I found this video on youtube explaining the basic principles behind persistance of vision... I find it really helpful to go back to the basics as it helps me to understand the key principles/rules in which modern animations have developed from...

In our last lecture/seminar before the easter holiday our tutors explained the basics of animation and how it has developed into what it is today. We looked at how animation has developed from simple techniques such as persistance of vision, zeotrope's, and thaumatrobe's... This helped me to understand the basic principles behind animation as well as giving me a much clearer understanding of how I might begin to work on my own animation...

Before this lecture I was thinking of complicated ideas such as a deer running through a forest however It soon dawned on me that I didn't have a clue how to put any of my complicated ideas into practice...
In the lecture the tutor's discussed Iconic abstraction, and how ideas can be reduced down to their simplest form. on the other hand, They also mentioned that it is equally important to control the meaning of the object/animation to prevent it from becoming too abstract/unrecognisable...

During the seminar we discussed ideas for our animations... The tutor put allot of emphasis on how we should keep our animations simple otherwise we might struggle; he suggested that we start with simple abstract shapes which would make it easier on ourselves... obviously a deer running through a forest wouldn't be as simple as I first thought therefore this seminar really helped me to realise what would actually be possible to achieve rather than what I would like to achieve for my first ever attempt at animation...

Rather than thinking about complicated forms/concepts I started to think about simple changes that I could introduce to shapes to create simple animations...

change in:

- shape
- colour
- depth
- transparency
- size/scale
- motion
- rotation
- mood
- speed
- light

(notes during the lecture)

Heres another example of animation for a condem advertisement: Once again the aim of the advertisement is clear however the way in which it has been approached makes the animation humorous, relatable, and fun therefore making it seem less serious, and more approachable for the target audience... 

I love how simple this animation is, and how they managed to add so much personality to the penis, making it look & act like a human would... 

USE A CONDOM! Animation:

This animation works really well because the characters have strong personality's which helps to become lifelike. The advertisement is obviously aimed at teenagers, promoting safe sex however by using humor they have managed to make it fun and entertaining...

New Project: Print to Pixel 

(notes from the briefing)

This is an animation based project in which I have been given a piece of music to create a 20-30 second animation for... The tutors suggested we should listen to the music and try writing down the first 3 words that it provokes: 

- Mysterious

- Curious

- Tribal 

^^ These are the words that came to me while listening to the piece of music for the first time...  

After listening to the piece a few more times, I'm trying to start the process of developing a concept for the animation... I've got some initial ideas therefore the next steps will be to start writing down some notes/ideas as well trying to draw up some basic storyboards to help me piece the animation together...

I'm also going to start researching animation on youtube looking for any inspiration/ideas that might help me to develop my own concept/style... 

My first idea was to animate a deer running through a forest, however after listening to the music in more detail, I think I could think of something else to animate that would be more appropriate...

Presentation Boards:

Finished Packaging: