Oresome Gallery Presentation

F.M.P. Presentation

Kittypillar Alphabet: A to E

_______________________________________________________________________________

It has now all come down to this point – this final compilation before the hand in date for the Final Major Project (F.M.P.). I put together each animated sequence into one full compilation, to see how they would all run together as one singular animation. The good thing about the format that I have gone for with these alphabet animations, is that they can either be viewed individually by letter, or watched as one complete sequence. Having at least 45 seconds of animation altogether is such a relief – I did not honestly believe that I would get as much as this completed by this point.

Now, as for future developments on this project after the deadline has been reached: I am allowed to carry on with this project in the regards of gaining marks by presenting it for the Professional Practice hand-in. This gives me an extra week in which I can colour the frames I already have, and even possibly generate another sequence, this time for the letter ‘F’. As soon as that second deadline is reached, I will then go on to complete the full alphabet in my own time, out of the realms of Higher Education. It will be published online, and hopefully viewed by a good number of young children and their families – I already have one or two willing parents with young children, who are friends of mine.

The sequence for ‘A is for APPLE’ I feel could’ve been better laid out where positioning is concerned. The figures of the sequence seem to veer off towards the top of the screen as it goes on. Were I given the chance to do this sequence over, I would definitely use better judgement of placing. The apple itself is my favourite aspect of the scene, as it maintains a consistent shape. The Kittypillar, however, I feel could’ve been ‘doing’ more. Peeking out from behind the apple and having a few nibbles seemed a bit short-lived. Maybe if I were to have added a licking of the lips or a few more flicks of the tail, it would’ve given it that little more character that would’ve suited it.

The only observations that I can make on the sequence for ‘B is for BALLOON’, is that I could’ve added some more frames in between each ready existing frame (this would’ve slowed the animation down a bit, giving me more chance to add some characterizations in), and I would’ve also added a bit more personality to the Kittypillar featured in the sequence. Having it just smiling as it lifts up into the air, holding onto the balloon string, seems a bit too simple in hindsight. It works though, despite this seemingly over-simple format.

‘C is for CUDDLE’ was done using a standard, simplistic process of repeating frames in a loop to give the effect of repeated action. Whilst one Kittypillars head movement seems a lot more frantic than the others, I feel it gives each of the two characters on-screen a sense of individual personality. Somewhat of a happy accident, in retrospect, I originally intended them to display a simultaneous, slow motion of head movement. Differing the speeds between the two certainly gives it a quaint sense of endearment.

I chose to go for a more abstract sequence with ‘D is for DAISY’, as having a Kittypillar crawl up the side of  a daisy would prove to be too ‘fiddly’ and time consuming, given the restricted amount of time I had to create this rebooted concept. I thought that I may as well utilize what was already there with the daisy itself, and make use of what I could, fashioning a Kittypillar into the sequence as best I could. I decided upon having the face pop out of the centre of the flower, with each other facial feature popping out separately – in order to add some more visual interest to the piece. Having everything pop out at once would’ve made the sequence over far too quick, with very little visual interest. This is the only abstract piece in the animation as a whole.

‘E for EGG’ was the final sequence that I managed to complete within the allocated time before hand-ins. I did one or two other variations of this sequence, one of the originals being themed more around the concept of ‘Easter’ – with the Kittypillar decorating the egg by painting it with it’s tail. In the general made-up genealogy of Kittypillars, they come from more spherical eggs, but I felt that having one pop out of a standard egg would be something that a lot more children would recognize.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Music by Tom @ ParaBox Records, UK.

_______________________________________________________________________________

EGG (Black & White Draft)

_______________________________________________________________________________

One thing that I definitely would re-do about this sequence, first and foremost, is have much more varied speeds on each bit of the cracking effect on the egg. If there were ore sudden cracks added in, coupled together with slower ones at a steadier pace, I reckon that it would have looked quite good. I would also factor in a few more subtle mannerisms by the Kittypillar, for example, a few more blinks and little twitches of the antennae here and there, It also could have done with having the Kittypilar either tip off the top half of the egg completely, or sink back down into the shell. Either would have added just that little bit more to the segment, I feel.

For whatever reason, subconscious or otherwise, I really like this little Kittypillar character in particular. Something about the way that I have animated him (deciding now on the off that it is a boy) makes him quite cheeky. As far as colouring those I may make this Kittypillar one of the more fantastical ones. Giving him the standard colours and patterning of a regular house cat doesn’t really seem to do the jutic for this little character in particular that I think it could. Bright colours and perhaps some form of ‘tabby’ pattern definitely seems the way forward from now.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Music by Tom @ ParaBox Records, UK.

_______________________________________________________________________________

CUDDLE (Black & White Draft)

_______________________________________________________________________________

The best thing about creating this sequence for the Kittypillar Alphabet, is that through the use of ‘boiling’ (animation technique) I am able to repeat the frames and get the desired effect of a prolonged sequence. Cuddling with these critters is a simple enough movement anyway, so there was really no need to over-complicate it for the sake of it. The movement looks quite jittery and a little bit odd, but I personally find it quite endearing to watch. I will be showing it to my peers during our next scheduled lesson at University to see what their thoughts are on this sequence.

All that needs to be added to this animation (as well as other completed sequences awaiting finalization) are the additional sound effects such as purring, and obviously colour. I am thinking that with the colour scheme for these two Kittypillars in particular, I will go with something typical of common house-cats, rather than going for the fantastical option as I will be with the others. The antennae will be the indicators as to the gender of each Kittypillar (blue antennae for the male, fleshy pink for the female), so at least there is that for the young viewers to observe, as well as their parents or supervising adults, whilst watching. I will be using marker pens / standard felt tips, as previously discussed in various other design-themed posts on this blog.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Music by Tom @ ParaBox Records, UK.

_______________________________________________________________________________