The Animation Process: Thoughts and Insights

Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. The most common types of animation are traditional, 2D animation, 3D animation, motion graphics, and stop motion.

In a recent session we were given the opportunity to explore animation with photoshop and I will say animation is a long process. We were tasked to make an animating something for no longer than a few seconds and so I chose to animate a deer walking across a field. For me personally animating is very time consuming; I am a perfectionist and animation itself requires a lot of learning to get it to look the way you want it to. I do also think that animating human anatomy is far more difficult than animating animal anatomy; so for the little time we had I chose a simpler option. Below is some resources on how to animate using photoshop:

(https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/using/creating-frame-animations.html)

Now I could've used a walking cycle but instead I decided to study the way deers move. I specifically took inspiration from the fallow deer (below); a medium-sized with dappled white spots, fallow deer have an almost fairy-tale appearance. Fallow deer are commonly found in parklands and woodlands, particularly in southern England, and are some of the inspiration of the animated deer, Bambi.

Here are some frames from the animation; now it wasn't a full production but the idea was there. I think it turned out okay and if I were to do it again or expand I'd spend a lot more time refining and colouring. I'd also try and look more into animation itself to expand on what I already know but overall it was a fun mini project. Looking back at it now the colour pallet seemed a little muddy and if it were fully fledged I'd have changed the values. Overall, I liked it and I'd definitely do it again.

(Animation below!!)

(Here's some resources below!!)