Reflective Report – Introduction to Compositing

The main objective for this brief is to create a short animated video following the idea of compositing. After doing a lot of research and planning I have now finished the final piece, and am very pleased with the result. My first step was to grasp the idea of compositing, and to do so I went on to have a look at different composited videos. I also sampled with Photoshop and After Effects learning how to cut out and shape different objects and the different ways of animating them, and this idea of adding layers. To start off with, I struggled due to the many techniques that are needed to learn, however after a lot of practicing and toying I have developed greatly.

After sampling with Photoshop and After Effects I then went on to look at different videos and examples of compositing. My main objective at the time was to find a certain style for my final animation, and so I went on to take a look at different animated videos and different styles, starting off with Fantasia 2000. This is one of my all time favourite films, due to the many animations presented and the different stories that they tell. Two animations that stuck with me from Fantasia 2000 were ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and ‘Firebird Suite’. When looking at the styles of these animations, I realised how realistically these aren’t the types of animations I can interpret at this stage. However when looking at the animation for ‘Firebird Suite’ the story itself really inspired me, due to this idea of a personified spring waking up from winter and changing the dark and cold scenery into a beautiful spring.  At this stage I was still uncertain for theme and style for my animation, and so even though the “Firebird Suite’ story stuck with me, I still went on to look at different animations.

As well as looking at animated videos, I also went on to take a look at pieces of art and illustrations. One day we took a look at illustrative art of Brothers Grimm’s Tales, which I really enjoyed as it was a way of looking at different interpretations of these fairy tales. One tale in particular was Alice in Wonderland, and it was very interesting to see the many interpretations of the story, how one artist presents the story in a dark and grim illustration, another would present it in a happy and joyful one. I then went on to take a look at ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ by Robert Browning. This is one of my favourite childhood stories as it gives out a powerful message that we should not lie and betray. It is a very tragic story and quite sinister, but also very clever, how Browning has created this man who has the power to attract anything and anyone to follow him and take them away. And so this then took me back to Fantasia 2000, with the ‘Firebird Suite’ animation. There we had this idea of darkness turning into beauty, whereas ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlin’ has the opposite effect, where we have a happy town with joyful children, and then he comes along and takes them away, where the town is left dark and grieving. And so at this point I had my main idea for my animation where I wanted to create a dark, sinister character that comes along taking a beautiful, happy surrounding and turns it into a dark place.

Once I got the idea for my final piece, my next step was to then come up with a theme. When it comes to the visual arts of animating there is room for improvement in the process of drawing, and so I decided to paint my background in an almost abstract style. Before going ahead with my paining, I took a look at the art of Thomas Kinkade. Kinkade is an incredible artist; his paintings are beautiful and vibrant, and so I decided to take a similar approach towards my background. After sampling with the different brush effects and colours on ‘Paint X’, I then went on to create the background.  I am very happy with the outcome of my background painting; my aim was to create a colourful and alluring surrounding. I also included the bridge to enhance the pathway, which is the guideline for the main character. For this painting I used the ‘Coarse Bulk_3’ effect creating this abstract image, however In order to improve this background, next time I will try to create a more detailed piece of scenery drawing it free hand, and scan it on to the computer.

Once I was happy with the background for the final piece, the next step was to then go on and create the character. As I already had my idea of someone coming along and changing the beautiful surroundings into darkness, the type of character that came to my mind was the Grim Reaper. And so I went online to take a look at different illustrations, which inspired me to create a very simple figure. The main objective is that the surroundings change into darkness, therefore the character doesn’t need to be over exaggerated. Also with the abstract background, I didn’t want the character to be too detailed as it wouldn’t go, and so on Photoshop, I drew this simple figure in a long black gown which I believe suits well to the background. Next time, in order to improve, I would focus less on the surrounding going from graceful to dark, and more on the actual character.

All in all, I am very happy with my final piece, the aim was to create a beautiful piece of scenery, where a sinister figure comes along and turns it into a dark place, which I believe I have accomplished. However, in order to improve I would focus more on this sinister character by giving it more features and movement, and also give more of a story to the animation, perhaps an incident in which will express the figures character.