Monday 18 May 2015

Thoughts on Showreel

For my showreel, I wanted to create something that not only showed animation work that I was proud of, but show different styles and media as well. I felt that this would work well as not only for aesthetics but also showing the viewer the different styles of animation I could achieve. I knew I wanted to include the Sandman Titles animation that I made for Level 4 as I really liked the style and form of animation. The disappearance of the man at the end of the animation would work fantastically at the beginning or the end of the sequence, the same effect with the gate sequence as well. I also wanted to include a hand-drawn animation as well so that the use of different media would be entwined into the portfolio, I decided to use the turnaround animation I made for Visual Language module in Level 4 as it would show the viewer that I can animate different perspectives.

I researched into other animation showreels as to gain inspiration from them, with the structure and content. I did find it difficult trying to put the different animation files together purely because I wanted to focus on storyboarding, so I debated for awhile to add animatic sequences into the showreel. However after looking into a few different showreels, there were no animatic sequences, but there were sketchy animations which I felt worked really well as it shows the viewer the working in process animations that the animator is currently undergoing.

I was really inspired by Louie Zong's Showreel, the use of the animations being in tempo with the music worked well as it enhanced the visuals for the viewer more, grabbing their attention. I liked the use of the music as it was easy to listen to, simple and was happy to go alongside with the style of animations that Zong had produced. I really liked the use of the finished animations and the rough line animations as it showed the viewer the working process of the animator, how they work and plan their animations with not only movement but with the shot inside the frame as well as. The ending of the showreel worked well as again it kept in time with the tempo of the music as well as the ending animation of the chicken growing in size and decreasing to the track.

I was also influenced by Eva Figueroa Lopez's Showreel through the use of the visuals and the transitions of the animations, as well as the soundtrack that included the instrumentals of a track from one of my favourite bands, Gorillaz, The transitions worked well through the movement of the animation clip that was shown after the previous, the use of the same motion helped to ease the cut in rather than the cut being harsh. I loved the animation style that she had used with in her clips, the idea of the animations being played out as if someone was pressing the buttons in a game was such a clever idea and this is enhanced by the stunning visuals of the animations. I felt that the lighting and the style of illustration for the animation played a key part in this role.

Another showreel I was influenced by was Sarah Pocock's who began with a sketchy animation which was then compared side by side with the finished animation. I loved this effect, it worked so well with the aesthetics of the animation. I love being able to see the development stage before it got to the finished outcome and this was perfect for being able to compare, to see the slight changes and how the movement is translated to the completed animation. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to do this for my portfolio due to not having as much animation compared to my portfolio however I will definitely be aiming to create animations over the summer in which I would be able to create another showreel and use this process within it.

Other showreels that I found where either lacking in audio or over 3 minutes in length. The lack of audio made it difficult to continue watching, even though the overall time was for 2 minutes, the visuals did not grab my attention as much. The sketchy appeal to the animation worked well but it just didn't hold that visual aesthetic. I believe with the inclusion of audio it would have enhanced the animation reel even more. The showreel that had a duration over 3 minutes began really well, the aesthetics and tactile appeal of the visuals matched with the audio enticed me to continue watching however at about the 2 minute mark the visuals lost their appeal and the transitions didn't work as well as the previous few minutes. I really felt that they needed to cut down the reel and leave it to the first few minutes and possibly make a second one explaining the different animation techniques that would be in the content, as from watching parts of the show reel I could tell that they loved using mixed media and processes to create the final outcome.





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