had was still fine.