What a forgetfull day I am having

The blog returns and you would be forgiven for thinking that after such a lengthy absence I would have a lot to talk about…Well I do, so there.

I think a logical place to start is to have a little natter about the various bits and bobs I have been up to for the past week or so, so assessments. I didn’t think that they went too badly all things considered, with the lip-sync stuff I already had a rough idea of what was wrong with it all and had re shot it, twice, however in fixing the problems I merely created more. I think this is mainly because I rushed the re shoots because I was eating into time that I had set aside to do the storyboard stuff, with hindsight I could have actually afforded to slow down a bit and taken my time as I was able to get the storyboards done quite quickly. Ho-hum, I was going to have another bash at doing the lip-sync today (inspired by the lip-sync workshop at Exeter, that was very good) but after traipsing up the hill I discovered that I had left my dope sheets at home so I will do it tomorrow.

I’m not too sure how the storyboards went really, the feedback was a bit mixed and last time I checked there was no mark on moodle but I’ve got a nagging feeling that I focused too much on the artwork and not enough on developing the story, we shall see though.

Now, on to the reading week…I have actually surprised myself and done some reading! So far, I have read the passages in Paul Wells’ Understanding Animation and Andy Darley’s essay in A Reader in Animation Studies because I already own these books and therefore it required the least effort to find. I went to the library today to get the others and came back with The British Avant-Garde Film and a book which I thought was From The Mouse to The Mermaid but is actually completely the wrong thing altogether (its not been a good day). The other books I couldn’t find but as I have to take that other book back I will have another look tomorrow.

And finally, my other little assignment for this week has been to try and second-guess the next project, a decision I will probably live to regret but I will carry on nevertheless. So what have I done? Well, I shall tell you… since I know that the next project is a 90 second film I have started to develop a possible idea which I have adapted from an exercise Kathy gave us last year when we had to story board a poem, my poem was The Dog by Ogden Nash which I turned into a cheerful story about an old lady who through puppies in a river. My plan was to plan on the character designs as well as trying to bulk out the story, which I have done mentally, but the only actual progress I have made has been to come up with a soundtrack for it, which at the moment consists of me making lots of funny noises on the guitar which by sheer luck rather than skill sounds ok when its all layered together although I think it could do with some kind of percussion baking and maybe an overriding harmony, so I will get on that.