6DM022, 6DM012: week 21 (11th-18th April 2016)

Throughout this busy week, the first thing I did was to show the progress I made to the animation to my lecturers and peers from the published vimeo clip I uploaded on the previous major project/post production post.

These feedback notes included

• making initial changes to colour scheme to have a clear outlook to the overall film and characters' portrayal
• when applying the final effects and colour, I would to make sure that the most important part of the story are clear throughout such as the birthday banner to indicate a clear signs of what happening at the beginning to make the boy character feel the way he is of the situation aswell as the moon to showcase a clear sign on transformation. Especially when adding the effects of moonlight shining on the character to make sure its clear the moon is doing something to the boy aswell as making the transformation posture and movements clear.
• lecturer Sam Moore mentioned to get the look and tone I want I would need to look at Noir films and see how use light to co-ordinate the sequences and make the character stand out with the setting.
• what she also found interesting is the use of colour style to direct the moon's emergence aswell as the close up face of the boy whilst in the different emotion states of transforming including being scared, pain and evil smirks.
• Sam mentioned to change the storytelling of the thought bubble to simple displays of monster teeth and scary eyes so it doesn't give the ghoul characters away.
• Fellow student Rob Livingston mention following Sam's point is to change the facial expressions of the mother so its clear she's is scared and concerned for her son's safety whilst the  thoughts bubble are telling the story.
• another student Andy Swinbourne also noted that when the mother appears whilst the boy werewolf is fighting off his attacker is why she's not a werewolf aswell which is a good point and that will be explored when doing clean up and adding colour to indicate she is coming from the shadows. Andrew Taylor also mentioned on this notice and said that I could show she is not turning cause the moonlight isn't casting down upon her but as she put her hand on the wall where the moon light lits her hand transforms.

Through that point about noir films there's a good tutorial about how classical black and white films use lighting and shadow in their film. this clip maybe about live action films but the method and technique can be useful in animation and editing stages when applying the right lighting for film to help the character standout and make the film feel more alive especially with colour to give the overall horror tone I want.

 

I also looked at the best classics who use unique way of using lighting and shadow to get that noir feel.

 

Through Monday 11th April lecture, our lecturer also started to talk about the crucial points of getting our film into festival.

These points included:

• Sending films to festivals can gain an audience so it potentially produce appeal, recognition to the work I produce and create potential work and projects for myself.
• they would be able to get a distributor or get invited to more festivals and competitions
• festivals are the best places to get into the professional world and network with individuals to learn from their advanced experience 
• Its can be the best opportunity to travel and see different places if they are taken place nationally in the UK or internationally around the world aswell as locally in areas like the west midlands etc.

The presentation also noted that not sending films to different festivals maybe due to:

• lack of confidence
• not being able to keep up the applications I would gain from the experiences 
• not being able to afford the experience depending how much the festivals charge in fees.

When looking and sending into film festivals

• always research them before hand so it prepares myself meeting certain standards they require
•  the criteria and overall theme they are looking for so it avoids being turned down by festivals that think the film is good but isn't the type of film they are looking for what they have planned in the festival. 
• recognize the unique standing points (USP) that are needed to create what they want overall
• be aware of the theme and genre the festivals want in the film production.
• refine, choose and target the festival I want overall
• be aware of how they want depending on their screening in terms of length, genre, format and ratio aspect and quality.
• make a plan of attending festivals especially in a calendar that can be crucial for filling in the deadlines of each festival I would be taking part in 
• research fundamentally helps with sorting what sort budget I would need if certain festivals require the film to be made in certain programs and how they look if materials are needed.
• have a copy of information that is needed to send to festivals such include descriptions of cast and crew; film still at high quality aswell as director photo; filming length/format/genre/ element/ production method overall (e.g. 3D or 2D)
• register entries online portals which will save time and the process easy and also never rely on just one portal. 
• also be aware to double check that some important festivals still have direct entry before applying and sending films off.

 Also when attending it makes it easy to gain better experience when meeting different people aswell as making an impact to confidence and morale; keep on networking after festivals for more opportunities and make business cards so it can be a form of personal branding.

Below shows links to tips in applying and also the most common places to apply for festival entry:

Tips:

 http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/film-festival-tips/

http://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/89aa_rule11_doc_short_festivals.pdf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/distribution/marketing-your-short

http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/10-ways-successfully-promote-your-short-film

Listings and additional information:

http://www.spotrights.jp/

http://film.britishcouncil.org/

http://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/50-unmissable-film-festivals-1117971644/

http://www.reelport.com/

https://www.withoutabox.com/

 https://filmfreeway.com/

These are just few of many submission sites to send films to festivals.

Music and sound examples
As part of the schedule I also conducted a 4 hour slot on a Wednesday to go into sound booth room and create different sound effects using materials including cardboard, plastic bags, metal wire and bottle.
below shows some of the sound I made with the help of Andrew Taylor

This is only some created from a list of what sort of sounds I need to create the horror feel into my film. The list of these names are down below. Whilst editing I will also have to find some sound from the internet whilst conducting the main editing process as there are there is insufficient equipment I don't have to do this process. These copyrights will be recorded on a future post.

Paul ward Talk

As part of learning from someone with life long experience into animation, I attended the Paul ward lecture on Tuesday. It was quite interesting to see how he conducts the theory and practice behind animation and make them fundamental to showcasing political and social messages about being against austerity.  One of the main points that across when he was talking about the theory is that people with advanced social skills and teaming building ethics have the creative minds and ability to face the many challenges when being confronted with project that would have be up to date with the issues and crisis of the world if they want to make a direct impact and also be able to collaborate and create a network of different people. This makes it more easy to gain the right experience for future opportunities.
Below shows his previous students work aswell as photos of the talk.

IMF whistleblower john perkins, confessions of an economic hitman.


All in this together- Are benefits ever a lifestyle choice? by Dole Animators

 Advanced zoo drawing for helping animation and portfolio

press kit so far...

film details

Writer/director/ producer:

Matthew Danks

Genre: horror

Length:2 minutes 55 seconds

Language:English

Format: 1080p x 29.97 frames

Completion date:6^th May 2016

Website/blog:Mattdankswolvanimation.blogspot.co.uk

Production software:TV paint

Editing software: Adobe Pro Premiere

Creator Biography

Matthew Danks

Creator

Matthew began studying BTEC Art and Design and IT at the sixth form level at the RSA Academy from 2011-2013 which he procured a distinction (art) and merit (IT) grade. He specialises in illustration concept art and animation.

He then studied BA (Hons) Animation at the University of Wolverhampton.  Throughout the studies he has created a range of animation projects that involve many learn curves of stop motion techniques, digital drawing aspects including a collaboration film using creative compositing methods called the cyclops and monkey in the 2^nd year working with fellow student Andrew Taylor; a 2D film documenting how spiders pro create and start the cycle again and a professional animation project in the 3^rd year collaborating with Andrew Taylor to create a promotional film based on a brief provided by Wolverhampton’s marketing team.

This film was considered marketing’s favourite as it followed the requirements they wanted in terms of simple yet effective advertising of the animation course aswell as linking it back to Wolverhampton University through the colour co-ordination of their website’s branding