Evaluation of Module: Animation Skills

Now comes the end of our first module, Animation Skills. This module has marked my entrance into the world of animation and has introduced me to the vast variety of manners in which the inanimate can be brought to life. Prior to this module, I had only been properly affiliated with the technique of stop-motion, but as I progressed with the module so did my desire to utilize many of the abundant techniques of animation that I had not even considered before. Furthermore, my style has always been more spontaneous and erratic than organized; I rarely scripted my animations and went on creating them as my creative thought patterns guided me without any direction. However, this module has been successful in teaching me the importance of pre-productive planning, as sometimes without an organized approach an animator might stumble into a difficult quandary. For example, during our last two briefs, it was expected of us to create a storyboard to articulate our ideas and visualize how the animation is supposed to look like as the final product.

The different study tasks and projects we got gradually guided us through the wonders of animation in a profusely steady and consequent manner. In other words, I experienced no confusion when it came to the tasks at hand as they gradually developed. First, we had the Storyboard Project that placed significance on pre-production, followed by Explore brief which motivated us into broadening our perspectives of animation (flip-book, pixilation, Pose to Pose, Photoshop animation). As all of these exercises prepared us for the final brief, we were given a brief that expected us to create an animation using any style or technique based on a theme. With this, I had attempted at making a cutting stop-motion animation in a Pythonesque style; something that I would not have done without the research that this module motivated me to do. Furthermore, this module engaged all of my peers into providing each other with constructed criticism, which is something I consider extremely beneficial to one's progress. For example, during our Telling Stories brief, the module required all of us to look at each other's work and stick notes with personal thoughts and criticism which gave us different perspectives to consider. Alongside this, with the Explore brief we were motivated to create our pixilations with another peer, an experience that solidified our collaborative skills with other another. More so, by learning and applying the 12 Principles of Animation we understood the basics of animation and were given the foundation upon which we will build to vivaciously mimic reality through art. In order to assert a level of professionalism, this module placed significance on the documentation of our work (through blogs) and the necessity of research for the broadening of one's perspective in terms of animation. For example, with the Identify brief students were expected to explore a range of different animations and analyze their techniques and styles through blog posts, which for me was highly beneficial. Overall, this module has enriched my animation skills as well as my utilization of techniques, or in other words, has opened the doors of becoming a professional animator.