Final Project - the beginning

Now it's time for the final project!

I'm doing this final piece in Flash so that I can challenge myself and learn new things and become better at using Flash.

I came up with the idea for the script a few weeks ago while brainstorming. Sometimes I write down funny things from the news or stories that happen so that I can use it for reference if I ever need a story for an animation and low and behold one thing that I wrote down gave me the perfect idea to work with for this animation.

A few months ago on Yahoo news I saw an article about how stressed out workers in London get jars of fresh air to help relieve the stress! How crazy but wonderful. And so I did a bit of research on the net about it to make sure it wasn't just a joke but it's not, they really do it. They get fresh air from different rural places around the UK like Townsend and Windermere. Here is one site talking about it. http://www.ecosalon.com/canned-fresh-air/ Check it out.

So the idea from my script is based on that. There's this really super stressed out worker in London who needs a jar of fresh air but the shop that sells these jars have sold out and he goes nuts. At first I was going to make the shop very clinical with maybe a shopkeeper in a lab coat, and then I thought the shop person could be a kid because it's this funky, take-away like shop that sells jars of fresh air but then I decided that it would be more interesting to have this really laid back hippy guy, and to have the shop made from wood on the inside with a lot of plants and they sell other things as well like "chill pills". Haha. I thought it would make for a much more interesting character interaction and also a strong contrast between to dreary, polluted London city outside.

I didn't really have a conclusion for the story apart from the stressed out worker going nuts so I decided it'd be really funny to turn it into an ad kind of thing so that it ends with a caption..."Have you had your fresh air today?".

I still have to refine my script but I've done the rough gesture sheets and turn-arounds for my characters. I just need to computerise it now.



I really need to invest in a scanner. =S

So yeah, this is Bun the stressed out London worker and Paul the hippy.

I think the hardest part about this kind of script is going to be the voices. Whoever does the voice acting will have to get really into it and be really hippy and really psycho. So that's the only thing I'm really worried about right now.

I think doing the Production Schedule is going to help a lot to get this done in time. It helps to have a lot of little goals because just having one big goal can be too overwhelming sometimes.

Oh and before I go...I love this image...


I'm thinking that it would be so funny if Bun goes psycho and then you just have cuts to a close up of Paul with this kind of expression on his face. Just a thought. =)

Peace out!

Final touches

So we got a one week extension on the Flash project. I was already finished in time for the original date but the extension has given me the opportunity to tweak my animation a little bit.

I tweaked the arms where I was unhappy...it turns out that the reason my nested arm animation wouldn't play is some funny business with the layers so I just put that little bit on a different layer and referred it to the right nested frame and it worked. Go me! Haha.

I also played around with the optimizing and smoothing tools. It made a little bit of a difference but I think it would work wonders for the outline of lined characters.

And other than that I just fixed up some things that John suggested like the feet for 3/4 view in the turn-around and making the inside of her mouth darker instead of the light pink which actually looks much better.

For the next assignment I'll post more pictures and stuff of my progress.

Oh and I also finally got around to getting out the book 'Hollywood 2D Digital Animation' and it is great...so much more in depth than the other one I read. It covers everything about Flash animation and character design and even how to do cool special effects. I think it will definitely help with the final project. I'd really like to challenge myself and learn a lot more about Flash and animating in it.

So now that the last assignment is finished it is on to brainstorming for the final one! =D