Unit 12 : The final animation

In crafting this animation, I took into account all of these aspects and principles, emphasising pantomime, dialogue, body language, and gestures. I carefully planned the timings, blocking, and camera angles for the initial stage. I recorded myself performing the shots and dialogue to capture hand gestures and similar details, which I then imported into the scene. I used this recording as a guide rather than an exact copy. Next, I incorporated breakdowns and in-betweens, focusing on accent poses. I blocked each character in sections based on the camera angles, resulting in three distinct shots. I concentrated on the main character first, followed by the second voice character, and lastly, Mr. Buttons. This approach helped me understand each character and their traits. The dialogue required the most time, as I aimed for precision and clarity while ensuring it synced correctly with the audio. The first voice character had the most dialogue, presenting challenges due to its fast pace and occasional quietness, which I attempted to convey through body language. A pause between the first and second voice provided an opportunity for a reaction or "take" shot, aligning with what we've learned in this module. This enhanced the second character, who had limited dialogue, some of which was quiet and difficult to lip-sync. For the third character, Mr. Buttons, I had more creative freedom to develop an engaging shot, incorporating exaggerated and expressive body language animation that we've studied. I also included an inanimate object for interaction, another element covered earlier in the module. I spent significant time refining the blocking with additional in-betweens to achieve the best sense of weight and timing before moving to spline. Once in spline, the process was straightforward, focusing on smoothing, snapping, offsetting, and easing in and out of keyed frames using the graph editor. I then added subtitles and nuances, such as moving ears, gradually moving chest and shoulders to simulate "breathing," finger movements, and Mr. Buttons' hair. Finally, I incorporated the modeled set and lighting to complete the scene, making minor adjustments for clarity where needed.