Added sound to the videos, cut and edited in Final Cut, Voice over recorded. Added transitions between frames in final cut within the Squid animation.
Finished up editing sound and recording sounds for the squid animation and zombie animation, I used 'Final Cut Express HD' to put the sounds together and get the sound to fade in and out when required, as well as set the timing to fit the video's pace.
For the squid, I originally thought to use cartoon like sounds for the explosion of ink and the bouncing squid, but after much testing I found it worked better with a calm background ambiance and bass line as this helped imitate underwater movement the best. I also added the voice over using my own voice to help explain the meaning of the animation, as after showing a few people the animation they did not completely understand (or even know) what the NSS was. I used my own voice so that the sound was something the audience can associate with due to sounding androgynous and teenage.
Still unsure of the colour set, will keep altering it till i think it fits as I personally think the scene is too dark, and will make the whole animation seem dull in its colour set.
Within this scene I've tried to compensate for the buoyancy of the water, but as a computer is a rather heavy thing, I found it would still fall fast. I added the rope to help show why the computer was suspended and didn't just sink to the ocean floor, hopefully making a little more sense then it just stopping mid drop.
I concentrated on the squish of the tentacle to make it appear that pressure was being added to the keypad, though I think it could be improved by adding a few more tentacles and at a faster rate as the scene progressed.
Background image for the Zombie animation by Amy Fairclough. Created in photoshop. This took longer than I'd hoped, and I also managed to get the Lincoln university logo in the image. I wanted the image to be part of the background, not a separate logo on its own so I built it into one of the buildings as a sign and also moved it slightly off screen so that it is recognizable but not the main focus of the image. I also have made it so that the clouds and smog in the front of the image (Lincoln is a city after all, smog is a necessity) can be moved around and animated as well, adding a little more realism to the animation.
When the animation for this scene is perfected, I will go through it and move the smog and clouds in the background.
Squid / Octopus / Cuttlefish designs and colours.
Forgot to post this.
Experimenting with different eye catching colours and shapes, and how to incorporate them into the background colours that i will use. (the colours grouped around the colour wheel are swatches from my background layouts.) I then decided to use colours that would stand out the best against blues and dark purples, and came to the conclusion after these tests that the orange, creme colours used on the cuttlefish in the top right hand corner would work best as they are opposites to the blues i'm using and are pleasing to the audiences eye, and are not too garish.
As for the designs, i decided i needed something that was cute and cuddly, to cause emotion in my audience. it was a close one between the green squid at the bottom, and the peach cuttlefish at the top. the peach cuttlefish won however because there would not be room on the screen for that many tentacles and they wold cause problems on the animation side of the project.
A happy squid.
Struggled a little with the ink, working on 24 fps instead of 12fps for the ink and the jump of the squid to make the movement look faster and fluid.
for the ending jump, this scene as it fades to black will also fade into the next scene, something to be added in after effects.
really hoping to get some sound effects on this, and will work towards that next.
Really need to upload more onto this blog, make things regular.
The ending sequence for the advertisement, without the text. The logo will be added later in After Effects.
Will seek help on the ripples as I am still not happy.
Basic principles of squash and stretch on the squid as he jumps. will also consult other team memers as weather i should alter his colouration as he is now out in the moonlight. will possibly alter it to give the squid a silver sheen that moves as he jumps.
Backgrounds created and edited in photoshop then imported to library. Trying to stick to the cut out theme and risit using line work in the backgrounds.
After much trouble in photoshop and getting the image size to fit the stage in flash (Stage size now 900 x 600 at 72dpi ) I've managed to get the backgrounds in place on separate layers for my character to interact with. also extended the opening scene so that the squid is seen moving into shot.
added buoyancy to the squid as he was too stationary.
moved the fins on its side to give the impression of water flow.
Also, I decided to use oranges to contrast the water, hoping the squid will draw in the audiences eye.
