Day 26- May 28 2009- Thursday

Today, our lecturer was not around, so we were given the choice to work in school or at home. I animated Shot 27 (The End) today, just three more shots left…and I still need my male VO!

Day 27- May 27 2009- Wednesday

I did up a rough uncolored of the added shot I decided to put after Shot 10 (running). Basically, this shot is just a jerky pan and tilt (POV running) on a wide picture of a corridor. I also animated Shot 02 (door open to reveal shadow) and Shot 14 ( hand opening door). That’s all for now…

Day 24- May 26 2009- Tuesday

My lecturer saw me again today, and I showed her my completed scenes (the ones which I put into Flash then exported as Quicktime), and she also gave some ideas for changes:
* For Shot 07 (hand picking up phone), the hand coming down looked more like the right hand (thumb was shown) than the left hand it should be.
* For Shot 08 (police officer on phone), during the long pause, the officer should blink. Not only that, the grip on the phone looked wrong, and the phone looks more like a bone.
She also gave me some advice on character design, as my guidelines were off. She told me that it is best to draw out the guidelines and rough sketch of character first on paper, before scanning into Photoshop.
Well, I have eights shot left to do by this Sunday, so the next two weeks can be for editing, doing two extra shots, audio mixing and final compilation. So today, I plan to animate Shot 13 (officer's eye looks to side) and Shot 15 (officer' eyes widen). That's all for now...

Day 23- 25 May 2009- Monday

Over the weekend, I did up Shots 25 (woman offering tea) and Shot 06 (white screen). Nine more shots left...
Anyway, I learned something new from my lecturer today: Thumbdrives and hard-drives are SOLELY for back-up and data transport. Most of us, including me, were working from our thumbdrives and we learned that in doing so, we are damaging our drives, which may eventually die. Now that's a scary thought; best advice: Back-up on the school computer and your personal laptop.
My lecturer finally saw me today, and I showed her what I have done so far. She did have a lot to say, so here is what I can remember from her advice:
* The sequence of the from when the policeman receives the call to him running to him seeing the body of the husband is way too abrupt; she adviced me to add a few more shots to show location switch (like him running towards a house). I decided to add one or two shots for that.
* Sound effects for blood dripping and police screaming too cartoony and unsuitable. (should change scream to gasp)
* For Shot 03 (gun being lifted), the hand looks too feminine and needs to look more male to look like it's the husband's hand.
* For Shot 04 (woman turning head), should zoom in a bit to show that the eye in the next shot belongs to the woman.
* Cloth on woman's head should be a stained rag, not a red cloth.
* Composition for Shot 22 (woman asking for husband) should be done that the woman does not have so much head-room and the door-way is bigger than her.
* Coloring is too pixelated.
Well, looks like a lot of things should be done quickly...depends on timeframe. Agenda for now is to back-up on my Mac and my school terminal, and finish animating everything by this Sunday. I also still need a VO for my policeman. Right now, the shot to be done today is Shot 05 (woman's eye widening). I guess this is all for this post, should go back-up all my files now...

Day 22- May 21 2009- Thursday

I recorded the voice-overs of woman and witness (Vivien and me respectfully) today using Audacity, since I still could not find a candidate for the police officer. Unfortunately, when I returned home and opened up the Audacity file, all the sound data had somewhat disappeared. Oh well, guess I have to record again tomorrow…
My lecturer is going to check on my progress tomorrow. In the meantime, I better go and animate Shot 17 (officer asking woman) now…

Day 21- May 20 2009- Wednesday

Today, although I planned to record my VOs, I did not manage to: Either there is some problem with the audio equipment, or I really have no memory on how to operate it. Anyway, I followed Vivien’s advice and downloaded the free sound audio editor Audacity into my Mac. I am going to bring it tomorrow so I can use the software to record my voiceovers.
I also animated Shot 20 (wound on woman’s head) today; I still have around 13 shots left to animate, and only three weeks left…*rush, rush*

Day 20- May 19 2009- Tuesday

Animated Shot 24 (Woman talking) today…oh man, I also did not manage to record VOs. Vivien, my VO for my woman character, suggested that we do it tomorrow. That’s all for now…better go animate Shot 24 now…

Day 19- 18 May 2009- Monday

Over the weekend, I fully animated and colored the pans in my clip: Shots 01 (woman reading), 12 (officer sees corpse) and 16 (woman at door talking). I also animated Shot 26 (police officer talking in walkie-talkie).
Today, when I looked at my production chart, I decided to start animating shots everyday until they are all done in Photoshop, then I export to Flash. I do not think I can afford to take one-day breaks now :P.
I also realised that I am due to record my VOs today and tomorrow...hopefully I can accomplish that (I still have not found a suitable voice actor for my police officer).
Today, I am going to animate Shot 19 (Woman speaking and lifts cloth to reveal bullet wound).
Guess that is all for now...

Day 18- May 15 2009- Friday

I presented my animetics today, and this is the feedback I got from presenting:
* Background music is unsuitable, and redundant, so I guess I will have to chop off some music and save the music for the beginning (until the gunshot is heard against white) and credits.
* Sound effect for Shot 21 (officer looking shocked) is unsuitable and should be taken out.
* No Singlish please…guess I have to edit my script into proper English.
* My lecturer thinks it is best to offer tea first before revealing bullet wound on head…requires a re-arrangement of events but I have to see if I have enough time to make such a huge switch.
* Change my presentation name (Dominatrix Productions…? 0_0)
*Woman seems more psychotic than the husband

That is all for feedback, now I will go animate Shot 21 (Officer looking shocked)…

Day 17- May 14 2009- Thursday

Some people presented their animetics today; the rest of us will have to present tomorrow. So afterwards, I went back to edit my animetics in Adobe Premiere Pro and export it out. This was how I edit my animetics:
*Put in animated clips,
*"Animated" the pans (Shots 01, 12 and 16), without color,
*And added sound effects and music
Since I do not have my VOs up yet (have not done recording), I guess I will have read out my script tomorrow at presentation
Today, I plan to animate Shot 09 (officer's eye widens as he talks on phone)…that will be all for now…have to go do work

Day 16- May 13 2009- Wednesday

Just animated Shot 07 (hand reaching for phone) today…that’s all…animetics to be shown to my lecturer this Friday…

Day 15- May 12 2009- Tuesday

In a nutshell:
*Animated Shot 03 (gun being raised)
*Edited animetics (add in animated shots)… think that clip will be 3 minutes long...for now, pending time looks 2 minutes 40 seconds
*Didn’t do VOs…again (irritated at self)
Hope to animate one more shot tomorrow…

Day 14- May 11 2009- Monday

I have finished animating shots 08 (officer picking up phone and speaking) and 18 (woman listening) over the weekend. I showed the four shots I have animated so far to Vivien, and I have to thank her for pointing out that in Shot 08, the police officer’s arm abruptly went from long to short. Had to correct the arm’s length before re-exporting…it still seem a bit too long, but since it is a quick action, hopefully nobody will notice.
I did not manage to do VOs today as intended according to my production schedule, but luckily, I ‘reserved’ three more days for VO recording. I intend to animate more shots starting from tomorrow…
We watched ‘Tekkonkinkreet’ today…it was both inspiring (I really admire the sacrifice and effort the director and staff put into this animated film), and really demoralized (it will probably take me years to reach that level). But like my lecturer said…”No choice but to move forward.” Yep…just as long as we do not die or commit suicide before then. :P

Day 13- May 8 2009- Friday

Today I managed to animate Shot (not Scene, as pointed out by my lecturer) 10 (the running part). I did have a bit of problem with this one, as I missed out one frame and I sort of have to redraw. But nevertheless, I think the animation is going fine. After some consultation from my lecturer, I decided to change the way I animate a little. So this was how I did Shot 10:
1) I drew up a total of six frames of leg action is total, keeping in mind the position of the legs and stomach when in different poses. I leave them uncolored.
2) I playback in Photoshop using the animation window, and if the animation is fine, I color the frames.
3) Import frames and background into Adobe Flash, and add frames to animate before exporting as a Quicktime movie.
My lecturer later pointed out that Photoshop does not show real-time, so he advise us to use Adobe After Effects and import our layers when previewing the animation. I guess I will keep that in mind for later…anyway, I plan to animate Shot 08 (officer picking up and talking on phone) and Shot 18 (woman listening) over the weekend…hope I do not burn out from Animation 2…

Day 12- May 7 2009- Thursday

Yay, animetics are nearly done, and I have finished one scene...27 more to go. Well, as I did my animetics, I figured that including credits, the total clip should be around 21/2 minutes long. I did my animetics in Adobe Premiere Pro, although I have not animated the pans in my animetics, considering that I am either unsure or I have forgotten how to pan a picture up and down in Premiere.
Anyway, I have finished animating Scene 04 (woman turns her head upon hearing gun). This is how I did it:
1) I drew and colored a total of six cels for this scene using Photoshop. After doing one cel, I will save as a new cel, and continue from there. *consistently using 'Save As'*
2) When I am done with drawing and coloring and I am satisfied with my cels, I import into Adobe Flash, and put pictures on stage, add frames, playback until statisfied, then export as Quicktime Movie.
This will be how I will do the rest of my scenes...maybe I work on Scene 10 (officer running) later or tomorrow...I need a running reference though...*looks for running reference in 2D Animation Lab*

Day 11- May 6 2009- Wednesday

Our lecturer gave me and my group consultation today. He told us the importance of animetics, as they give us the brief plan on the timing and technical parts of the animation. I think I should do a rough animetic first before animating any scene. He also told us the importance of a detailed production chart, telling us not to set it by weeks but rather by days. I showed him the production chart I drew up in Powerpoint yesterday, and he told me a few things to adjust it:
*Days, not weeks.
*If the chart gets too big for size, best to resize it in Excel or somehow, print out the chart on seperate pages.
*Indictate what scenes the numerical titles of scene represent.
Hopefully, I can do the animetics by the end of today so I can start animating scene 04 (woman turning head) tonight...but first, better tackle this gantt chart...

Day 10- May 5 2009- Tuesday

Today, was consultation for some groups (Groups Two and Four, and I think Group One also), so I was left with enough free time to draw up a production chart and (finally!) a script for the clip. I suppose I should be starting work on my animetics this week, so I am hoping to finish animating four scenes this week. But still, I guess I have to spend today looking for sound effects and music. Anyway, I drew up the table in Powerpoint, and since Blogger can’t read tables, I might as well put up the production schedule in text right here, so:
5 May to 10 May→ Find sound effects and music, animate scenes 04, 08, 10 & 25, color frames, and production of animetics

11 May to 17 May→ Record VOs, animate scenes 03, 07, 26, 09, 21 & 11, animate scenes 16,19, 17, 18, 20 & 24, coloring frames and production of animetics

18 May to 24 May→ Record VOs, animate scenes 16, 19, 17, 18, 20 & 24, animate scenes 01, 05, 06, 12, 22 & 23 and coloring frames

25 May to 31 May→ Animate scenes 01, 05, 06, 12, 22 & 23, animate scenes 27, 28, 02, 13, 14 & 15 and coloring frames

1 June to 7 June→ Animating scenes 27, 28, 02, 13, 14 & 15 and coloring frames

8 June to 12 June→ Editing and Combining all scenes

Yep, and here is the script:
Script For MOI P3
(Scene 08)
Police Officer: *picks up phone* Hello?
Witness: Hello, police. I want to report murder.

(Scene 09)
Witness: I got hear two gunshots from my neighbor’s house just now.
Officer: *eyes widen*
Witness: Please come quickly…

(Scene 10)
Officer: *running* Don’t worry, give me the address.I will be right there.

(Scene 16)
Woman: Hello. Can I help you?

(Scene 17)
Officer: Excuse me, I just received a report on two shootings being heard here.

(Scene 18)
Officer: *off-camera* Do you know anything about this?

(Scene 19)
Woman: Shooting? *lifts rag to reveal wound* Oh yah hor…

(Scene 22)
Woman: Ya lah, my husband go shoot me just now…aiyo. Have you seen him?

(Scene 23)
Officer: *points behind* Urmm, ma’am, is he…?

(Scene 24)
Woman: Yah, that’s him. Aiyo..Never mind…

(Scene 25)
Woman: *holds out cup* You want tea?

(Scene 26)
Officer: *speaks into walkie-talkie* Hello,is this the hospital?

(Scene 27)
Woman: *pops out from black* But I’m fine, leh!
Officer: No, you need the hospital!

Ok, that is all for now, I need to go and scour the Internet for sounds and music…

Day 9- May 4 2009- Monday

From today onwards, it’s production on animetics and consultation.
Our lecturer has not exactly given me the green light to start on my animetics; I am still waiting for him to comment on my storyboard.
Other than telling us to start production, he told us to email him our Learning Contract so he can print it out for us (awww ^^).
After emailing our LCs, and after he did a bit of consultation, he showed us two Wallace and Gromit shows (‘A Close Shave’ and ‘The Wrong Trousers’), telling us to look our for visual storytelling. It was then I was reminded of how important camera shots are in telling a story. True, I have arranged my storyboard to tell the story proper…but are the shots good enough?
Anyway, I should be (and hope so) starting work on my animetics sometime this week…I took a look through my scenes, and decided these scenes to be ‘animated’ for the animetics:
*Scene 03 (gun being lifted)
*Scene 04 (woman turning head)
* Scene 07 (hand reaching for phone)
*Scene 08 (officer on phone)
*Scene 10 (running)
* Scene 25 (offering tea)
* Scene 26 (contacting hospital)
* Scene 27 (The End)
*Scene 28 (Credits)
Ok….maybe that will be impossible to complete within such a short time…so I guess my priority for animetics should be:
*Scene 04 (woman turning head)
*Scene 08 (officer on phone)
*Scene 10 (running)
*Scene 25 (offering tea)
Or worse case scenario, do not animate first and just throw everything together with voice-over, sound effects and music. Which means, my utmost priority is audio; I am going to need voice-overs (or resort to scratch audio) and sound effects and music.
I guess the search for audio should begin tomorrow…