Group Project - Alcoholism - Liver Sequence Animation

I have been given the task of animating the alcohol affecting the liver scene.

Storyboard I'm working from.

Timing Test Animations

In the first scene, the alcohol travels down to the liver, covering it.

The alcohol traveling down is far too quick, I need to extend the timing of this.

This was made in Photoshop by duplicating the template of the man given to me by another member of the group and then painting the alcohol getting further down with each frame.

To extend this I will add extra in-between frames and I may also extend how long the frame is held on the screen when put onto the Photoshop timeline. 

In the next scene the liver looks like it is being beaten up.
This is only a test to see which is the best way for the liver to move.
I think that the background needs to change behind the liver because it doesn't look in proportion with the liver, maybe just having a black background would be better.
To make the liver move I used the puppet warp tool in Photoshop.

I find that it is easy to use but it does move the whole image not just the liver, I will need to make sure that when I make the proper version that the background and the liver are on separate layers.

This is the re-do of the alcohol going down to the liver using the new character silhouette design.

I have slowed down the alcohol going down to the liver but could still be too fast.

This is the re-do of the liver being beaten up, I have added in the punched symbols to highlight what is happening to the liver.
This sequence needs to be slowed down and I need to work on how the liver would move as I don't think the correct message is being put across.

Liver damage sequence.

The group decided that the liver should fade to yellow instead of having the alcohol running over it. This will then fit better with the idea that the alcohol is inside the liver beating it from the inside, rather than it being washed over the outside.

Also I have put the liver in the centre with a black background, as mentioned before I think that this will help keep attention on the liver and keep in proportion.

After discussing with the group I am going to include a gulping effect when the alcohol is travelling down to the liver. This will then effectively slow this sequence down and give the audience a better understanding of what is happening.

I am also going to add a wobble effect to the liver being beaten.

I have used this video for reference.

This the finished liver damage sequence. I think that it still needs polishing, but I think that I might have a better idea of what to do with this scene when I see what everyone else has done, I can then match my style to theirs.

Over all I think that this animation has gone well and portrays the message of the liver being beaten effectively. I still think that the end part needs more work and maybe have the surrounding organs showing so that the liver has something to be thrown against.

As I was working with other peoples templates that weren't saved in the same screen size I was unsure whether my animation was positioned in the same way as other members of the groups animations.

In the end I think that my animation worked and I hope that it fits well with the rest of the animation sequences being made by other members of the group.

Groups worked edited together by a member of the group.

In the end we managed to get a finished video, which isn't as bad as the group thought it would be a couple of weeks ago.

I think it obvious that it has been made by different people in different styles but I think that if we continue to work on it and have set job roles for each member of the group rather than different sections of the video delegated to different people.

For example character designs all by one person, colour all by one person, and then all of the templates will be the same size and style.

But over all I think that we have brought together a good video that puts the correct message across, this video has also taken into consideration the points made by the client about the final scene.

I think that with some better organisation and time management we could have made a very polished finished video but there is still time to fine tune curtain aspects of the video over the summer.

Group Project - Alcoholism - Feedback From Presentation

• Trapped in a bottle is a a strong image, how most people visualise the idea of being trapped by alcohol.
• Use of a ladder instead of a boat, NHS shows how to use the ladder but is up to the patient to climb it - patient hesitant to climb the ladder.
• Physical images too literal.
• Patient reaching out and being reached out to - expressing help is available but the effort comes from the patient themselves.
• Idea if being isolated but being brought back into groups through treatment - only if the patient is willing.
• Doing an activity other than drinking in a group.
• Difficult for a person to find help on alcoholism.
• High blood pressure - not necessary relates to alcohol but could include in the heart act - include blood pressure gauge.
• Will people recognise the liver? Might look different to different people.
• Perhaps more recognisable organs like the eyes.
• No audio.

Overall I think our presentation went very well and the client seemed very keen on taking our idea further. The main comments were on our solution, which we were happy to keep open to their input.

The client has given us very effective feedback to take the solution further and to improve on the ideas we already have.

Group Project - Alcoholism - Animation Bible

Research:

• Very limited resources for help and advice in pharmacies.
• Media focus is mainly on smoking and fitness awareness.
• Adverts about drinking are for drinking responsibly and for prevention, not for helping people already addicted.

Synopsis:
The animation displays the negative impacts of the over consumption of alcohol on the drinker, both physically and mentally.

Premise:

Act 1

This takes place at a party or social gathering. The main character is with a group of people having a drink. As time goes on the character is becoming more and more isolated from the group. Visually this will be represented by the character moving further away from the group, picking up drinks as they go. This will then lead to them becoming so over overwhelmed that they fall into the bottle.

This act will be repeated for each of the four videos. There will be a male and a female character to show that no one is excluded from alcoholism.

Act 2

1. Alcohol damaging the liver: This will be represented like it is being punched and expanded from the inside, leaving bruises on the outside.

2. Alcohol damaging the heart: This will be represented by the alcohol running over it, turning into chains, squeezing and tightening around it.

3. Alcohol damaging the brain: This will be represented by the brain shrivelling up till it is barely visible.

4. Alcohol damaging the mental and social wellbeing: This will be represented by the character landing at the bottom of a empty bottle and pacing in a circle, the character will look isolated and alone.

Act 3
The character begins to drink more alcohol and the bottle fills up with alcohol and it will look like the character is going to be lost in it. A life boat will come and pull the character out.
For the boat we thought we could put NHS or some other type of help advice on the side like a banner.  

Treatment:
There will be no sound so that it can be played on the screens in pharmacies, as most of these screens don't have the sound on. Also this meant that we could have dialogue, this will also make our video accessible to people who speak different languages or are hard of hearing.
We will be using simple, subtle detail, similar to the TSB adverts.
The style will be 2D but digitally drawn to keep the sizing and continuity in order.
The backgrounds will be white or light coloured so not to distract from the character.
Character Design:

Storyboard:

ACT 1


Alternate ACT 1

ACT 2 - Brain

ACT 2 - Heart

ACT 2 - Liver

    

ACT 2 - Mental

ACT 3

Alternate ACT 3

Animatics:

ACT 1 and ACT 2 - Brain

ACT 1 and ACT 2 - Heart

ACT 1 and ACT 2 - Liver

ACT 1 and ACT 2 - Mental

Colour Script:

Link to the group's presentation: http://prezi.com/nmir47cn5d-0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Group Project - Alcoholism - Animation Bible Research

As our client is coming in to see how far we have gotten with the project, our group have divided up the work of getting a presentation together.

I am making the animation bible to be printed off and taken away by the client and then simplifying this document into a pitch for the client to see on the day.

Animation Bible Research

What To Include

Paper Wings podcast, episode 2, 5 steps to a winning animation pitch

Source: http://chrisoatley.com/audio/PW002_WinningPitch.mp3

Notes

• Make it visual.
• Break big bunches of text with pictures.
• Only 2 or 3 sentences.
• "Show don't tell", for example show the character doing what they've been made for, don't just have a head shot and explain in a paragraph that they're an alcoholic, have the image of the character drinking. 
• Don't include every detail you've ever had for the idea into the pitch, just give enough to show the best parts of the story, the backstory of the character can be discussed with the client at a later date.
• Show the relationships between characters.
• Give the idea room to grow, could this go any further? Put possible further ideas, to keep the client interested and to make them think that they're could be future projects with this idea.
• Understanding that a pitch is selling an idea and that the client will shape the idea further. So being prepared to give up control for the client to develop the idea.
• Character biography story based not a boring straight biography.

Glossary For The Pitch Bible

Source:  http://www.awn.com/animationworld/pitch-bible-just-essentials

Character Descriptions:

Written descriptions of each character, what are their characteristics and how they interact with the other characters in the story.

Concept Art:

Drawings, illustrations or images of the characters and the environments of the story.

Key Art:

A drawing, illustration or image of the cast of characters in significant action poses in their environment that best visualises the characterisations and story.

Premise:

A written foundation that explores the establishment, conflict and resolution of the story. The premise helps to support the story and the characters for the writer.

Story Treatment:

A compelling narrative about the story in a page or two for television, longer for feature; is used to sell the story.

Synopsis:

A one-paragraph overview of the story, plot and motivation of the characters.

Teaser:

Produced animation, either a sequence or animatic, which best illustrates the main characters, their actions and the premise.

Group Project - Alcoholism - Animatics

Creating the animatics from the still frames of the storyboard.

Only doing the first and second acts.

Liver Damage

Heart Damage

Brain Damage

Mental Damage

Group Project - Alcoholism - Storyboards

First Storyboard

We discussed this storyboard as a group and decided 

we could separate it into three different thirty second videos. 

We are going the use the first and last pages of story board 

and put a different effect on the body between the two.

We each took part of the storyboard to work on.

I have been working on the effects of alcohol on the liver.

When the liver suffers damage, it is often shown on the outside by the skin turning yellow.

I wanted to show this in our video by having the liver slowly turning yellow. 

I've read from statements of liver disease patients saying that it felt like their liver was a punch bag,

so I thought it would be a good idea to show the disease with boxing gloves.

On reflection of my storyboard after it had been turned into an animatic, I feel that the effects on the liver should be more literal. For example the liver being punched from the inside-out. As the liver swells when it is damaged, the punching could be happening on the inside and the camera could be showing this from the outside, the viewer would see the liver swelling and possibly start to be covered in bruises.

Group Project - Alcoholism - Tests

Bullet Time Test

For one of our 30 second videos, we wanted to show the emotions of the people around the alcoholic. 

We thought that having the drinker in the centre with his loved ones around him, 

then would have a matrix/bullet time effect of the camera panning around them.

Rotoscoping Test

Taking the bullet time effect video I then rotoscoped over the top.

This is just a very quickly done test. In the finished video we want to 

add more detail and facial expression or possibly some other 

way of adding the emotional effect of each person.