https://padlet.com/artslondon/sonic-visions-p9prsj0qulom3mv6
Photoshop Animation:
Character Boil Animation:
I created a new character boil for the third scene – I made 4 frames looped at 24FPS. This can be found on my padlet: https://padlet.com/artslondon/sonic-visions-p9prsj0qulom3mv6 titled ‘Scene 3 – Boil Character Animation’ :
Kite Animation:
For my Kite Animation I used Photoshop again, I started by sketching the rough path of the kite (titled ‘Draft – Kite Animation’ on my padlet), before doing cleanup (titled ‘Kite Animation’). In the latter stage I tried to make the movement of my kite tail more fluid, I also ended up adjusting the top kite form so it would look less jittery.
Padlet: https://padlet.com/artslondon/sonic-visions-p9prsj0qulom3mv6
Though I did work on this animation for a while, creating multiple variations which I ended up scrapping, I am only somewhat satisfied with the result. I think this is because the motion of the kite doesn’t look very realistic. For this reason, moving forward, I think I should practice animating more in relation to forces (like wind) and make sure to use references for motion if possible. For example, I could have used references of actual kites.
After Effects – Compositing :
Monday 11/05/26: During the lesson I started uploading the files and components of my first and second scene to After Effects. I also created a shatter transition between the two scenes and used the key frame function to make the clouds in the second scene move across the horizon.
While I considered being more creative with how I could ‘shatter’ my image, I thought other techniques like collaging and stop motion would be less effective as they most likely wouldn’t have matched with my audio (which had sharp cracking sounds).
Wednesday 13/05/26: I spent the lesson using After Effects to ‘break’ the trees in my second scene. Though I had initially considered drawing this by hand, I thought it would be more effective to use the shatter effect on After Effects. To achieve this I had to re-import my trees on separate layers and then offset the timing of them breaking. I also tried to match the shatter noises with my audio.
Overall I am quite satisfied with my animation so far – I think having the repeated use of the shatter effect in the animation makes it feel stylistically more consistent as a whole.
After adding the second scene to my main composition, I realised that the duration of my second scene was slightly short (since my first scene shatters to reveal the next scene). After receiving advice from a tutor on how to overcome this issue I duplicated the front part of my wave animation and found an appropriate place to match up the waves.
After working on After Effects, I realised the colour palette of my previous ‘lightning’ pieces were not as consistent (with the other visuals) as I had hoped they would be. For this reason I decided to edit them further: I used my previous lightning pieces alongside the piece below and experimented overlaying them on different blending modes. This allowed me to create a more glowy nature to the lightning pieces.
The below is on the blending mode ‘Difference’ over the above cyanotype pattern layer.
The below is on the blending mode ‘overlay’ over the previous cyanotype pattern layer.
Monday 18/05/26: Transition – I spent part of the lesson testing how I could incorporate the ‘lightning’ pieces to my animation timeline. Though they felt abrupt after importing them, I decided I did want to keep an element of this abruptness as the concept of lightning is sudden and unexpected. I did, however decide to use the keyframe function of After Effects for the opacity so I could transition the lightning to the final scene. I ended up extending this transition over a longer duration as it felt like the progression of time which is what my overall concept is based on.
I also spent the lesson editing the trees into my third scene: I wanted the remaining trees that were broken from scene 2 to be inverted (in colour) in the same placement. To achieve this I used the key light function to remove any surrounding noise of the trees (left from the previous scene) and then I altered the trees to look black by using the ‘subtract’ layer mode.
During my lesson on Wednesday 20/05/26 I worked some more on my lightning scene: I created more variations which I added to my timeline – making them irregular in timing, I also experimented with scale. I feel this combination feels more flashy like lightning which I like. I did keep the opacity fade out for the transition to the next and final scene (3).
After completing my kite animation separately on photoshop, I then imported it to my third scene as well as my character boil animation:
I then decided to work on incorporating my dust video – After importing it and using the ‘Keylight’ functions (to remove the green screen) I realised I had several problems:
- The dimensions of the video was the same as my existing canvas – but I needed it to be longer so that the dust would come in from off screen
- If I used scale to solve the above issue It would make the dust/dried foliage particles too large
- The video had some grain quality to it which was inconsistent with my existing scene
To overcome these issues with advice from my tutor I was able to use the ‘RepeTile’ effect to extend the side of my video, I also created a new adjustment layer above my scene and added a grain effect which allowed it to blend with the dust particles. I also used the blending layer modes ‘Overlay’ on my adjustment layer and changed the imported video file to ‘Colour Burn’.
I then tested how I could make the trees disappear from the scene – I adjusted the clip length so the trees would vanish as the dust blew over them (I found a frame to match this). Though I had initially planned to make everything from the scene disappear, after receiving feedback from my tutor, I decided having a slight cyclical structure to my animation would be better suited (so the character remains in the scene till the end).
Final Film :
Final Film:
My final film can be found here: https://youtu.be/Qfran8e2WKk