Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Piano Animation Analysis

What techniques, camera angels, perspectives, colors, timing and other devices are employed by the animator? Could you use these techniques your self in you music project?
In The Piano, Aidan Gibbons does a phenomenal job of using shadows. The music is amazing, but the animation plays off it even better.

When the ghost of the wife appears, it is clear she is a ghost because of her transparency and glow. Gibbons uses the transparent/glow theme for the boy as well, who unwraps a toy horse to ride.



Gibbons uses several camera angles, and all effectively. Sometimes there will be close-ups of the hands, while other times it will be wide shots of the entire scene. This is something I really would like to do in my projects. However, I am worried that the animation of hands is too complex for my level in Flash.

Another thing I found interesting was the background use. Sometimes it was all black, while other times they were in the piano room.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Poetry Animation Analysis

The Search for Lost Lives - James Tate

Two things made this animation ineffective. First, the type over the animations were completely unnecessary since there was a narration. I could handle subtitles, but the text over the animations was not aesthetically pleasing, especially since it was hard to read most of the time.
The second part that made this animation ineffective was the dull voice of the narrator. Could they have chosen someone any more boring?

Nights on Planet Earth - Campbell McGrath

This animation was far more effective than Tate's. Both downsides to Tate's were positives for McGrath's. One thing I didn't like about it was how literal each animation was based on the lyrics.
I think this animation was helped by the poem's words. It was perfect for an animation.