Final Project Analysis and Reflection

    "What is That?" is an interesting and open minded script. In other words, the script allows you to make it what you interpret it as. I tried to go for a spinoff on the two robots reacting to a human concept. I chose this way because I felt that it was different and original. You can interpret "What is That?" many different ways.

    There were many animation principles I used throughout the project. One animation principle that I used a lot in this project was squash and stretch. I used this principle most with the red robot, since his mouth couldn't move I used squash and stretch to give the impression that he was talking. Another animation principle that I used a lot was exaggeration. Exaggeration was another thing I really showed in the robots, a specific example of this is when the robots are being blown away by her screaming and when the yellow one is hanging on he spins, flips, and turns his head. Timing was also something that I used quite frequently as well. In 3-D alone timing is critical because you need to predict what frames will play the right speed, if you key the frame too early the action will be to fast and if you keyed the frame too late the action will be slow. A couple more principles that I used in my animation were anticipation and appeal. I used anticipation when the red robot was about to jump at the girl. Right before he jumped he bent and squashed down anticipating the jump as well as giving the audience the assumption that he was about to jump. I also tried to use appeal on the robots making them goofy and funny. Every animation should have at least some principles of animation.

    I feel very good about a lot of parts in my animation. These parts include my exaggeration used in the robots and the big reaction from the girl. Just the way the robots talk and move is exaggerated and brings goofiness and life to what may look like cold metallic robots. One thing I think I have gotten better at since the beginning of the course would have to be walk cycles. In this project I spent hours on the walk cycle to try and make it seem lifelike, loose not stiff. I have improved since the beginning of the year.

    There is always room for improvement. I still feel I need further improvement on my drawing technique as a whole. I just haven't had much practice with it making my 2-D animations look sloppy. This is especially seen in my 2-D short and 3-D storyboard. To fix this I will practice more until I can fine tune my style. I hope in the future I will improve in this area.

    Overall I feel very good about the project as a whole. It was a good concept and a good attempt at bringing it to life. I feel my strategy worked ok only for the fact that I didn't finish on time, if I spent more time on it I feel that I would've finished. I think I learned a lot about time management from this project and will not make the same mistake I made with it during this project. The project had its ups and downs but overall was a great experience.