AS Animation Lesson

During class on the 6th we studied three clips showing animation:1. John Lewis Home Insurance Advert 2013 - Things MatterThe Making of the John Lewis Home Insurance advert 2013-The furniture in this animation move to the front garden with the family members on top of a coach or bed ready to take a family portrait.-This advert was an extremely clever use of animation. Watching a behind the scenes video again made it clear that the making of this advert was tiresome as each object was moved by hand ever so slightly to make it seem that the object was moving smoothly. For example, the books were open but facing down and with each photo taken, moved forward and open or closed more giving the appearance they were etching forward towards the front garden. All the objects had to align and be in exactly the same shape as the shot before making it a very delicate and slow moving set as nobody could risk turning a lamp the wrong way!-The creators of the advert obviously wanted the make the pieces of furniture come to life and a thought of their own. One of the first examples is a spoon opening a draw, popping it's head out and looking around - like a meerkat. Another example is the girl's teddy bear who wriggles in her hands trying to escape to join all the 'others' outside the front door.-It would be great to use this type of cinematography but it would be extremely difficult to achieve on such a large scale with the time and props we have available.2. Chicken Run - the sequence beginning with Ginger locked up in solitary confinement till Edwina is taken off to the slaughter house.-The movie Chicken run personifies the chickens in this pen by giving them items of clothing and different personalities which as audience, you can really see and understand.-Light and dark are very important in this sequence. On sets like this, Tristan Oliver says it's very difficult to achieve real lighting effects, "you'll see that people have 2, sometimes 3 shadows" because the set so large it is hard to make sure everyone has only got one shadow because there is only one sun.   Tristan Oliver thinks this clip of Chicken Run shows how talented the creators and filmers of the movie have used the light and dark to their advantage. For example, one of the last shots is Edwina in the slaughter house, about to be 'chopped'. Instead of the PG film showing 6 and 7 year olds Edwina's head falling off the chopping block, they use the shadow created by the sun on the wall in the background.-The colour of the sky changes to fit the mood of the current shot and to accentuate a certain character. For example, when the rooster is standing atop the huts, he lines up perfectly with the rising sun showing his importance of starting the day. Another example is of Mrs Tweedy walking in-front of the chickens who are lined up. The sky is dark and gloomy with a red and fiery core showing that she is the dangerous and evil character. There is also a shot of Ginger watching a flock of geese flying in formation from the gloomy sky above her head, to the light of the sun representing the freedom of the chickens later in the movie.-The use of light and dark would be useful to use in my short movie as it would emphasise meaning and mood. 3. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - the sequence beginning with Wallace setting up his brain washing machine till when a twitching rabbit named 'Hutch' was put in a cage.-The extract of the movie we watched in class framed the hilarious character Grommit by using a number of close up shots on his face to show his expressions. Because they have used close ups, it has allowed the silent character to have the appearance of having spoken lines as the audience can still understand him.-Light also appeared in the clip with the circles of light engulfing the rabbits, emphasising them and luna light being used to run the machine. A trap-door in the celling allowed in the moon's light down and sudden louder music made the audience focus on Wallace's great machine.-Using close up shots is a must when making a short film and I will definitely be using them to emphasise facial expressions like the do here.