Session 2 Camera-less animation

In a small group we made a camera-less animation called a Zeotrope. 

So what is a Zeotrope?

A Zeotrope produces the illusion of motion at rapid speed of a static picture. The audience peer through equally spaced viewing slots, towards the images on the opposite wall. An open top allows light to enter and illuminate the images. As the drum spins, the slits provide broken views of the drawings, creating a strobe effect and the illusion of a moving image.

How we did it

The Zeotrope was quite technical to create and whilst creating we needed to ensure the measurement of the inside strip met the outer strip, otherwise the designed would not have been visible for the viewers. We did face a problem with working out how we would make all the measurement correct, this was overcome however by watching the video. Once created, our Zeotrope looked very impressive and it appeared that the class were impress whilst demonstrating.

Evaluation

I feel as a small group we did well in creating our own Zeotrope. We had to use our own initiative when creating it, for example we used a clock to act as the spinning mechanism and base for our creation as we didn't have any base suitable. I do feel however that we should have sat down for a few minutes and discussed the process before making an eager start, as at the beginning we started the process incorrect.

(Examples of our Zeotrope above)

To help create our Zeotrope used the step by step video guide. The video link is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHmSG1j7hXM


References
http://www.reframingphotography.com/content/animating-photographs

Evaluation our final Animation

The application we used to create our animation was ZU3D, as we felt this was the best tool to accommodate our stop motion animation. ZU3D is a stop animation piece of stoftware, that is designed to give individuals the freedom to create animations. Initially we had created out voice recording using, audacity which sounded very creative. However this became and issue trying to cut the audacity sounds with the animation we had created. We then went about using the Voice recording tool on ZU3D to create voices for each character  This worked well so replaced audacity with ZU3D was a decision we as a group made.
Background sound was FOUR SEASONS, as a group we all loved this music, as it had a nature feel to it and is quite a popular piece of music. To this day the tune is still stuck in my head! We did look into other pieces of music from the ZU3D library but decided to download the four season piece as we felt it would be more appropriate for our animation.
At the beginning of the animation process, we had all decided individual roles, the role I undertook was creative director, although each member of the group was given individual roles, it was apparent throughout the creation of this animation, that the roles equally we all shared. Working as a group to take turns in filming, the creation of characters, and the recording.

The creation of this animation, was very long and time consuming process, many late nights and early mornings. Although extremely time consuming, I believe that the end result created had become a good piece of animation, where all the hard work and time looks like it has paid off. All the character have there own identity and the concept is clear throughout. The main problem we had was with lighting, if the camera move or the sun changed in direction, this would create a problem for the filming. We did try to resolve this by changing rooms, using object to shield the light and changing the lighting within the room. This worked better but still lighting was an issue. The animation created is bright, with the food chain concept relevant for both key stage 1 and 2 pupils. The idea of leaning about the food chain through animation could enhance the learning experience, offering children a different approach to learning scientific concepts.

I feel we worked well as a team and used individual talents to produce this animation. Some members of the group were better using the computer and others were better in the creation of the characters, therefore we used each others strengths in working together as a group. Althought we work well in a group of 4, I feel that if we had work in smaller group it would of been easier to create an animation and less stressful having 3 other opinions.
If I were to create an animation again, I would first look into the animation process in depth. Assessing what would work well and not so well. I would not use the ZU3D application again, as I feel it is very time consuming and does not give the best quality of filming.

Below is a step by step flow chart of our group progress

This is me during the filming process

The FINAL Animation

Nature World 

Starring

Roisin Stewart

Iwan Evans 

Hannah Cummins

Rorookshanara Khanum

 

Friday 10th May-trial and error

During this session we made a start on filming the animation, the voice recording had be made so we attempted to put the filming together. This became a bit problem as we initially intended for the characters in the film to match with the voices. Once the filming had started we ran into may problems, first it would not be possible (unless you were a pro) to match the mouth movements of each character with the recording. Second problem was lighting, if the camera moved a milometer it would disrupt the lighting of the whole animation, thirdly getting each character to stay in its position. all these issues had to be rectified and the animation filming process took place again. A a group we had decided that we would film the animation and have the recording coincide with the film, rather that the other way around.

The filming of the animation took place again. (example of our animation in above picture)

Animation for learning- Session 9

The implementation of animations within the educational system is a useful tool in enhancing the learning process. Lows (2003) states that learning through animation can help student to understand certain objectives. He credits that the use of animation has the potential to benefits information processing. He believes that through the use of animation, concepts that are difficult to comprehend can become easier to understand, particularly if the subject matter is dynamic.

In education, animation has the opportunity to enhance individuals learning ability, it has the ability to capture the imagination of individuals, especially children, by their vibrant colors and the sense of magic. According to Anisworth (2008), One of the reasons animations are credited is the belief that animations can help learners come to understand complex ideas more easily. Animation are used for a variety of reasons across a whole range of topics. They are often created to utilized and show learners things that are not easily seen in the real world.

My evaluation on animation for learning

Animation can be used in individual and group learning environments. It can be used by virtually any age group. Stop motion animations in particular can provide many enhanced learning experiences through all areas of learning, beneficial for both teachers and students. With technology growing at such a fast pace, surly the way in which children are taught should be growing with it. Instead of book and videos why not use the power of animation? Animation, especially with young children has the ability to capture there attention in a fun, bright and creative way.

I believe that the use of animation within education is a fantastic tool, that should be promoted throughout all school and all ages. Not all children are able to simply learn from book and listening to the teacher. Some children need objects as visual aids, so why not let that be animation, to promote their learning. This is especially apparent for those with special educational needs.
The video below shows an animation that aims to teach children about space. The animation is used in the school I have previously worked in, the special needs school used this video to capture the attention of there pupils, with its bright colours, soothing sounds, its a hit with the children and promotes their learning.
Example of learning through animation below. A fantastic way to teach children the planets in the solar system. View video below.


Refferences 

http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/sea/ainsworth_animations.pdf

http://www.stopmotionpro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=91

http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/pdf/lowe




 

THURSDAY 2nd May 2013

Today's meting allows the group to created the voices for out animated clay characters. Using the audacity application. Audacity is an audio editor for recording and  mixing audio. The program enable its user to have the freedom to edit, change and insert pieces of audio. Although time consuming a crucial part of out animation. In order for out animation to be fully effective we felt having different voices for each character was beneficial and would be extremely effective.

Audacity sound waves below

Our sound recordings

.