Chapter 1: Animated Storytelling
Liz Blazer first sentence of chapter one really stood out to me. “Animation is a limitless storytelling medium” (Blazer, 2016, p. 1). Animation gives many people the opportunity to tell the story they want to tell. Animated storytelling is all about planning as Liz Blazer explains in the reading. This reading gave me step by step on how to create my own animated storytelling. It gave me a brief description of tips too use to create my own story. But, this reading also explains how to create an animated story when I am working with a client. It is important for the client and I to be on the same page of what kind of story we want to tell their audience. This reading provided the numerous different questions to ask myself when planning out the steps of the clients animated story.
Coming up with creative ideas is a difficult process. But, this reading describes how to stay under control and right down every “big idea” you have for your client. With each story you tell, you need a tagline. I found it interesting reading about the tag-lines. I learned that tag-lines are not the easiest things to create. I think of the most important steps in your tagline is your theme. What is your story really telling? There are numerous different themes your story can tell. Your tagline is what people are going to remember about your story. Your tagline explains the theme of your story.
Overall, each step is important to creating your story for yourself or for your client. The more “big ideas” you have, the more creative your story can be.
Chapter 2: Storytelling & Chapter 3: Storyboarding
This reading material is very new to me. It does take me a little while to understanding a lot of the material. As I am very new to creating animation and also learning it, I have learned how creative and how the structure of animation is. As I am very new to creating animation and also learning it, I have learned how creative and how the structure of animation is. Liz Blazer breaks down the steps to the structure of storytelling. The techniques she discusses about how much filmmaking and animation are so similar I believe. Whenever I am reading a story, I always find the conflict, solution and the end result. Liz Blazer explains each of those steps as a 3-way Act Structure. This structure does remind me of what I got taught in high school when we use to have right our own stories. I found this very interesting to read because it really taught me how a lot of authors and directors write their stories. It makes me realize how important it is for me personally to break down each step in my story, so I am able to tell a descriptive story and get people to understand what they are reading.
Chapter 3 discussed different visual fundamentals we can use to create our story. Creating a story can get very out of hand especially if you are not organized. Any storyteller needs to have a well written out plan. Another great way to stay organized for your story is creating pictures of the ideas you have for your story. She discusses more on this topic as a way to show the spectator what kind of story you want to tell. I found this chapter very descriptive and helpful because of all the different ways Liz Blazer explained how to create ideas and how to pretty much stay organized for your storytelling.
Chapter 4 & Chapter 5: Color & Weird Science
Color choice is a big factor in film, photographer and animation. Professionals and even beginners can’t just keep an original photo or film piece for their final piece. In numerous different photographs and films, they use contrast, filters, hue and brightness. These are different steps in creating not only a perfect image but a color script. When it comes to a film, each color is important in every part of the film. It is difficult to edit a film because you have to breakdown each part you want to edit and make sure it flows with the rest of the film. Blazer makes a great point about colors. Blazer discusses the seven tips for picking a coloring palette that will benefit the film or photograph. Overall, the colors affect the atmosphere of the film or photograph. If it doesn’t match, the film or photograph won’t turn out how it is proposed too.
In the next chapter, there is talk about failing at art. Everyone fails at art in some point in their life. In my life, my art fails all the time. I am always having to start projects over because they are not up to what I want it to be. Blazer explains how it is okay to fail at art. We all have to be ourselves when we are creating a project. Nobody can be perfect every time they are creating a project. But, Blazer wants everyone to keep creating and experimenting with new techniques. Experimenting with new techniques keeps people interested in art and film. I truly enjoyed this chapter because Blazer influenced me to not give up every time I mess up. This is my first time creating animations and gifs. I have had to start over numerous times and even though it would get frustrating, I didn’t give up on it. I realized it was okay to make mistakes and keep starting over because it led to me to the perfect project that I wanted.
Chapter 6 & 7: Sound and Design Wonderland
Sound is what creates pictures and films. It makes them better. In Chapter 6, I learned just how important sound really is. To make a great film or animation, sound has to fit the story. You can’t have dramatic sound in a happy setting. It won’t fit. Sound is the first thing many people notice in films because it sets the mood. It lets people know what the scene is going to be about and what they need to look forward too. Sound is the one thing that can make or break an audience. That is why it is very important to make sure the sound fits right.
In Chapter 7, I loved what Blazer said about creativity and designing your story. I love being able to create my own story. It makes me want to be more creative and come up with something better than my first draft. Nobody can tell you what to do when you are creating your own story in your own world. When creating your own world, you can do whatever you want with it! With all of the new technology coming out, you can make your world one of the great ones. I find it interesting how Blazer relates it to your rules and how you are in control of everything you do in the film. Knowing I am in control of my film and I can tell my story, makes my creativity go through the roof!
Chapter 8: Technique
We use technique in numerous things every day. Whether it is creating a new art piece, perfecting an old one, working on school work or an animation. Your technique is what makes your visuals perfect. In this Chapter, Blazer makes a lot of good points about technique. She sums up technique as a way to tell your story. There are many steps in creating a perfect animation. Using technique is important in each of these steps. There are many different styles and techniques with using animation. In my opinion, I believe reading and looking at each example can help you decide which style of animation you want to do. Blazer speaks upon nine steps of technique for animation which I believe is very important when creating your own animation. It will be difficult to figure out which one will be best for your animation. But, you have to take your time when creating your animation with one of the techniques. That is why I believe it is very important to read upon each techniques and look at examples to see which technique will make your animation perfect.
Chapter 9: Animate
Chapter nine I found very entertaining. A lot of things now and days are all animation. I loved being able to learn how a lot of our media is created and also being able to experiment with different tools. The chapters we have discussed throughout the weeks has taught me a lot about animation I never knew. I only had little experience with Photoshop, Adobe and Adobe After Effects before this course. Even though each creation was challenging, I did learn a lot and also found it fun to create my own creations.
Blazer taught me that planning and staying organized will help create your perfected animation. I found this one of the best pointers she talked about in the book because when I did stay organized, it was easier and took more stress off of me. In the beginning I wasn’t very organized which made it harder for me to create a perfect animation. But, when Blazer pointed out creating storyboards, it helped me keep my work organized and helped me get each step in my animation perfect.
Throughout each chapter, Blazer taught me how you can create a perfect animation. She gave us different pointers including: how having the right audio can make your animation stand out, making sure everything flows together and also having effects that will make your animations stand out. Overall, Blazer gave me many takeaways that I know I will use in the future.
Chapter 10: Show and Tell
Throughout the chapters I have read, Blazer has taught me many different skills I never knew of before this course. She helped me become more creative when I was creating my animations. She made me realize that it is okay to mess up. It will take more than one creation to create a perfect animation. I started from not knowing much about adobe and animation. Before this class, I only used photoshop for a few classes. I didn’t realize how much work goes into creating animations. I am thrilled I was able to learn so much about animations and now feel more skilled in adobe. I am excited I will be able to be confident in the future when I use adobe and create more animations.
Something I took away from the readings and creating my animations is to have a plan on what you are going to create. It will help you create a perfect animation knowing each step you need to do. When Blazer talked about this in the previous chapters, I found this very reflecting because not only creating animations but in real life, planning can help with anything you do. When you have your animation, show it off. Don’t be afraid. Showing and telling will help bring your animation to life because more and more people will see it. It is important to have that face to face conversation about your animations. Overall, I am glad I took this course. It taught me more than I thought about animations and adobe. I am excited to continue my skills with adobe and create more animations in my future.
Andrea Keala's Visual Media 