Illustration & Visual Narrative | Task 04: Final Project
-Week 10 - Week 14
-Takeguchi Shunta/0386416/Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
DOCUMENTATION
For this task, I needed to create a 15~20 seconds animation based on the script.
I first chose the script. Initially, I tried to go with the script 'Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.' - Buddha. However, since my animation idea is just about the candle and has no twist, the professor advised that the idea should be more creative. Therefore, I explore other scripts to get creative ideas. Eventually, I chose the script 'Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.' - Ralph Waldo Emerson. And I used inspiration from the first penguin habit for an animation idea. From the script, I took the meaning like 'Be bold and daring to do what others never did.' So I thought the first penguin, the first one who jumps into the ocean, even though there might be predators, would fit what the script is implying. The panel 1 and 2 show that the first penguin is isolated and facing fear, but he jumped. As he jumped safely, other penguins followed him and jumped towards the ocean. He successfully built a new path for others to follow. My sketch is below. At first, I made a 6-panel sketch with the same angle, but the professor suggested making fewer panels and having multiple angles in panels.
Moodboard
Sketch
After that, I moved to the digitalization part. I had plenty of time due to the Christmas holidays, so I could take 2 weeks to finish this part. In 2 weeks, I especially put effort into the glacier surface. As you can see below, I created many shapes in different colors, so that it express bumpy glacier. Panel 5, I will use it to indicate the author's name in the video.
Illustrator work panel 1
Illustrator work panel 2
Illustrator work panel 3
Illustrator work panel 4
Illustrator work panel 5
The next part was After Effects. At first glance, it seemed difficult to use, but I became familiar with it gradually with the week 10 After Effects tutorial slide. I first made an animation in each individual panel, rendered it, and merged all. I mainly made animations for the ocean, clouds, small glaciers, and penguins. For panels 3 and 4, I used the puppet position pin tool on penguins to make the move look smoother, expressing the jumping move.
After Effects panel 1 screenshot
After Effects panel 2 screenshot
After Effects panel 3 screenshot
After Effects panel 4 screenshot
After Effects panel 5 screenshot
After setting the animation, I inserted audio and scripts. For audio, I installed narrator mp3 from Elevenlabs. But it seemed too simple only with the narrator's voice, so I added the winter wind sound and the winter ocean wave sound. I chose not to attach background music since it would bother the narrator's voice. For scripts, I used Bembo std semibold in white color. To give the scripts a refined sense, I chose a serif font that felt most natural. Also, I added an opacity animation to the scripts, from 0% to 100% opacity at the beginning of 2 seconds of each panel. It successfully gave the video a more refined look.
Lastly, I added a noise effect for the whole video and finished the process.
FINAL OUTPUT
Final animation output
TECHNIQUES APPLIED
In the Illustrator process, I considered shadows and highlights on the surface of the glacier and created shapes carefully using the Pen tool. I placed many shapes until it looked unnatural, so that it expressed a glacier color gradient. I also put effort into the penguins. I needed to put many penguins in panels 3 and 4. I copied and pasted for these penguins, but I made minor adjustments for each individual, such as changing the body color, beak length, belly curve, and so on.
In the After Effects process, I used the puppet position pin tool for the penguins jumping in panel 4. Rather than falling in a straight line, I was able to express the body's movement toward landing in the water.
SELF REFLECTION
For this task, I could take time and create sufficient work as the last work of this module. By reviewing each step in detail while incorporating the professor's feedback, I believe I was able to create a satisfying piece of work. While creating my work in After Effects, I researched how-to guides and discovered it had far more features than I initially thought. I realized that if I had known about After Effects' capabilities before starting my illustrations, I might have created a more dynamic and interesting video.
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