revised animation

Revised animation from johnna pasch on Vimeo.

animation

animals as novelty from johnna pasch on Vimeo.

FINAL ANIMATION

explain hierarchy of and relationships between the communication channels. what takes priority, if anything, and when does it do so?

With my animation I believe that the imagery has the most hierarchy. The visual effect give you the feelings that are felt when watching this. The music adds to the setting also, but is not as strong as the imagery. The text added to the animation helps to clarify what the imagery is trying to say. It puts the viewers mind in the right place to be prepared for the visuals that follow the facts.

why you used the media/production techniques you utilized. what did that rendering style or formal approach add to your story?

I chose to do stop motion because I felt I could capture the moment with more detail in a photo than i would have in a video. Plus, due to time I was not able to get video footage and be able to edit it in time. I wish I would have had more time to learn a new program such as aftereffects, but it did not work out this way so I chose to do photos in flash which is something I am more familiar with.

what, if any, new things did you learn through this process? was it more difficult to orchestrate things with all your options open?

With this project I learned how to take the elements such as timing and framing and make them into a animation that makes sense. I also feel with having my options open I learned how to limit myself to reality. Due to the time factor, and programs that are unknown I learned how to create something that is more realistic than a "big idea".

project 4 progress

This is my buisness card.

This is my resume unfinished but general idea.

book process 3

book process 2

book process

digital blob

progress

This was my initial sketches for my character. I from here decided to go with a very simplified character so the viewer would not be distracted by the narrator and focus more on the information being displayed.

I then decided to draw this character in many different ways. I showed some facial expressions he could have and how he could look in different positions.

I then tried different rendering methods such as pen, marker, ink, colored pencil, and water color. I decided I loved the look of water color mixed with pen outline.

Today in class I decided that I did not like my original character too much. I felt he wasnt totally where I wanted him to be so I did some in class experimenting. Such as this above.

Then I came up with this sort of blob with crooked eyes. Everyone seemed to enjoy his character. So I decided to go with this one and render him more.

These are some different color schemes I was playing with. I think I will be going with the red colored one or possibly the orange and yellow mix.

Since I am doing a comic book I am experimenting making a new communication model to match my book. This is what I have so far.

Final project beginnings!

* chosen project and why. how will this project work better in your portfolio than the other option?

I have chosen to go with the data presentation. I plan on making a commercial with stats on abandoned animals due to impulse buying. I feel this is an important issue in our society right now. I feel this will work better than the other option because I have been dealing a lot with humor with this project and this will show the other side that it can take. A more serious, factual side to an animal like my ferret. I think it would also be a good experience to deal with a subject that could create controversy. It will show that I can design for humor and for important social issues.

• the purpose of the work. why does this piece of graphic design exist? what is it supposed to do?

This piece is going to be designed to send a message out to viewers to not buy pets on impulse. It is supposed to make people realize that a pet may be so cute in the store, but they are going to be a responsibility for the pets lifetime. People buy or give pets as gifts and do not think about how many pets get abandoned to do lack of interest after time.
• context for the work. what surrounds it? where or when does it appear? is it stand-alone or does it require a presenter, what else is on that channel? etc.

The context for this would be like a public service announcement. It would appear during any normal commercial time. It could be on any channel. It may be played more on channels such as animal planet. It may also be on channels such as discovery, national geographic any channel that supports animal rights would most likely play it more often.
• audience description. who are they and why are they watching

The audience could be anyone who is watching tv at the time. It will effect the animal lovers more than the non animal lovers. It would hopefully make a person who is considering a pet think about the responsibilities of the pet they may be deciding to bring to the family.

-Four million cats and dogs—about one every eight seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year.

- Pet care Advisor for Purina, Shivaun Statham, says the company is drawing attention to the issue now because many of the pets that are bought as Christmas presents every year inevitably end up unwanted in animal shelter

- Statistics from the Auckland SPCA that show more than 1000 newly abandoned animals were collected in December 2008 alone.

- When you hear of people who plan to give a pet as a gift, please take the opportunity to educate them. Animals cannot speak for themselves, but you can be their voice - and convey the message that pets aren't disposable; they need love and commitment their whole life.

- Pets should never be an impulse purchase. Individuals and families thinking of getting a pet should research, prepare and then, when the time is right, seek a pet who realistically complements their lifestyle, schedule and energy level. Many people do not have the time, energy or money to care for a dog over the long term. A new owner may enjoy the animal for a few weeks, but then resent the gift once the novelty wears off, and the cute puppy starts growing into an active, needy, larger dog.

-Also, discourage parents from giving pups and kittens to their children as gifts. While children can help with some age-appropriate responsibilities, pets require adult caretakers. Remember, even bright youngsters typically don't have the strength, attention span, self-discipline and physical strength to care for a dog...or even a cat. Older children typically wind up redirecting their attention to friends, school, social activities and eventually dating and planning for college. Unlike with other holiday presents, owners cannot just pop in a fresh battery or put the pet away in the closet after the novelty wears off. In nearly all cases, one of the parents becomes the primary caretaker, doing the feeding, walks, litter scooping and all of the other chores the children once promised to do themselves.

-Furthermore, "pets as playthings" is the wrong message to send to children. Pets are living beings who require substantial time and daily care, plus expenses for food, obedience training, vet bills and occasional petsitters or kennels. Children get bored with gifts, and it's heartbreaking when families grow tired of the growing dog. Studies show that too often the gift puppy is given up within the first year, starved for training, socialization and affection. Regardless of what parents tell children and neighbors, the reality is that too many wonderful dogs go unadopted at shelters.

Pups between the ages of 7 to 14 months often wind up at shelters or at the vet for euthanasia, because the owners did not train them, resulting in "behavior problems." Even worse, some owners dump unwanted pets on the road or in the woods, where they cannot survive on their own, since dogs and cats are domesticated animals that depend on humans for care.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, most puppies and kittens born in the United States never reach their second birthdays. They die from being hit by cars, euthanized by owners, starving or being injured in fights with other animals, or taken to shelters or pounds, usually before age two.

As noted by the Pet Action League, the months following the holidays will be very busy for rescue organizations. Many of last year's holiday puppies and kittens are now up for adoption. It is tragic how many poor animals wind up abandoned.

reference: http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_giftpet.php

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0911/S00047.htm

narrative summary

My sound effects that I added information to the narrative to make it more interesting. I feel like they give it a sort of humor. If you were to have the ferret dancing with no music it is cute, but not as funny v.s. him dancing to a rap song by run DMC.

The short sound marks give it quick effects to re enforce the objects the viewer is seeing. The music is set to give the viewer something funny to listen to while the ferret is dancing.

With this form of communication it allows the user perhaps think on a different level and can move around in the narrative vs just watching a movie clip from beginning to end. They can sort of pick their own narrative.

The user of my experience can discover small “ah Ha” moments while navigating through my piece. It forces user to want to click on anything that may do something whether or not it really does. Since I know what has an action once clicked it is interesting to watch someone else who has no clue what to click do this. Even if its that they click on a different area of the object than I would have. Its funny how everyone thinks different.

final book spreads

cover

before class progress...

My first stop in this project was doing some research...

My first source of resource was the understanding comics book by Scott McCloud. This book came in very handy for me on many levels. Not only does it explain the thought behind a narrative. It also made me realize this is how I wanted to set up my narrative for my book. Having a comic narrator tell you information scene by scene is more interesting to read even if it is text book information.

VISUAL:

this was simply for the character idea. If I were to design myself as a cartoon what would I look like?

This is the more traditional comic look. I really like the colors used in this strip and could see my comic taking on this rendering style.

I chose this visual for the animal characters. My narrator could be an animal. Sometimes they are more "cute" or funny to look at.

Again for the thought of what I would look like as a cartoon.

At first I thought I would come up with the design of this book. Then I realized I cannot really do that without a narrative to the story. So I have started writing the narrative for my comic book. I have also been doing a bunch of visual research and inspiration

n. I have a few questions remaining though before I began to design my actual book.

Sketched comic look V.S. All vector

Black and White V.S. color

Animal characters V.S. human

Myself as a cartoon V.S. a super hero for the comic theme

My Script...So far.

- Hi I am _____.

- We as humans interact with other people everyday.

- Our world is made up of several systems. It can be anything from the Solar system to our digestive systems.

- But have you ever thought of the way we interact or communicate as a system?

- Well… probably not, but I am going to explain the system of communication to you.

- Everything starts with a sender. The sender is the one with the thought or message.

- The sender wants to say, think, or express some thing or idea.

- This idea comes from what the sender believes or thinks. The sender is the author of this thought.

- For example in the child hood game of telephone, the sender would be the person starting the message.

-Or in the case of this book, I am the sender sending a message to you!

-Pretty simple right?

-RIGHT!

-Ok moving on…

- The next step would be the message.

- This is the actual content that the sender is sending out.

- It can be verbal or non verbal.

- It provides information, and is dependent on the context it is put in.

- It is a source to the person who will be receiving it.

- In our society today it can take many forms, which comes in channels.

- Referring back to the game of telephone, this would be what was whispered and passed around in the circle.

- In the context of this book it is anything I am telling you.

- Channels are the different forms the message can take.

- It acts as a transmitter used to convey the information from the sender.

- This can be many different things such as a telephone, computer, t.v., letter, even music.

- It would take a whole book just to list the different forms this could take.

- The people passing the message from ear to ear in the game of telephone act as a channel.

- The pages of this book are a channel to give the message to the reader.

- Do you get it?

- Noise is anything that can interrupt the message along the way.

- It can often impact the way we perceive the message and could possible alter the intent of the original message.

- Noise in the game of telephone could be the whispering , which may be too quiet to hear.

- It could even be music playing too loudly in the background.

- Noise while reading this book could be you cannot see well, or maybe the lighting in the room is too dark.

- Or maybe I am just boring you and you are getting tired.

- WAKE UP!

- The message has almost reached is point!

- The person receiving this message is, of course, the receiver.

- They then decode and interpret the message and evaluate their own idea or thought.

- In the case of telephone this is the last person in the circle who hears the message.

- In the case of this book, it’s you silly!

- Now quick evaluate what you are reading. Because it is time for feedback

- Feedback is what was processed from the message and gets sent back to the sender.

- Many systems have obvious input and output.

- In the case of the game telephone the feedback is what the last person says what they thought was heard.

- In the case of this book, it is what you are getting out of it.

- It could also be criticism on the book from others.