Propercorn

After deciding to work on the YCN Propercorn brief, we began to mind map ideas that immediately came to mind once reading the brief criteria. It was interesting as ideas that involved a world orientated around the product was one of the first ideas that was noted down, and from this we were both able to generate more ideas incorporating possible animation techniques. We both really wanted to merge stop motion and 2D animation together for the final outcome, however with the amount of time that it would take to create the set and props to then record the stop motion we decided not to continue with this technique; wanted to ensure that we delivered a good quality animation piece to the competition deadline.

After noting the ideas down on the mindmap, we then began to merge ideas together and refine the possible narrative. An interesting idea of having the world in the popcorn packet could have worked well, with the camera zooming into the packet after the consumer opens the packet, with a crazy world inside making the popcorn. The only criticism that we had with the idea was that the product placement of the packets would need to be on longer and I personally felt that this should be the ending. For example the audience see how popcorn is made in this different world to then zoom out and show consumers eating the popcorn, ending on the product placement. We both liked the idea of incorporating the use of the illustrations on the packet, possibly creating an environment depicted on the packet. For example, with the lightly sea salted flavour, have the sea waves crashing into each other as the camera continues to slowly pan in, until the audience see a boat which cuts to a sailor steering the boat before eating some of the Popcorn.

Food Module - Narrative

For the narrative we discussed how we would be able to match the visuals alongside the dialogue that would describe the history of cake. The most popular idea was to show the background changing according to the era that the dialogue referred to and from this generated more ideas in which the main character could change clothes according to the cultural fashion of that time period; the change of appearance with the cake stand as well to further emphasis the transition of time. Rebecca researched into the history of cake in which we were able to narrow down to the key points of the origin that focused on the Egyptian, Medieval and Industrial Revolution eras. From this we were able to visually generate the main appearance of the backgrounds and style that the character would be situated in.

Main points of narrative:
- A boy would stumble across the cake stand
- Is greeted by the vender who talks to him about the history of cake
- As the history of cake is described the background and the clothing of the boy is changed to suit that particular era
- Items that are described in the dialogue will appear on the cake stand
- In the last historical scene, Industrial Revolution, the introduction of the steam train behind the stand triggers the action of a giant sponge cake to roll off the train and roll after the boy
- This transitions to the next scene as the boy runs of the screen, just as the sponge hits one of the items described in the dialogue, to then be propelled into the sky
- The sponge cake spins to show the sun on one side and the other being the moon, referring to the dialogue
- This turn of the sponge to the moon, would darken the background until it turns to black in which relates to the space time continuum scene
- Add in 'piece of cake' pun
- After the transition back to present day, the boy wonders to another stand
- Turns out the next stand, to do with desserts, has the cake stand man but wearing a mustache as the vender
- Leading to a possible next time fake episode

Food Module - Narrowing down choice

Meeting as a team we compared research together, depicting the similarities of desserts that each of us had chosen. Interestingly, France and Britain were the most common similarities with our choices, the origin of the desserts mainly stemming from there. However we noticed as we were narrowing down the choice of desserts that showing ten with in the animation would take far longer than the target duration, especially with the debate of creating a recipe based content with facts. We thought about being specific with desserts, so only showing one type of dessert from a selected few European countries, however it didn't absorb any spark that could make it that much more interesting, it needed to attract the young audience.

Possible narrative:
- Thinking of narrative - how to present the animation - want to aim at a children audience.
- Most likely a voice over narration - needs to be very appealing to the target audience to keep them interested - family audience would be easier.
- Possibly a horrible histories take on the origins of the desserts.
- Introduction to the desserts - possibly to the start of eating something sweet in this instance honey going to sweets and ice cream then to the desserts we've chosen?
- Start with the very basic desserts which then stemmed to more intricate desserts - evolution of desserts?
- Someone eating at an ice cream parlour - goes from there
- Go with one basic running theme - cake - how cake has been used through out eras - chronological - can link to desserts that we have found. - started with vikings.

After noting down ideas on narrative we all decided to run with one basic dessert, either ice cream, cake, pastries etc, ones which had an expansive history woven into them. We found that the desserts that we researched had many varying interpretations of their origin, making the facts less reliable and not informative enough to be used with in the documentary animation that we want to create.

Going to focus on Cake:
- "Hey you? you wanna know where cakes comes from, well here ya go!" - reminds me of a car salesman, influences from the Futurama and The Simpsons parodies of documentaries, for example the global warming effects on Futurama - very 1950's stylised.
- Cheesy comedy - could be someone trying to sell cake to customer - turns to kid,  "hey you wanna know where cake comes from?" - can then design characters - cartoon network based - 1950's - could end with kid already gone with cake and seller still taking about cake not noticing the customer had already gone.
- Map like theme for all the cakes and then zoom in to take about it - pop onto the screen - research in depth on cake history - how it evolves - cake in the modern day?
- The kid character could dress up in the fashion of the era and culture
- Could end with the kid not wanting cake anymore and moving to the next stand which serves ice cream and the seller is also the owner of that stand - could lead to a fake next time episode which involves ice cream.

Collaborative Practice Contract

Creating the contract made it clear for each person what exactly they will be contributing to the project, what their skills are, what they want to do for the project, and what the joint responsibilities would be. I also felt that this was a good chance to see what skills you believe you have, and after writing them down you notice that you have more than you originally thought you did. This contract makes it easy to settle any dispute between the partners on the brief, for example if someone did not do the job they were meant to do they can refer to the contract as it is physically written down. I also thought that this would be a good opportunity to ensure that the other person would attend meetings and constantly update with the work progress that they had achieved so far.  Below are the completed forms. 

Food Module - Research into desserts

We gave each other a mini task to research into 10 european desserts for the next meeting we would have. This was to create an expansive amount of research to broaden our knowledge with the origins and types of desserts that we could possibly use with in our work. I tried to research into different countries rather than just focusing on all of the desserts that France are famous for, however some of the desserts are just so colourful that I felt that I needed to research more into them as they would be fantastic for the vibrant colour that we wanted to add to the aesthetics.

France:

Religieuse, name related to the word 'nun'  - made in the 19th century with the purpose to resemble a nun in a habit. The pastry however was made in 1540 by Pantere Lli. The dessert consists of two choux pastry cases, most commonly filled with chocolate or custard. I thought that this dessert would work well with the aesthetics of the module through adding different icing and coloured cream to the design, as other takes on this dessert portray the food in different colours and add decorative icing to the chocolate.

Petit Four, small cakes and candies - made in the 18th century and commonly made in a brick oven, relating to a rough translation of petit four, 'small oven'. These small cakes relate to the british french fancies that consist of sponge cake and different cream flavoured fillings. I loved the aesthetics of these mini cakes as the delicate detail of the icing made the cakes seem tastier and would be fantastic to include through how bright and vivid they are. It would work with the initial concept that we envisioned for the animation; bright, colourful and engaging to the audience. Even if the petit four don't end up being focused on in depth within the animation, they could be placed in the surrounding environment to help the appeal of the style of animation.

Mille - Feuille, custard slice - Unknown time of origin - The dessert consists of two layers of custard between sheets of pastry with an icing coated top layer. This can also include whipped cream, jam and fruit, more commonly strawberries with in the layers, drizzling chocolate or cream for the dressing. The custard slice is one of my own personal favourite desserts, even though this dessert isn't as aesthetically pleasing as the previous, it is a common and simple dessert that could work as a different form of sweet food for the animation.

German:

Oliebol - I couldn't find the actual date as there were many conflicting interpretations however it could possibly be tracked back to the 16th century in the Netherlands however it was taken further in Germany. Interestingly, this food was originally made to act as an offering to appease spirits during yule. Even though this dessert looks quite bland compared to the visuals of the other desserts that I've researched into but the history behind the dessert was inspiring and could help generate ideas into a possible narrative or theme for the desserts.

Poffertjes, mini pancakes - I couldn't find the actual date for this dessert as the information for this was quite hard to find, I still included this as I felt the visuals of this were quite aesthetic and could work with the initial visual concept we had in mind. I found it interesting with how these pancakes are made, a thicker batch of batter is used and a special iron cast pan is made, resembling much like a cross between a pizza tray and a cupcake tray, in which the batter is poured in.

Lebkuhen, Almond gingerbread, most commonly a christmas treat, normally in the shape of a heart - originated back to 'honey cake' in which refers to the early Egyptians, Greeks and Romans - believed that honey was a gift from deities and had magical healing powers. Were also worn as talismans for protection in battle and to ward off evil spirits. It was interpreted to have been invented in 13th century by monks.

Belgium:

Belgian waffles - Mainly eaten as a breakfast food however they are still desserts. They are different from the American waffles through the lighter batter that is used - larger squares and larger squares. I felt that this dessert would be fantastic with the addition of the toppings, such as the strawberries, whipped cream and the drizzles of chocolate.  It was suggested to have originated in the late 1950's and later introduced to north America.

Britain

Swiss Roll - Suggested to have been adapted from the british cake 'Jelly cake' in 1852 - the sources from the origins for this desserts are quite unreliable so whether this cake is actually a swiss dessert, as stated in the name could be a possibility, it is instead said to have been originated in central Europe in the 19th century. I chose this dessert as I felt that this was a traditional and well known food that different cultures take and change into their own - for example one design included designed baked into the sponge which could work well with the aesthetics of the initial concept.

Banoffee Pie - made in Britain in the late 1970's when a chef was remaking an american dessert in which the ingredients and methods were unreliable. The chief decided to change the ingredients to make it into his own and grew to be so popular that it is know a well known treat. I felt that this design would work well as it incorporates caramel and chocolate in which the other desserts I had looked into didn't really include - could be a good challenge to make it visually appealing to fit with the concept.

Collaborative brief - Choosing a brief, continued

After analysing into the briefs that we both initially had some interest in, we looked into more briefs as we decided that the previous briefs would not work for what we wanted to create with the final outcome.

Sage
Can produce a video/animated content that must be shared online - purpose is to persuade small businesses to switch to Saga - two main parts to the brief, one to promote their payroll software - other is to promote accounting software - would need to be more like an infographic - would need to be saturated in facts and statistics - main audience would be businesses just starting out or quite small and need help with accounting - want to work alongside the accountants that they already have but use their software to aid them. Too plain and graphic based for the outcome that we want to create.

Propercorn
Ideas need to be faithful to the brand, encouraging loyalty - need to be commercially viable - think big - think creatively - this is an open brief - if studying animation can consider how you can 'bring our illustrative world to life' - a piece of communication - traditional - engagement - target audience 20 - 35 year olds - time poor, health conscious, have an appreciation for the arts. - Have more creative freedom compared to Sage - Sage is asking for more of an informative and infographic animation. Theme for this brief needs to show how it can communicate with the customer in daily life - show daily routines or how and where popcorn can be eaten? - not just the cinema.

We decided to choose the Propercorn Brief due to its creative freedom, the purpose of the outcome that it is asking for and its audience. Through this brief we both are confident that we can inform our practice further and make something that can be both submitted and used for our show reel,

Food module: Researching into desserts - A brief origin of desserts, Honey and Sugar

Whilst researching into individual desserts for the group research for our theme of desserts, I found some interesting points of the history and origin. Interestingly the first sweet or dessert was considered to be honey, in which ancient civilizations considered to be a gift from their deities, in which became a food to celebrate and use as a talisman for warriors before they went to battle and from evil spirits. These talismans were made from 'Honey Cake' also known as Lebkuchen, with other uses such as healing properties. The method for Honey Cake consisted of just flour and honey, where the mixture would be left for about a month in which the naturally made yeast would cause it to rise. This recipe was then developed further to include additional ingredients such as spices and dried fruit. Interestingly honey was not only used for the sweet taste that it brought but also for its natural preservative properties. With the spices that were added to it, eventually ginger became one of the most common additions to the cake, which transferred to Britain to become the famous gingerbread biscuits that we eat today.

Honey was mainly used in the origin of desserts rather than the most common ingredient that we use today, sugar, due to the expense. Sugar was extremely expensive to the extent that only the rich were able to obtain some, and even then it wasn't a huge amount. Originally only the sugar cane was brought and it was eaten raw on the cane rather than added to anything as an ingredient to sweeten the taste of either a beverage or food. To be able to store and transport more sugar in trades, an efficient way of turning the sugar cane juice into granulated crystals was invented, creating less expense in travel. Interestingly as the trades routes widened the demand for sugar increased exponentially, creating the demand for cheap labor and more sugar cane farms to be created. This can be interpreted to have linked with the development of the cake that we eat today with in the industrial revolution in which the advancement of technology made it possible to create mass amounts of cake to be sold at markets and shops. This demand for sugar turned into a necessity.


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebkuchen
http://www.localhistories.org/desserts.html
http://gourmet.lovetoknow.com/History_of_Desserts
http://www.sugat.com/eng/?CategoryID=399&ArticleID=220
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#History

Collaborative brief - Choosing a partner and looking into briefs

I decided to team up with Alex Neild for the Collaborative Practice part to the module as we both know our skill sets and how we both work towards completing work. We had planned to work together to create a piece that would be worthy for portfolio and show reel content beforehand and we both felt that this brief would be a fantastic way to start a collaborative piece of work. I really like the movement of her animations and idea generation that Alex puts into her work, these elements create a finished outcome that not only feels realistic within the kinetic actions she creates but a finished story that is fun and is portrayed well to the audience. You can view Alex's work here.

To begin the module, we both brought 3 briefs that we thought could work well with both of our skill sets, looking into both D&AD and YCN.

Here are my notes on the briefs that we analysed:

WWF
Can create an animation/video up to the maximum of 2 minutes - target audience 14 - 24 age range - want to help shape their future for generations to come - Want the awareness of the natural world, what state it is in and will be in if they don't get the help they need - non for profit charity - want to highlight the responsibilities that each person has, everyone needs to help.

WPP
Can create an animation/video to promote the awareness towards education for girls, learning through technology - would have to create a name, identity, online presence and the launch of the campaign - feel like immediately this is alot of work to try and create alongside with making an animation which is not mandatory towards the brief. - possibly look at creating a ident for the cause for PPP - different subject matter compared to the rest of the briefs.

SYFY
Alot of creative freedom - can create an animation for it -however they don't know themselves what they want from the final outcome - could possibly be hard to create something for the specific syfy brand that it requires - need to research more into this - gain inspiration - consider how we can twist this into something that can work for both of our practices.

Vice
Ident based on British culture - clear with target audience - use of action footage if needed - ident needs to 10 -15 seconds - preferable to add audio as would suit the audience more - needs to be attractive to their target audiences - is a youtube channel which is quite popular - based on documentaries that are like gossips and exposes, celebrity news etc - both didn't agree with the subject matter.

We looked into two of the briefs in more depth:

Pantone
Chose any town - possibly make our own town? Add colour to the town that you chose - very community based - could start with a black and white scenery and then attack the image with splashed and streaks of colour - could possibly turn futuristic?

This brief has a lot of potential, a little bit too vague in places. Would need to research more into colour, its emotional definitions, possibly colours that relate to a city. We are able chose our own town, all about the local community, endorsing a positive change. There is however no clear purpose for the end outcome, just a constant reminder on how it needs to benefit the community, this could possibly mean a form of advertising for the local business of the town you chose. The chose your own town theme is contradicting in a sense through how hometown can be anywhere you think is your hometown even if you have never been there before - this would require field research and could be expensive with travel costs depending on the place that you chose. The deliverables however do not include any animation or video based content, just eight presentation slides to submit.

Decided not to continue to look at this brief due to it not containing an animation part to the deliverables which is ultimately what we are looking to create - could possibly complete this brief if we were to make the animation on the side as an extra part to the brief - the eight images being screenshots from the animation.

We Transfer
Portray yourself in 10 years - would be hard to create something as there are two of us in the group, however could either base it on each other or do a split screen showing both of our depictions of us in 10 years, much like 'Bad Day' music video by Daniel Powter - could use this for self promotion, make us think about what we want in the future - concept is key.

Even though the brief explains what they want, it is still confusing in what their purpose for this outcome is. You chose your own audience and have complete freedom with the style and setting of the piece. Choosing your own audience sounds strange, matched with the lack of purpose for the work, what is the companies target market? The deliverables ask for a submission of one print image, one illustration or digital piece either as one image or as a video (for moving image or interactive work). I feel like this could possibly be too much work as well as creating the animation.

Decided not to continue with this brief as the problems were too many and out weighed the positives, however this brief would have been suitable if we did not have to submit the outcome to the competition - would be able to take the strengths of the brief and take it outside of the box to inform practice further.

Collaborative brief and considering Project Report - notes

Collaborative brief - A creative response

You will be working as a creative partnership to create another outcome for one of the D&AD or YCN briefs - It must be submitted to the competition - may have to pay for submission depending on which brief you choose - don't forget the deadline for the brief you choose, could be earlier than others.

Choose a creative partner based on what you want to do, how you you help them and they help you to inform your practice? - Two heads are better than one however you will be assessed on your own individual process, how you document, communicate and evaluate your work etc.  You need to complete the contract so that both of you in your team, know exactly what areas you want to do, what you will do and promise to do. Alot of compromise and team skills.

Consider how many people are going to see your work - secret seven competition?
The content must be significant, it needs to be quality and quantity. Your ability to identify specific briefs - need to add more depth with the problems of the brief, how this brief can ultimately help you. Consider Project Proposals/Report - You need to start thinking about it, presenting all the work you have created in both individual and collaborative briefs. bear in mind that the tutors have not seen any of your work yet, so you need to explain what you have done and why you have done this, how has this helped you develop your practice?

A visual evaluation - An aid of all the important parts of your work and blog. What have you taken from this? Context, Product and Function. You know your briefs and they don't. Your ability to present without you standing there. You chose what is relevant to you. Needs to be presented in PDF format. Your project report as your last blog post. Will be the first thing that they will see when they come to assess your work. It is a story, a visual map of what you have done. It can be made through powerpoint etc as long as you export it as a PDF. Don't over complicate it, it is about the content, be precise with your point. If you feel that the development work is more important to you, then add it. You don't however need to show start to finish as that is essentially your blog. Show them in the real world, showing that this could happen.

Food Module - Team work

I wanted to create an animation that would focus on improving my skills with storyboarding and concept art, I wanted to challenge myself and focus on a younger target audience and create an animated 'episode' like video that would be suitable and work with a theme much like cartoon network. I felt that this challenge would improve my skills through narrowing down the style and theme of the work that myself and team members would be able to create something for our portfolios.

For the applied animation, I wanted to work within a team, in which I knew would be the best choice to create something for each of us, to not only present at the end of year show but on our showreels as well as. Rebecca Wong and Anna Picariello wanted the same 2D cartoon network style outcome as I had visualised so we decided to work as a team for the project. Each of us had a specific role that they wanted to focus on within the brief:
+ Rebecca - wanted to focus on key animation alongside with helping in other parts of the production, such as concept art, audio and post production.
+ Anna - wanted to focus on the character design and props - help out with other parts of the production, clean up animation and 'on model' animation - making sure that the animation works with the character designs.
+ Myself - to focus on the storyboards and try concept art for the project, helping on other parts of the production, such as inbetweens and post production.

I look forward to working with my team as I know that both are well organised, time efficient, passionate about their work and most importantly, are fun and lovely to be with.

Here are links to Rebecca and Anna's blogs.

http://r-wong253249.blogspot.co.uk/

http://a-picariello251887.blogspot.co.uk/

Food Module:The brief notes

Deadline 15/5/15 14;30

Topic - cultural, social and ethical - documentary based

Demonstrate an informed understanding of issues relating to media, communication, audience and context through the investigation of animation - research into documentary animations (5A7)
Understand the potential and limitations of technologies and processes - solutions to identified problems. (5A8)

Needs to be between 1 to 2 minutes in duration with titles and credits - quality not quantity. When you have finished the film, make a poster, box art, press pack - encourage to work with graphic design for fonts and layouts.

You must document these are your own responsibilities to keep up to date.

Can approach it as a graphic documentary, animation, a recreation of real stories and interviews. Pitching the idea - you're not pitching yourself, you're pitching the work that you have done in your group. Pre Production and research needs to be completed for the pitch. Deadline 27th February.
You decide how much you want to show - what would be appropriate to show - this is what you are doing - we are doing this - I chose this etc, Consider the elevator pitch as a reference. Ensure that you fact check - animation tests - you will need concept art for this pitch.

Documentation - bullet point other peoples work - write about the dialogue you have with everyone - you're opinion on the work, be reflective - different views on the storyboards - always articulate what you are doing, concentrate on what you have contributed - what you have learnt and what skills you have developed.

At the end of the pitch - needs to be burnt to DVD

Alice in Wonderland - Final Cover and Page illustration

The final outcome for the book cover illustration worked successfully thought the original intent of incorporating the main character of the narrative, Alice, within a iconic scene of the book. For this scene I debated with a few background such as the Queen of Hearts garden or the Mad Hatters tea party, however through development and refined sketched I used the scene of Alice falling through the rabbit hole. I felt that the colour scheme worked well with the contrast against the slightly desaturated background matched with different objects and items. I encountered problems with the background through the use of the tones and glow that I wanted to add to give it that eerie but magical atmosphere to the piece. I solved this problem by using blending modes to calm down the original vibrancy of the glow and make blue shade merge nicely with the brown tones of the background. I purposefully added the items alongside Alice in the rabbit hole, to not only work with the scene, but to work with adding a possible password into the cover. Through feedback I understood that it would be difficult for the younger audience to discover the hidden letters in the image to then rearrange into a password. Therefore the password would need to be in a easily seen space, in which could be the back of the front cover.

The final illustration page worked successfully through the colour scheme and tonal shading I had used for the design. I purposely designed the image with the use of block tonal fill as to relate to the John Tenniel prints in the original prints of the book. I felt that the illustrations needed this as the whole brief was to design illustrations for the 150th anniversary of the book, and in my opinion there needed to be a twist or hint of the John Tenniel prints in the designs to relate to the original book. I felt that my designs were successful with this as I used thin lines in which I felt worked with absorbing my own style with the simple shapes whereas Tenniel used detailed dip pen strokes to his work, that were neat and thin. Even though I had not used any crosshatch or line shading I felt that the block colouring worked well as it suited the primary target audience, if I had included crosshatch or other intricate lines the design would have suited the gift buyers and collectors more rather than the main audience.The book illustration held more detail through the perspective as to work with the chapter that it would be situated in, as well as add to the aesthetic of the crazy tea party. 

Overall I felt that both of the designs were successful through how both suited the target audience through line, shape, perspective and colour. I thoroughly enjoyed this brief through how I had the creative freedom to create any illustration that held a description of any narrative within the chapters, as well as being able to redraw the characters in a style that would suit the younger audience. 

Alice in Wonderland - Final storyboards and possible website concept

Using inspiration from the thumbnail sketches I had created, I focused on the movement of Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I wanted the shots to be interesting with portraying Alice's journey, however I had to ensure that it was not too complicated for the primary target audience as they would lose interest if too many angles were used within the storyboard. I used mainly medium and long shots within the storyboard as to show the character in each frame, to both keep the viewers attention and to work with the action of her falling down the rabbit hole. I felt that the storyboards I had created worked successfully through the use of the neat lines and use of annotations that I added for the audience to be able to understand the movement and direction of the camera within each frame. I felt that the addition of Alice falling into the 150th anniversary worked successfully as the audience are able to focus on the main purpose of the brief; to create work for the 150th anniversary of the children's book, Alice in Wonderland.

I created a very rough possible website design using the background imagery from the book cover, to tie in the animation from the storyboard. I felt that the storyboard could be used as a stand alone animation or even merged with the web page. I wanted to show how Alice could possibly float down the page as the person scrolls down and at the end of the page, she falls into the logo. I felt that this made it more interesting for the primary audience to view, compared to the white and plain website that the company had made for the book so far. I also felt that the addition of interactive buttons would give something extra to add to the website, this could be in the form of flash buttons so the buttons would seem animated, could be the heads of characters or items relating to scenes of the book. I created a few examples for the pitchboards for the next pitch with my peers as even though this was not work that was asked from the brief it was something extra that gave it an interactive appeal for the audience.

Alice in Wonderland - Pitch Feedback

We were separated into small groups in which we would then pitch to the students we were set with. This felt like less pressure and a less formal approach to pitching compared to the daunting idea of pitching to the whole group. We had 2 minutes each to present our pitch to the students in our group, in which I didn't get alot of time to talk about my own pitch. As we had more people in our group I ended up quickly running through mine and talking about key things for the designs and briefly going through the informed practice board. I felt that this was something that I needed to develop on in the future, using the elevator pitch method as a basis to center my pitch around. The elevator pitch consists of the individual presenting their idea with in 20 seconds, stating the clear intentions of the work.

After the group pitches, we were then separated again into pairs or groups of three to analyse another persons pitchboards that we had not seen before and knew nothing about. I felt that this was good practice in finding the strengths and weaknesses within the pitch boards and absorbing this feedback into my own work. However as soon as we were told that we were to look at another individuals pitchboards I knew that I had made a mistake. I had not included any text on my boards. I wanted my boards to be a visual aid to stop myself from reading the text on the boards which is why I did not include text. However I felt that this has prepared me with in the design for pitchboards to include at least a summarizing paragraph to explain the content of the boards.

The feedback I obtained was extremely positive through both visual quality of work and how well the work suited the brief. Feedback from peers included the addition of text to help the viewer understand what the content is about, and also consideration of different compositions, showing more examples of the animation buttons. To also consider the colour scheme, as it is aimed at a young audience the addition of bright colours for the illustration page would work well. I felt that the feedback given was helpful in improving my work and locating my practice. My overall aim for the illustration page was to create a composition that was inspired by the original John Tenniel prints but with my own twist through the use of the character design and the structure.

I improved the boards by adding text to each of the pages which were short and direct to the point, I removed a few of the images so that the text would fit comfortably in the layout. I didn't want the design to be too clustered as with all of the original imagery, the addition of text made it too complicated and less aesthetically pleasing to the viewer. I also left the last pitch board involving my ideas for a password and interactive website as the feedback suggested that the brief didn't ask for these additions, it was something that I had done in my own time to take the brief further.

Alice in Wonderland - Pitch Boards

For my Pitchboards I wanted them to be a visual portray of my progress and contain any final outcomes that I had reached before the pitch. As the pitch requires me to talk about my work I purposely did not add any text to the boards to stop myself from reading the text myself. When designing the layout for the pitchboards I wanted a reoccurring border that would link with the rest of the boards to make them professional and aesthetically pleasing. For this basic layout of each of the pages, I added the 150th logo with the main publishers logo, changing the main red colour to match with the blue of the logo. This layout structure was successful through how the viewer can tell what the pitch board contains and what brief the contents of the pages are for with out the need for dialogue. As I wanted the pitchboards to be a visual aid to my pitch I included development work that lead me to the final outcome that I situated in colour on the right hand of the board; I wanted to show a clear narrative of how I approached this outcome. I believe this is important to show as especially with a client, the client might like a different development that you had created rather than the final design that you have highlighted; This worked well both aesthetically and for the viewer to gain a better understanding of the work that I had created through the development stage, an informed approach.

Short summary of each board:

+ The first pitchboard contained the character design that I created for two of the main characters with in the book, Alice and the Mad Hatter. I felt that it was necessary to show this outcome as the change in the style of the characters to fit the target market that the brief specified is a huge difference compared to the original John Tenniel prints.

+ The second pitchboard contained the illustration page that I created for one of the final outcomes designated from the brief criteria. I wanted to take inspiration from the original John Tenniel Prints through the use of colour and added detail to the environment.

+ The third pitchboard contained the main outcome wanted from the brief criteria, the front cover. This needed to contain the 150th logo. Text is there to show the placement of the final text, the image is the final design.

+ The fourth pitchboard contains work relating to inform my practice further, I wanted to improve my skill set with storyboard design. I felt that this was a fantastic opportunity to refine my skill sets further with the use of the narrative and use of characters/scenarios.Took this even further with possible website design to match with the front cover of the book, flash buttons to make the website more interactive for the young audience.

Character Design

Illustration

Front Cover

Informing practice further

Alice in Wonderland - Storyboard to present at Final Pitch

Taking influence from my thumbnail storyboards, I edited both of the storyboards by cutting parts of the narrative in which didn't suit the audience and the duration of the storyboard. I found that when I merged both of the storyboards together I had created a coherent narrative that would work well for the target market and involve the use of both the book cover and the logo. When editing the narrative I treated the plot to be much like a short ident, so that I could ensure that it incorporated the information and the focus that I wanted to get across to the audience, rather than adding detail that could detract myself from what I originally intended to create. I felt that this form of working helped to work out the basic narrative of the storyboard to ensure that the final outcome that would include more movement would work well with the main perspective.

For the Pitch Boards, I felt that I needed to include a storyboard that would show the main key points of the narrative, so that the peers would have a clear understanding in the final outcome that I wanted to create in order to inform my practice; As I wanted the main storyboard to include more detail with inbetweens of action, compared to just key frames, I needed to create a simple storyboard that would articulate my intentions. I made the storyboard digitally depicting only the lineart and the animation notes so that nothing would detract from the main focus of the storyboard. I wanted to show the movement of the character as well as the motion of the character which I portrayed with the use of the red lines and arrows. These red lines would help the viewer to visualise how the movement would look, the curve of the arrow signifying the wave in the fabric of her dress and the fall of her hair. I felt that the storyboard worked well in depicting how the storyboard would incorporate the front cover and ending on the logo in which Alice would merge into. I felt this link between the imagery enhanced the animation for the main target markets and promoted the 150th anniversary logo as specified in the original brief.