Why I did it?
Well, my presentation is Wednesday so I wanted to be completely ready by tomorrow. I just have to send Professor Gardner my link to the powerpoint and water-marked project, I was nervous that I’d have to re-do my entire project, because the tool required me to pay $39.99 if I wanted to export it to any other place. Fortunately, I’m able to preview it and show the class from my computer and then explain the constraint during my presentation. Wound up being a lot less stressful than I had anticipated. I made my powerpoint similar colors to my film, so that the theme ran through my entire project, Princess Productions.

According to this calendar, initially my goal for today was to complete the animation. Well, this was a very ambitious goal. Luckily I started my animation yesterday, and I am about 20 seconds in, which I feel like is a huge success. As the presentation and due date get closer the more anxious I get about finishing. But I have to say, the pressure of a due date always inspires me to get more work done and be more productive.

What I did…

Reworked my calendar. My new calendar is kind of go with the flow but is as follows:

4/27-4/30 Work like crazy on this animation

5/1 In class presentation, I am coming to terms with this being a rough cut work in progress, but hopefully will be a good representation of what the final has the potential to be

5/2-5/5 Work like crazy

5/6 Turn in this project!!! (and then cry from relief) 

Why I did it…

Okay so as you can see in my new strategy plan and calendar, I don’t really have a good plan. At this point, I just need to plug away and keep working. I have done everything I can to make this project go smoothly, from research, to story boarding, to front end work in Illustrator, now its time to just get it done.

Some constraints I have faced are: my own inexperience and time management. I have also realized some of the flaws in the Flash animation program (which is a good reason why it is not used as often in the professional world as other animation programs.)

I have also learned that I am definitely not cut out for a job in the design world, although I really respect all the work and creativity that is required to do well in the field. From now on I am going to admire from a far, far distance.

Why I did it?
I wanted to finish my section of the video early so that I could work on the presentation part this weekend. I’m happier with my selection of music throughout the preview, because it’s livelier and more exciting than the “suspenseful” one I had before. Unfortunately, when I decided to save the film, a MASSIVE WATERMARK comes across. I assume this occurs because I didn’t buy the tool, but I will need to figure out how to work around this for the actual completion next week…..

Thought everything was going well, until that slight problem.

Today, and since last class, I have really been trying to get all of the work I will be doing in illustrator our of the way. This includes illustrating complex scenes and objects that will get transformed in Flash, typing out all the credits and spell checking names (there is no spell check in Adobe Illustrator) and staying consistent in a visual style.

One scene I have really been focusing on is the end of the animation right before coming to the title of the movie. This was not in my story board because I was intimated by the design aspect of it. So, I have included a screen shot of the most basic part of the scene for reference, but my goal in this animation is to make it look like someone is advancing toward the Tri-Wizard trophy in the maze, having two hands grab the trophy (which is actually a port key if you are familiar with the movie/book) and have the trophy spin into a transition to the final title scene. The handle of the trophy is actually the inside of the “P” in Potter. It’s a lot harder to explain in writing than visually so hopefully some of this makes sense.

Why I did it….

By designing everything in advance in Illustrator I am really saving myself a ton of time in Flash. The more work I put in on the front-end of this project in terms of planning, creating images and vectors for my animation in Illustrator, and working through kinks of transitioning, the less time I will spend on the back-end of this project during the actual animation. Right now my biggest concern is keeping my animation in Flash organized with labels and layers (I will post pictures in future blog posts to show just how crazy it can get) which can get really confusing during the animation. Two things I have really had to watch during this project is time management and organization. If I let one or the other go, this project can take a turn for the worse.

I was originally nervous that people wouldn’t really get the concept behind my project. So, as an introduction to my project I showed a little clip from the title sequence by Saul Bass (Catch me if you can) so that my peer reviewers had a little background as to what my end goals for this project would look like. I am considering how I can also do this during my presentation in the short time span that I have.

Unfortunately, I am still in the illustration mode of this project so I only got to show my peer reviewers parts of scenes that were more like advanced story boards, instead of any animations. My peer reviewers were excited to see the final result, which just puts a little more pressure on the execution of this project.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of time this project will continue to take me and right now its my biggest stressor of the project. I chose an earlier presentation date to encourage myself to get this project well underway, rather than waiting until the last minute to have things start to come together.

But I have to say, I am really enjoying the challenge of working on a creative project in programs that I don’t normally get to use in other classes, and I am really happy that I committed to this animation and look forward to seeing it through to completion.

Today we signed up for presentation slots and continued to work on our project. I continued to design my animation. Two of the big things that I was able to get done was the Warner Bros logo, which was painstaking, and creating fire from vectors. I actually enjoyed designing the fire because I felt like it was done in a particular style that I hope to continue throughout the rest of the design work for this title sequence. I also began working on the most detailed scene at the very end of the title sequence that I know will take a lot of pressure off my project down the line.

Why I did it…

I didn’t realize how much I would be working in Illustrator for this project. I actually prefer working in Illustrator compared to Flash, as I am more used to the tools and can get work done faster than if I was working just in Flash. Also, in Flash objects get confusing when you start adding a lot of different elements. So, making more complex vectors in Illustrator and grouping them together I can simplify them to one object before transferring to Flash.

Still have not started an animation :( Oops..

Some of the work I have been doing in Illustrator

Why I’ve done it?

At the end of my “preview” I’m going to have to list credits, and this does not just mean, the actor’s name, but also where I received some of the photos and audio for my project. Even if I decide not to use certain things,it’s better to have the citation placed somewhere safe. I was not familiar with sites that allow you to download classical pieces. This was pretty neat, so I spent a majority of the class today deciding what kind of music would be appropriate for a Princess Productions film. I chose a suspenseful opening sort of tune, to introduce the characters that will each have a few moments to explain their situations. I plan to film this week and then edit by the weekend.

I have been thinking about how I am going to document my assets and sources. Since my project is already going to be a credit sequence, I need to decide how to cite my sources in an appropriate manner. I am thinking that I will include my own name in the main animation. I am also including one of my sources, the book by J.K. Rowling in the main animation as well. I might, at the very end, create a high speed assets and sources credit page at the very end of my presentation.

What I did…

I continued working on my animation. This unfortunately has not meant animating anything yet.

Why I did it…

Something I did not realize when creating my initial calendar and plans for this project, was all the prep work that needed to be done between creating my story board and diving into the animation. Creating all the elements that will eventually be animated in Illustrator first, has helped to further develop my story board, and will cut time in Adobe Flash, a program I do not have nearly as much experience with as Illustrator. I have included a couple screen shots of scenes and elements to show a little about what I have been working on in Illustrator.

What I did…

Today I am ready to begin my Flash animation. I have been creating some elements in Illustrator that will be later dragged into Flash before being manipulated by the Flash software. I have also decided which names I will be using for the title sequence. The credits I have chosen are the following:

Screen Play by Steve Kloves

Based off the novel by J.K. Rowling

Directed by Mike Newell

Produced by David Heyman

Starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley

Executive Producers David Barron

Tanya Seghatchain

Music by Patrick Doyle

Why I did it…

These credits seemed to be the most important for the movie. I could not include all the credits (because it would make my animation way too long) I think that with these 10 names, plus the title of the film, I hope to keep the animation relatively short. My goal will be two minutes and my maximum will be 4.

The first scene I am going to start animating today is the Warner Bros logo with a transition into the first credit. Second, (which I will probably not get to today) I will start creating the Goblet of Fire with second credit in the flames of the fire.