Critical Portfolio – Short Evaluation

What has been the most useful digital skill that you have learned this term?

If I am honest, I found the most difficult skill the most useful – Motion Tracking. The concept of it I have grasped however actually executing it efficiently in Adobe After Effects is a different story. However, within practice I am sure I will be able to get to grips with it. From creating the character, importing it alongside the chosen footage into After Effects, adding a null object and parent them together is something that made sense quite quickly. This skill is something that is widely used within live action and animated film intros which in my opinion is a basic skill that should be learnt to enable grabbing the audience’s attention from the start.

Aside from the workshops in class, where did you look for other support and inspiration and what did you find?

In terms of support I was able to gain that from my peers, in and out of class which was helpful as we were all in the same boat in terms of progress therefore we were able to help each other with different aspects of the project, for example I was able to help someone with the 3D into 2D rotoscoping task and they were able to help me with the motion tracking task. Other support came from my tutors who were actively communicating with us via email and phone calls which helped a lot. Online sources such as Youtube tutorials helped a massive amount also, especially for the motion tracking task.

In terms of inspiration; film titles were mine. More so to just grasp the concept and principles of the tasks I was set – such as movie title sequences for the motion tracking task. Also, I gained inspiration from an animated series called ‘Jimmy Neutron’ which had an episode where he went between a 2D and 3D world which was extremely interesting to watch, and it would have taken two different software’s and skills to be able to execute it. This helped with my 3D experiment and 2D rotoscope task.

How do you think you would like to develop your digital skills further? Think about how you like you animate, and what can support your practice the best.

I would like to develop my skills further by focusing on the relationship between 2D & 3D and how to incorporate the two styles within one film. We have seen this be done within animation but not often, I personally feel as though it can add a difference and spark to your film by experimenting with both styles. Despite only learning very basic skills in 3D I was able to incorporate it within my Film 4 Documentary Module where I show a 3D missile heading towards the camera just before you hear the explosions. This was great fun to add as it was something different and new.

In terms of support I feel as though if we were to have workshops that explore both style and using them both within film would be a great way to further our digital skills. I also feel that 1 on 1 tutorials that are catered to what we would like to learn or know would be a great help as it allows us to learn what we would like to use within our projects.