Stop Motion Animation - Lego Superheroes Inclusion

Our task for this assignment was to create a stop motion animation representing a contemporary issue. I worked with Rhys Jenkins and Aaron Vickery. The issue we picked was Inclusion as we felt this was an issue which dominates policy makers within the UK.
My role within the group involved capturing the footage and uploading the footage to create a movie through the ZU3D program. Rhys and Aaron's roles were to bring the issue of inclusion to life through the movement of Lego figures. We all had an input to the voice overs and narration.
  For this animation, we as a group decided on using Lego figures of superheroes. We chose this because we felt it would give us the ease of use when moving the figures around. We also felt that the issue of inclusion could be put in a for straight forward sense to children and they would understand this through the use of their favourite superheroes and villains.
The characters we used were:
Thor
Captain America
Iron Man
Hawk eye
The Hulk
Cat Woman
Nick Fury.

Each of the characters were official Lego figures. We designed our set by using a Cardboard cut out, a background of a meadow from ZU3D and we used a green lego baseboard which allowed us to ensure the figures would not move out of position.
The moral of the story is based on a poem by Randy Basset at the Opening Hearts and Inclusion project, Canada. The poem was called 'Including All My Friends' and was a child's view of inclusion. Each scene within our animation is based on a verse of the poem. This is narrated by myself through the animation and then the characters begin to act out each scene.
We added various sound effects to the animation. In one scene the characters are kicking a football and one of them kicks the ball at the camera and we added a sound effect of glass smashing (This is seen at 0:34). We also added a couple of music tracks to reflect inclusion within the lyrics.  We used parts of the song 'Let's Stick Together' by Brian Ferry and 'We're All in This Together' from the popular children's film High School Musical.

During the planning process, we first had to seek permission from Randy Basset, the author of the poem. He kindly granted us permission and we have paid tribute to his kindness by extending our thanks to him in the end credits. I will also E-Mail him the animation so he can see the finished product.
After gaining permission we started to plan how the animation would look. As I have stated, we used superhero Lego figures because of their simplicity and that this is aimed at children so it was deemed appropriate.
We then wrote out each verse of the poem and used this as our scene. We then planned on how we were going to execute the acting. We took into account the number of figures used because if we used too many then it would complicate the animation. After creating a mini 'storyboard' of each verse, we then carried out production and filming.
We did encounter several difficulties when filming. We discovered that if the set was moved a little bit, it would hinder the production. Also any different lighting could affect the scenes. Another difficulty encountered, which was very frustrating was using the ZU3D program. We are unsure if it was the program itself or the computers but each time we recorded, we had issues with the program running slow. Also we had a problem where our video took a long time to save which meant us having to leave the computers on for the night for it to save. This could be down to a number of issues including the size of the video. However I did enjoy using the ZU3D software and feel that it is excellent for any new animators whether they be adults or children.

The finished product is above. I welcome any comments you may have upon this project.

A peer review of stop-motion animation assignment

For my peer review, I am going to look at the story of the monkey and the lion by Tristan.
It was a story about friendship between the two animals and ended by the monkey saving the lion from a poacher's net.
I really enjoyed the animation, It was evidently planned very well and fitted into a jungle type theme very well. The soundtrack created worked well and the plants in the background were very effective.
I thought that the animation itself was very fluid with no areas where it was 'jumpy'. The story kept me interested throughout which was very effective.

One slight issue that I found was that during the opening scenes the set or camera seemed to move around a little bit. However towards the end you could see that this was not a problem as it got better throughout!
Well done, I thought the animation that you created was very well planned and executed extremely well.

The Impact of the learning environment on a learner. ICT rich environment.

An ICT rich environment has an impact on the inquiring mind of a learner.
Inquiry can be defined as 'a systematic investigation'. Dewey (1938) is most commonly associated with being the founder of inquiry based learning.
Grabe and Grabe (2001) give five roles of technology learning:
- Tools to support the construction of knowledge.
- As information vehicles for exploring knowledge to support learning-by-constructing •
- As a context to support learning by doing
- A social medium to support learning by conversing
- An intellectual partner to support learning-by-reflecting

The main aim of inquiry learning is to identify strategies to achieve a goal and gather evidence to reflect on the processes and look at the next steps.
An inquiry-based approach is different to traditional teaching methods. Where as a traditional method of teaching is more teacher centered, inquiry-based learning encourages students to take the lead. It is a student lead approach where teachers are seen as facilitators for learning. Inquiry based learning is versatile, flexible for students, highly motivating and also remains focused on the real-world. ICT programs and equipment enhance the learning curiosity of the students. ICT has helped advance learning for teachers and students. In previous traditional classrooms, the setting would be teacher-led with a blackboard at the front. In more recent years, many schools have gone under a technological transition. Nearly all schools have smart boards in place of black boards and also have Ipads and other tablets for use by the pupils. A number of Applications have been developed to enhance students learning at any part of the learning spectrum, from the early years to higher education.
Another example of how ICT can benefit education is through 'Moodle'. This web based application is the saviour for all students! It allows users such as teachers to upload powerpoint slides and other relevant pieces of information such as journal articles or book extracts for students to read. It benefits students as it allows them to find all relevant information in one place which could make it more likely for them to engage with the subjects. It also allows students to open up forums to have a debate about a subject. An application like this could be used in any educational setting from foundation phase to higher education.

In conclusion, I feel that an ICT rich environment has a positive impact on learning experience when compared with traditional teaching methods. The use of ICT allows individuals to be more creative, explore options and also research topics. It allows the learner to become more independent when exploring a topic and only provides experiences to benefit them.

Camera-Less Animation - My First Attempt

During our seminar, we were given the task of creating a Camera-Less Animation. Before this seminar, I had no idea that they even existed.
They are very simple to make.
Below is shown the equipment needed to make one.

For this I used a piece of card, a roll of sellotape, a pencil, scissors and a piece of string.

First of all, I drew around the sellotape roll to and cut it out to create a circular shape. 

After doing this I then proceeded with my design. I decided to use a spider in a web. On one side I drew a web(as you can see my artistic skills are super!) and on the other I drew the spider.

After doing this, I then cut a hole on each side of the shape in order for the string to connect through. Once you have put the string in, you can then start rotating the piece of card and it looks like the spider appears within the web.

Music and Animation

"The right music can help your animation flow, and sound effects can give your work a solid feeling that adds to the illusion of life"
Mark Simon

Music, or any form of sound can have a profound impact on an animation. Without it, the animation could be seemingly lifeless and not very interesting to the viewer. This may not always be the case with cartoons such as the Pink Panther however the popularity of these so called 'silent cartoons' has dwindled.
  Utilising music and sound in animation can help it flow and adds to the feeling the animation portrays. It is almost a sense amongst animation designers that you can't have one without the other. Music can have an effect on the body and mind which could be an advantage for those animations which are used to advertise a particular product. If the right music is chosen, then the advert could be remembered for this and the popularity of that product could rise. The background music can have an emotional impact on the viewer (Lee & Lee., 2005)

Stop Motion Animation - Zu3D

Today, we continued as a group to explore the Zu3D package. In collaboration with Rhys Jenkins, we created the below animation. A series of still images were recorded with a webcam and we used the in built microphone to record sounds and also used some sounds available through the software.

It was a very delicate process, even the smallest of movements would be noticed in the animation. The effect of changing light or a change in set would hinder the production of the movie.

Below is the finished product.

Camera-Less Animation - Second Attempt - Zoetrope - Step by Step guide

For the second animation created during the seminar, Myself and Rhys Jenkins were given the task of creating a Zoetrope.
This type of animation utilises the illusion of motion. It uses several still images, and when they are put on a spinning table, looks like an animation.

Equipment used:
Chalk
Scissors
Black paper (Cut into a cylindrical shape)
Circular base
Template for image (We used a template from google images)
Glue
Sellotape

To Start off, We had a piece of black card and our base for this was a clock. We shaped the card into a cylindrical shape as seen above.

Following this the card was measured in length and individual marks were put on in chalk every 2cm.

We then cut out these 'viewing lines'. These are important and have to be equally spaced out in order to view the animation.

Once this procedure has been followed you can then start designing your animation. For the purpose of this animation, it was decided to use a template which we researched on the internet of a horse. This is shown below.

After cutting out the images, they were then glued onto the inside of the card in order. Once this is completed, the card must be taped together and then you can put it on a spinning wheel to see the animation. This step is shown below.

Shown above is a video of our animation on a spinning wheel. It shows the importance of the viewing lines in order for the animation to work.

Stop - Motion Animation

Stop - Motion Animation

 

 

Animation has been a significant form throughout the history of cinema, “prompting, informing and responding to each of the technical innovation in production” (Chong, 2008, p. 15).

 

Stop motion animation is a well-established technique where still pictures of static scenes are taken and then played at film speeds to show motion. (Brostow & Essa, 2001)
In it's simplest form, it involves a 2D or 3D object that appears to move on it's own. Is is moved in small increments between each frame which produces the illusion of movement.

Most recent stop-motion animations include Wallace and Grommit, Chicken run and even children's entertainment programme Pingu!

Advantages of Stop Motion
Stop-Motion Animation has it's Advantages within a classroom setting. It allows students to be creative with their projects and encourages teamwork and attention to detail.
It also has an advantage over CGI in terms of cost and it's distinct look.

Disadvantages
One disadvantage is that it can be very time consuming. Wallace and Grommit - The Curse of the Were Rabbit took around 15 months to make. The movie is only 85 minutes duration and the producers could only film a limited amount of frames each day.


Animation - Family Favourite

A Family Favourite Animation

 

One of my favourite animations on TV, and one of the most memorable is the advert for 'compare the market'. The campaign is led by 'compare the meerkat' which involves a meerkat called 'Aleskandr Orlov' advertising to consumers who buy their insurance from compare the market that they will receive a free meerkat toy.
The marketing campaign was launched in January 2009 and was created by Darren Walsh at Passion Pictures.

A newspaper article from 2010, says that the marketing campaign has netted Compare the Market £60Million profit. In a market which to some may be boring, this is certainly spectacular.

There is no doubt that it has been a huge success, quite possibly due to the appeal of Aleksandr. Receiving a free gift for insurnace could influence many parents.


A video below showing all of the compare the meerkat adverts.

What is a learning environment ? My perspective

A learning environment is quite simply a setting where the process of learning takes place. This could be within a traditional classroom setting, a lecture theatres, museums and on the job vocational learning.

The type of learning environment plays a role in the quality of education that a learner receives. They can change dependent on the subject being taught and it's style.

Below is a link to the characteristics of an effective learning environment.

10 Characteristics Of A Highly Effective Learning Environment

Learning environments can not only be in a physical form.
Recently, there has been the rise of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). These are primarily used in Universities (for example, moodle and blackboard) where lectures can be uploaded to the websites along with various other forms of learning tools. It allows the students to undertake learning whenever they see fit.
However, now many companies also use VLE in order to teach their staff new skills.

Below is a Ted Talks lecture where Ron Haffart evaluates the environments required for 21st Century Learning.