Saturday, June 12, 2010

Final Presentation

Just thought I'd add a final entry about how the presentation went.

I was nervous about presenting our film to our peers as well as Hugh from PRA, and lecturers/tutors Josh and Lisa but at the same time I was really excited to see how it would be received.
I was worried that the quality of our finished film would be terrible compared to other groups because we started animating so close to the due date and ran out of time. But I was surprised to see that our presentation and our film were of a higher standard than some of the other groups, not to say they weren't good and a couple were outstanding. However, I think I expected more from other groups after seeing their work in progress presentations for assignment 3 and how much better they had been than our own.

I think our presentation went smoothly and all three of us are fairly confident and relaxed when it comes to public speaking so that definately helped and suited the laid back and comedic style of Nice Pear Studios.

Histoires Petite Pomme
was received really well, we got a lot of laughs through out the film and even into the presentation, so we consider our job done.

I know that if we had started animating sooner the level of polish would be much higher and the film probably could have flowed better but lesson learnt.

I can't believe how fast this semester has gone! Feels like only yesterday we were learning to make a stick figure wave and I wrote my first post. DMIII was a great experience and I am really looking forward to working with some of my peers in the future whether in class or in our own time.

Cam.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Here it is! HISTOIRES PETITE POMME!!!

Histoires Petite Pomme from Jonathon Hyde-Neary on Vimeo.

More from the cut wedding scene

I spent a lot of time on the other POV shot of the church interior for the wedding scene only for to realise that we didn't need that scene as the newspaper article sums up the scene and seeing as we were running out of time it was a good decision to cut the shot.

Originally Dr. Cue created by Jonno, I turned him into a priest for the wedding shot at the alter.




And of course Mr Pomme who needed to be dressed for the occasion!

Digital Media III

Digital Media III is coming to a close with only our final film presentations and this blog to go.

Media lecturer Rob Cover suggested for me to do this course and I'd always wanted to learn how to animate so I decided to take the challange. It was certainly that. The amount I have learnt in this course has been huge, for some one who barely knew how to use Photoshop let alone Flash or Premiere it was a huge learning curve. I managed to pick up most the skills and thanks to the help of Lisa and Josh and their patience with me constantly asking questions I was able to improve on my very basic and nonexistent skills.

I was surprised at how quickly I picked up the basic Flash folio skills which will be useful in the future. I also found that I picked up using a Wacom tablet in Flash and the short cuts quickly. Once I actually began animating I became faster and was able to churn out several scenes in only a few days. Over all I am really happy with what I have learnt and proud of what I have achieved in this course, especially considering my lack of skills and knowledge in digital media at the beginning. I like a challange and would much rather be challanged than bored in a course.

However, it's not just the skills and knowledge tht I'll be taking away from this course but the networks and new friendships that I have made. The architecture school has a real sense of community which I feel Media as a course is really lacking. At the start of this course I knew one person in the class but he dropped out before assignment one was due. This was the first course that I have ever had group work in and although we had our differences and difficulties in getting started the members of Nice Pear Studios have become quite close and I hope to keep these connections after the course.
I have also made friends with members of other groups who I hope to work with in the future.


DM III has taken my love for art to a new level and I am even considering studying Digital media next semester. I'm still thinking about this though because we would be using 3DS Max for 3D animation and I know nothing about that. But if I can learn basic Flash skills in as little as a week and if I work with the right group then I'm sure I can achieve it.

I really like the lay out of DM III with the different assignments designed to meet certain dead lines and learning to work in a group.This is much more relevant to any industry than working alone, as was reinforced in the lectures creating something takes many individuals working together for example pre-production, production and post production levels and all the individual roles with in these such as sound, editing, mixing, animating, directing, producing and the list goes on. A project won't work with out communication and collaboration.

On the topic of the lectures, I really enjoyed the People's Republic of Animation lectures and their knowledge and experience as well as their contacts with people in the industry. The examples that we were shown in lectures were daunting but inspiring.

I definitely found not having my own lap top, the Adobe suite and at times even the internet at home a disadvantage as getting a computer in the school with the programs required was very difficult at times. However, over all DM III has been a fantastic, though stressful experience and I am really glad that I chose to study this course.

Original Pitch Concept for Assignment 1




My original pitch concept for Assignment 1 was called "The Lighter Side" and was a story about a little girl (pictured) who's pet bug died.

Synopsis:
She is sitting alone on the kerb looking sad when a boy slightly older than her approaches her to play. When she doesn't respond the boy pokes her with a stick and she holds up the match box with her dead bug in it. He then drags her off the screen and the next shot is of them standing by a grave which they have just made for the bug. The boy puts his arm on the girl's shoulder but then pushes over, on to the ground. Instead of crying she jumps up and chases him off the screen because they are just two little kids with uncomplicated lives.

Concept:
I based this idea around my own feelings and thoughts on the themes of love, loss and friendship and the idea that good friends really can get you through the worst times in your life.

I still really like this idea and I think with a bit more practise, I might still bring this idea to life further down the track as my own side project.


Slap Chop!

DJ Steve Porter featuring Vince Offer - "Slap Chop Rap"

The guys in 508 must have been so sick of this being played over and over! All three of us found it hilarious and it was one of things that kept us going in the early hours of the mornings we spent in the architecture school.

We wanted to take part of this video and put it at the end of our film's credits with the woman at the end who says "chop chop chop" chopping our fruity characters. Would have been fantastic but unfortunately we ran out of time. Jonno did however make a quick film in flash of Monsieur Banane being chopped by a slap chop which is still to come!

Facebook Group updates

Hey guys don't forget to check out the Nice Pear Studios Facebook group page for the latest updates on our animated film Hisoires Petite Pomme! Our presentation and premiere of our film is tomorrow so stay tuned to see the finished product :D