The process of our animation

Over the last few weeks we have been given different tips and lessons in animations, such as what software to use, how to make clay models, the importance of story boarding etc.
Our final task was to create an animation which could be used to explain something in an educational context. In our groups we brainstormed different ideas, and the one idea which stood out for my group was the 'cycle of life'. Something everyone can relate too. A baby growing up, finding love, marrying, having children and then dying, but the cycle continuing.

The first step of our process in making our very own stop-motion animation was to make a storyboard of our animation. This helped us to keep to the time frame of 2 minutes and kept us focussed.













After we had decided on our story, we began to think about what music we would use. We wanted this animation to tug at the heartstrings, so decided on a very uplifting song called 'on my way - Rusted Root' which people may recognise from the film Matilda.

The next task was to actually create our models.



This took us quite a while to do but was worth it when completed.
We followed the advice given to us on model making, making sure the legs were quite stumpy so they could stand and be moved easily. Also the faces were kept simple so facial expressions could be changed easily.






Then it came to filming our animation.
We used ZU3D software. After previous sessions using this it became quite easy to use.
However we soon learnt a lot of patience is needed when making an animation.
To film 40 seconds it took us two hours, as each movement of the model has to be small to have the correct effect.




Once we had finished filming we then added our sound effects.