by nikolai

READING & WRITING: 

Blazer wraps up Animated Storytelling with four steps to getting your project out into the world. First, packaging your product by having a password protected site online to host your film. Next, revisit the importance of the hook, the tag, and the story of the film. As well as, new additions to think about, like your Director’s bio and the title logo that will follow the film around.

Other things to consider are where to show your film, whether or not you want to submit to a festival, or not. She also hits topics like creating a network by connecting with peers, where you should be a good audience online and in person. An interesting tip was to tease your project out little bits at a time.

Never stop. Being an artist is a constant itch.

-Liz Blazer

The final reminder may be the most impactful- share & repeat. This is something I have been practicing for the past year and a half. Stating my mantra over and over, done-not-perfect. However, I now have a road map for stretching myself and growing in my work, and less excuses not to push for perfection. Motion Across Media offered both practical and theoretical learning and I was exposed to so many new ideas, it’s hard to articulate them all.

Everything from practical tips, like being mindful of my beginnings and endings. To, knowing why and how to tell a story. I started this course without any awareness or training in storytelling and I have a much better understanding of what it takes to tell a good story. In the future, I want to incorporate what I learned in this course, and build on it. I will definitely reread Animated Storytelling and continue to work on the logistics of my process, especially storyboarding, picking the right palette, and prioritizing sound. I am not done with my love affair with motion.

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RESEARCH TO INFORM:

https://motionographer.com/2017/02/09/andrew-vucko-and-the-power-of-like/

This article not only shows parts Andrew Vucko’s process, but also reflects on his new film, The Power of Like, which explores online content and how certain things we create get more attention than others and how that may influence our creative decisions. As Vucko says, this exploration isn’t just for creatives, but anyone who post anything online.

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CREATE:

I originally thought to make more .gifs because I enjoy it so much, but I wanted to challenge myself, and Metabolical by Dr. Robert Lustig was one of the most impactful books I have ever read. I wanted to take just a small portion of the knowledge in that book and create a motion with a message animation piece.

What must it be– a mixed-media animation piece.
Who is it for– all audiences, 8+year old.
How long will it be– 2 minutes or less.
What is your objective to the piece– bring awareness to the recommended daily amount of sugar, and the excessive amounts of added sugar in various sodas.
When is it due– 1 week.

-Educational, upbeat, bright, awakening, quirky, and modern
“Sugary drink, exceeds recommendations, hurts heart”

The question: How do you raise awareness of how much sugary drinks exceed the AHA recommended daily added sugar intake?
The Problem: 1 sugary drink exceeds the amount by 200%, added sugar contributes to a host of health issues, especially heart health .
The Solution: reading labels builds awareness of the sheer amount of added sugar in a variety of sugary drinks.

I certainly did not expect to revisit stop-motion with this final assignment, but knew I didn’t have the time to hand animate each bottle, and the quirky movement of stop-motion would help with the look I was going for. As always, I found this project so challenging, mostly due to the time constraints, but also technical challenges with lighting (again), I will definitely invest in more lighting if I am to ever attempt stop-motion again, the taller items presented even more of a challenge. Finally, defining and refining my message was difficult and an area that I would like to see continued growth in.

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