DFILM, Animatrix, Understanding Comics, Sequential Art

Meeting new people is always hard, especially in a classroom setting.

Last night we made introductions and I got to know where everyone was coming from. I explained my perspective on animation, how it is essentially a sequential art, closely related to the traditions of comics, with the effect of animation applied to simply turn the still images, within a comic for example, into moving images.

If you accept this simplification of animation, the idea of producing your own animations becomes quite do-able!
Start by drawing up a comic or storyboard, then set to work adding motion or stop animation to parts of the images.

Did I make it sound too easy? It is easy! Its up to you how complex your initial drawings need be, and likewise how much motion you want to add.

So we checked out the D.Film Movie Maker and looked at this theory in action. Each of us easily made our own little animations with it... here they are!

Leigh

Beryl

Brian
2, and 3

"The Professor"

Cathie
2, and 3

John M

John C
and 2

I guess the others forgot to email me their films...

The purpose of this - other than having a bit of fun, was to look at the idea of comic to motion picture in action. If you've had a go at making a D.Film then you would have experienced:

• the selection of a background and a stage
• the selection of the characters and where they move to on the stage
• adding in some speech bubble dialogue
• selecting some theme music
• and adding in titles and credits.

So, you should have been able to recognise the obvious relationship that the D.Film animations have with comics. All that's really been added is a bit of simple motion and the ALL IMPORTANT audio.

I hope this has stimulated some ideas.

Next week we'll spend some time learning some drawing tricks - especially using photos. Maybe even some of us will be ready to have a go at making a start on a story board! We'll see ;)