Experimental Animation - Module Overview [University]

In this project, I explored different experimental types of animation I wasn’t very familiar with, all of which were my first time trying the techniques. I found myself leaning more towards animation that is hand-crafted or hand-drawn as I much prefer the experience of creating something with my hands, such as manipulating physicals objects/models or drawing frame-by-frame by hand, rather than sitting and playing with different settings to create something, such as using After Effects or a 3D program. However, this certainly doesn’t mean that 3D or 2D animation, for example, should be disregarded, as it is quite evident from the DM60 challenge I participated in that utilising these digital methods of producing animation and even combining them with more traditional methods of animation can produce wonderful results. Having the ability to create these more craft-based animations and then use software to enhance it is good, like using 3D backgrounds with 2D drawings, or thinking about the ways I could output my hand-drawn/crafted animations to more contemporary methods. Even if I don’t have a particular interest in 3D animation, it is always good for supplementing with my 2D work, even if that means working with others to combine the techniques, like in the DM60 project.

As an effect of my poor time management, I was unable to try a lot of experimental methods of animation I was particularly interested in attempting for myself, such as pixilation and other kinds of stop-motion animation. It is a shame, because there are some very interesting animations out there as well as some of the methods I had researched for my previous Research & Development project that I was eager to explore for myself in my work.

Although I didn’t try nearly as much animation as I initially wanted, I am still very happy with the animation that I did produce. I particularly enjoyed the process of creating an animated illustration and very much liked the aesthetic of the finalised animation, so will definitely be looking to create more of this in the future. I will more than likely try out the environment-based idea I had and will try other programs like After Effects to see how the different tools can complement the execution of the idea compared to purely using Procreate. Despite not finishing as much as intended, I found the DM60 project interesting an eye-opening, especially in the respects of working with others. I was initially sceptical about this as I worried our ideas wouldn’t mesh, but the result of our different working styles clearly shows that expanding and working with others with different strengths works well.

In the upcoming VFX project, I would like to use what I have learned from this project and both of my R&D projects—especially the first, as it relates heavily to the focus of our next brief—to incorporate more hand-made, hand-drawn elements into my work to still try appealing to the type of animation I find most fun and enjoyable.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, I have been unable to try a range of things I would have liked to. This included things like virtual reality, projection mapping, motion capture and printing my risomation physically.