Unit Review (Term 3)
This term, I truly enjoyed working on my body mechanics and lip-sync animation, as I can include them in my showreel and apply for a job in the industry.
Whereas the body mechanics animation helped me to understand the motion of the body of my character, the lip-sync animation enabled me to understand more in depth how the facial features move when the character is talking. In this sense, both exercises were essential since I have gained the resources to work on a character-oriented animation project.
Furthermore, having nine hours of session per week with George was crucial as everyone got personalized feedback from him. Besides, sharing our animations on the big screen with our classmates was helpful in that we learned from each other’s strengths and mistakes.
Lip-Sync Animation
Idea Development
For my lip-sync animation, I have used the quote ‘I am as mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore’ from the movie Network (1976). I put that line out of context and created a new scene in which a middle-aged man struggles hard with his computer and expresses his frustration out loud.
Critical Analysis
Even though I set my main priority into creating a believable character animation, I was not able to explore more in depth how to properly light and texture a scene due to time constraints. Nonetheless, I am truly satisfied with my animation process as I have worked hard and implemented the feedback I was advised to enhance my result. I also learned how to record reference videos specifically for lip-syncing animations and got an overview on the workflow.
Body Mechanics Animation
Idea Development
For my body mechanics animation, I wanted to show a short sequence in which a girl follows a balloon and when she finally catches it, as a plot twist, lightning strikes on her.
Critical Analysis
Despite the fact that at the beginning I felt frustrated as my scene did not have any proper textures, I realized that they would disrupt the visual coherence of my animation. Besides, the focal point of my body mechanics animation is to showcase the movements of my character. Even though I can always improve my animation in terms of overlapping and polishing some postures, I feel truly satisfied with my process throughout this term as I had several feedback sessions which helped me to enhance the character animation.
Final Thoughts
Now that I have gained an overview on the fundamentals of body mechanics and lip syncing, I will need to practice more in order to push my skills to the next level.