Final Project - Open Arms

Here is my final product, the opening to the animated short film Open Arms. I hope you all enjoy and thank you for following me along through this process!

Creative Critical Reflection

This here a video of me reflecting back on all the work I've done throughout this project and the logic behind the choices made during it's development. Hope you enjoy!

Final Feelings

The process of making this animated film opening was grueling, however, I am ultimately glad I put in all the effort. No matter how hard it was and how many hours I spent to create it, I am so glad that I produced an animated short film opening. I love animation, it’s my passion. It’s the career path I want to continue on. Producing my first animated film was a huge feat for me and a great step toward a future career as an animator and creator.

Of course, reflecting back, I can see where my mistakes were made. My scheduling toward the beginning of the year wasn’t strict enough and I should have been more attentive so I could of gotten my animation done much earlier. Also, I wish I was more on top of these updates. However, every time I didn’t spend updating this blog was me finishing up and working on my animation.

Going into this project alone was also tough, however, I didn’t know any other animators and this was something I was extremely passionate about. In the end, I’m even more proud of myself for doing the extra work to animate by myself. I hope all of my hard work paid off.

I hope everyone enjoys the film opening for Open Arms, which is coming very soon.

Thank goodness for Final Cut Pro.

I’ve had some ups and downs with my animation software, Toon Boom. Unfortunately, some of those downs included compiling all of the animation scenes together and fixing the speeds of certain frames. Once the camera work on the animation was set in place, it was difficult to adjust and change certain frames without causing the camera to bug out.

This may seem weird to any other filmmaker who is reading this post. The camera is known for being a tool to record footage, it is not something that is manipulated within the editing. Well, animation is a little different. In order to save time and create more fluid animation, programs have “cameras” as a tool option. This allows for the user to pan, tilt, and zoom the camera in and out. The camera also moves very smoothly, so human error is not accounted for.

Though I find this tool to be extremely useful and essential, especially since my film was designed to replicate a long shot with no cuts (only graphic matches), the camera did not always function as I had hoped. Sometimes the pans were too fast, zooms too slow, etc. So, third party editing software became a necessity.

Final Cut Pro was a program I had mainly used in order to clean up my mistakes. Though I was a Final Cut rookie, my friend and classmate Zoe Milenkovic helped me along the way to compile, edit, and improve my piece. We were able to extend, certain frames and slow down a few others, making the animation a lot more fluid. This is also the program I added the audio in, both the music and the voice over. This program was extremely useful for adding opening titles and credits. Toon Boom did not have as many text options as Final Cut, which was a breeze to utilize.

Though Toon Boom was pretty great to animate on, it definitely wasn’t something I could recommend for editing.  

Representation! Why's it important?

As someone who passionately believes that children’s media should contain strong messages and themes, I wanted to create a film that provided an inside look into how prejudice is cultivated. So, in my production, I had to create my representation of people who would be described as “close-minded”.

It is not my intention to villainize the human, but the prejudice itself. In my beliefs, a human being is neither born good nor evil, it is how they are raised and the environment that they are in that makes them who they are. So, I wanted to show how and why these prejudices came to be. In order to change a person who has prejudice rooted so deeply into their life, a person must understand where those feelings originated from. Everyone believes they are the hero of their own story, so, some people don’t recognize how harmful their beliefs truly are.

Activism is something I am very familiar with. I have dedicated a lot of my time to the LGBT+ movement and have dealt with many people who have opinions separate from my own. By being patient, kind, and understanding of others’ beliefs, my fellow activists and I were able to instigate change and educate those who were willing to be receptive to what we had to say.

I have dealt with my fair share of… well, for a more appropriate word than the one I was thinking of, ignorant people, and I am very experienced with dealing with those who believe differently than I. Though they can be rude, I do not hate these people. I try to understand them. It should be known that you can understand a person’s argument without agreeing with it.

I also wanted to represent how people can change. Some would believe that people who have been indoctrinated since they were a child cannot change who they are and what they think. This is harmful thinking. Everyone has the ability to change and better themselves.

The main character of Open Arms, Royce and Ryu, will learn and grow to be more accepting and caring individuals, which I think is extremely important for kids to see.

Fantastic News!

I have finished all of the animation and coloring! A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Though it was a long and tedious process, it has finally been completed.

Now, what’s the next step I must move onto?

Editing. Now that I have all of my footage, I can arrange my shots in order and add in all the necessary effects in order to create the illusion of a long shot. The camera tool is one of my most utilized tools in the Toon Boom program. It truly does help to establish the proper flow I need.

Also, in my last post I noted how I received my narration from my voice actor. I will add in all the audio tracks as I'm editing in order to time it perfectly with the music.

My major concern now is that I am most likely going to have to edit the entire piece on another video-making software. Either my computer or my program can't seem to handle all the frames, camera movements, and animation at the same time. The frame rate will drop immensely while it's being tested within the program. So, I will most likely have to export it in order to get it to function properly. I want to edit in another software, since this one was made solely for animation, but my hardware limitations don't give me much of a choice.

I am just happy the process is finally over. Time to export!

Audio Editing

Every aspect of creating a film opening comes with challenges. Audio issues weren't expected challenge, but luckily it was one I was able to handle.

The voice actor I chose for my production lives in Tallahassee, which is a good eight hours away from my home. Although it may seem strange that I hired an actor not in my local area, that is one of the benefits of animation. Voice acting can be submitted for a project no matter where a person is in the world.

The reasons I initially chose my actor over any local actor was for two reasons. One, he had acting experience. The person I had chosen, Nicholas Benetatos, had been learning and studying voice acting in his free time pretty much his entire life. I figured he would be able to make the narration very interesting and act out the role very well. The second reason I selected him was because of his equipment. At his school, there is a recording booth that the student may use. He recorded all of his lines at that booth, however, that's when things went wrong.

For some reason, the mic was giving off a strange static sound. He had no idea what he was doing wrong or what had happened with the microphone.

Luckily, I've become very familiar with Audacity, an amazing and free sound editing software. I downloaded his audio file and was able to use the “noise reduction” editing tool to take out the sound of the static.

I also used this program to edit my song down as well. Though I love the music I chose, the original song is over four minutes long. Also, the middle of the track doesn't match the tone of my film, so I had to cut it out and replace it with a later part in the song.

Even though there were audio issues, Audacity is an amazing program and solved so many of my problems with ease.

Group Meetings...Again

This group meeting was unfortunately very unproductive for my project.

For whatever reason, nobody in my group seemed to have real criticism or any advice that they were willing to give for my production. Granted, they all seemed very absorbed in their own thoughts and ideas, and I may have been as well.

The last group meeting was like this as well. Although I was able to show off a lot of my project and a lot of the effort I had put in, nobody had any suggestions on how I could possibly improve my work to make it better. I could take this as a compliment, however, everyone has room for improvement, and I especially know I do.

I wish these group meetings did offer more for my project, however I can't stress enough of how much of a special case I am. Perhaps my fellow classmates don’t know how to criticize animation, or that they do not want to make me feel bad for all the hard work I've put into drawing and putting everything all together. However, even if I may not take or use their critiques, it would be nice to have some advice on how to improve.

Maybe I would get better results if I was doing this project with other animators or others interested in animation. We could find the flaws in each other’s work and help one another improve.
But for now, I will just continue down the path I made for myself.

Big Changes

Earlier in the week, I participated in two types of meetings: a group meeting and an individual meeting.
In my case, I did not find the group meeting to be very helpful. However, my project is a special scenario where these meetings would not help. Since I have been so deep in the production of this film, I seem miles ahead of my colleagues who may not even have a clue of what they are doing. I had fun sharing my ideas and hearing some praises for the massive amount of work I've completed, it did not assist with my production.
The individual meeting did more for me. I spoke with my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa, about the ending of my opening. She showed me that my ending was a bit too conclusive. It wrapped everything up too well when it should, in fact, entice the audience to want more. At first, I did not like the idea of this. I really liked my ending and the final line that had. Immediately I wanted to show growth, change, and character development. However, this was wrong of me. The conclusiveness could ruin the entire production. Showing and hinting at so much growth could of ruined the entire journey the characters needed to undertake in order to understand each other better.
So, I've decided to cut down my ending. Not only does this save me time with animating, but it also fixes the structure of the story. The audience will want to know more about these characters and the story and not just be completely satisfied.

Storyboard(?) Kind of…

This was one of the most difficult projects to “storyboard”. I use the quotations since I didn't really make a “storyboard”. Instead, I chose to make what many animators do in order to see the movement and flow of their work. It is called an animatic. Similar to a storyboard, they are static images used to show shots, angles, and camera movement. However, unlike static storyboards, animatics are usually timed with sound and dialogue.

The opening to my short film is meant to flow. The major technique I've utilized in this opening was graphic-matching. Certain objects change and form into others. It was absolutely vital for me to plan this film out with the music. Music is the sound element I am employing the most. Since my opening is meant to be backstory, using non-diegetic sound was something I felt very comfortabl utilizing. The whole situation is meant to be almost dream-like. It is a memory being retold. The music makes the situation epic and larger than life.

Making an animatic also helped me explore camera movement. The program I use has a “camera” that allows the user to zoom in and out, pan, tilt, or do any funky movement with the camera. This helped me determine where and how my images would flow.

The photo above is a screenshot from my storyboard. The image is roughly drawn since it is only mean as a symbol of what I will do. It is much different from the final product.
Without the guide of the animatic, my animation would not flow nearly as well.

Exhaustion

This project has been one of the most physically and mentally draining feats I've ever had to face. However, I recognize that this is entirely my own fault. Animation was my choice, and I do not regret it. I want to be an animator and I wanted to work on a production of my own. Nevertheless, I felt an obligation to note the difficulties I went through in order to make this production possible.

My schedule notes that I animate at least three hours every day. Well, that is the minimum I have set for myself. Often I find myself working over five hours every day on this animation (during and after school). Though I have most of the rough animation done, I am unfortunately disappointed with how long the coloring is actually taking (even though it's all silhouettes). This is a result of my production being so action-packed. There is a lot of movement and multiple characters on screen at once, which makes coloring a lot more difficult since I have to color in every individual frame.

Because of this time difficulty, I may change my ending to be something a bit simpler. It will convey the same message that I had planned, but the animation will be a lot simpler (for my own sanity).  

I am hoping to complete coloring of my fight scene by the end of the week. However, as I am typing up this blog right now, my computer has completely died. Even though I thought it was plugged in and charging before I went to bed, I guess I must of messed with the plug unintentionally before sleeping.

Which brings me to another issue, my blog posts. My schedule said that I would post them Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and I already missed my own Tuesday deadline. Know why I missed it? I was animating! Animation takes up so much of my time now. My drive keeps me working and coloring every day. I probably will not relax until this project is completely done.

This project means the world to me. I am putting my heart, my soul, my blood, sweat, and tears into it. And though yes, I am exhausted, I am excited to get this project done.

My Schedule

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
3/19 Animate 2 Hours Write Blog Post	3/20 Animate 3 Hours	3/21 Animate 3 Hours Write Blog Post	3/22 Animate 3 Hours	3/23 Animate 3 Hours Write Blog Post	3/24 Animate  1 Hour Have Script Written and send to Voice Actor	3/25 Animate 1 Hour
3/26 Animate 2 Hours Write Blog Post	3/27 Animate 3 Hours	3/28 Animate 3 Hours Write Blog Post	3/29 Animate 3 Hours	3/30 Animate 3 Hours Write Blog Post	3/31 Animate 1 Hour	4/1 Animate 1 Hour
4/2 Animate 2 Hours Write Blog Post	4/3 Edit	4/4 Edit Write Blog Post	4/5 Edit	4/6 Export Write Blog Post	4/7 Fix any errors	4/8 Fix Any Errors

For the following weeks, I have decided to make a schedule in order to stay on task with the production. Since I am a visual learner, I often need visuals in order to comprehend certain concepts. One of those concepts is definitely time. This project requires that I use every ounce of time I possibly have in order to get everything done. Having a schedule helps me stay focused and also hyper-aware of the days that have passed and how close the due date actually is.

A lot of my time, as shown above, is spent on animating. Animating is basically my “shooting”. It is getting all the film I need. Since I animated in the previous months, most the work I have to do is mainly coloring and making sure the whole presentation flows by adding in in-between frames.

A lot of my time should also be dedicated to blog posts. I should be more consistent with my uploads, so I have made a schedule that will hopefully improve my upload times.

I am trying to finish this project early so I have room for errors to occur, which there will most likely be. Once the project is all finished up, I’ll have time to focus on my reflection of everything that’s happened and all the struggles it took to fully create Open Arms.

Technology

One of the most asked questions I have received during the process of my animation is, “What program do you use?” It seems that many people are curious about how and why animation actually works, so I am going to give a brief explanation of my process. I would like to preface this by saying that I am not an animation expert. In fact, this is my first major production. However, I do have a lot of understanding of the process from my past months of experience and the research I have done outside of this project.

The software I used is called Toon Boom Harmony Essentials. It is not a free software, I did have to pay to use it. It is the cheapest and simplest of their programs. However, since my project is being done in silhouettes, I figured I did not need anything too fancy.

Animation works through the process of drawing multiple frames and playing them quickly to create the illusion of movement. The brain will automatically fill in the gaps in between frames in order to make movement look very smooth. Currently my animation runs at 24 frames per second, but of course some frames stay for longer than just 1/24th of a second.

Here is an image provided by Toon Boom's website of what the interface looks like:

I am very grateful that I own a Microsoft Surface computer, which has been extremely helpful in developing my artistic and animation career. With this hardware I can draw directly on the screen rather than need to use a separate tablet. This gives me a lot more control over the product.

However, this software (or my computer) is not perfect. Sometimes it is extremely buggy. Sometimes the system does not respond and I am forced to lose hours of work. Some of the features do not seem to work as intended. These are simply the challenges I must overcome in order to make Open Arms a great production.

Amazing (and Free!) Music

Finding the perfect music for this project, or for any project, is a huge struggle. This project was originally inspired by the song Black and White by Skyhill (which is partially the reason the opening is being done in black and white silhouettes). The song was about breaking away from the conventions of “black and white”, which we often associate with strict views and ultimatums. The two characters, Ryu and Royce, were supposed to bring color to each other, symbolizing knowledge and understanding.

However, this plan fell short. Skyhill is an amazing band, however they have been broken up for about ten years. And even though I tried to reach out to the band in October, I haven’t heard back since.

The song I ended up using wasn’t one I had gone out of my way to find. While listening to playlists on YouTube, the song Monody (feat. Laura Brehm) by TheFatRat began to play. The song stunned me. It was the strangest mix of ancient-adventure, action, and electro pop. This song is unable to be described in words. It has such a warming and exciting vibe. It gets the listener pumped up for the next adventure.

However when I first listened to this song, I had no idea it was available to be used for free (as long as credit was given). I didn’t discover this until I was watching a gaming video on Youtube and someone had used it in their intro. I checked back on TheFatRat’s YouTube channel and his Tumblr Blog, which granted permission for people to use his music as long as credit was given. Which it absolutely will be. I love his music so much and I’m excited to bring it to life with animation.

Now, the most important part of the research, will it sell well?

Open Arms had many inspirations, but the most prominent influence on my choices came from a video game titled Fire Emblem: Fates. The focus and theme of the Fates series revolves around ideological differences and choice. In the game, the player (who is unknowingly kidnapped) lives their entire life in the Kingdom of Nohr as a prince(ss). However, one day they discover that they are actually a prince(ss) who was kidnapped from the neighboring Kingdom of Hoshido. They are forced to choose: do they side with their birth family or stay with the new family they created in Nohr?

Though this game has a very different plot from my story, the aesthetics of the world and underlying conflicts had a ton of influence on my film.

Here is a photo of the Nohrian Royals:

They are heavily European inspired. The armor, the hairstyles, the scenery (though obviously fantastical and magical looking) has very noticeable medieval european flare. This is especially prevalent when you compare the Nohrians to the Hoshidans.

Hoshidans wear very traditional Japanese clothing and typically have hairstyles to match.  The scenery of Hoshido also very clearly resembles an artistic take on ancient Japan.

These design, scenery, and costume choices make a clear indication to the audience that the two kingdoms have opposing ideas and ideologies, which I want to be very apparent in my film.

How well did this game sell? According to VGChartz, the Fire Emblem: Fates series sold around 1.84 million units and brought a lot of attention to the Fire Emblem franchise. Having to choose between two different sides definitely had a strong effect on audiences everywhere.

Fire Emblem: Fates. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems, 2015. Nintendo 3DS

VGChartz Ltd. "Fire Emblem Fates." VGChartz. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

The (Back) Story

Often, films give you stories that are only tastes of the universe the filmmakers have created. Though my story takes place later in time, I felt it was important to establish (some of) the lore of the world in the film’s opening. Of course, I don’t want to reveal everything in the first two minutes, especially since those minutes are being narrated by one of the prince’s. He is not an omniscient narrator, so he doesn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. He does not understand the full story.

Luckily, I do (it would be very depressing if I didn’t have all the pieces to my own story)! And I can share it here with you:

 For over one hundred years, the Kingdom of Saedour and the Mei-Ban Empire have been at war. Saedour is very European inspired, specifically medieval England. Many hard workers harbor this land, however the kingdom has been suffering due to overpopulation. Many have become sick or famished. Rumor is that the neighboring kingdom has refused to provide aid, blaming the king for his poor leadership skills.

Mei-Ban is a extremely Eastern-inspired, specifically Chinese and Japanese empires. Mei-ban was known for being large and very fruitful, however, there were many internal and political conflicts happening under the noses of the public. The emperor's offended feared for their lives because of political subterfuge. Rumor is that the neighboring kingdom was full of savages who wanted to destroy the empire for their land.

This tension eventually erupted into war.

On the hundredth year of this war, two princes are born. One a child of Saedour, another a child of Mei-Ban. Royce belonged to the kingdom of Saedour. He was taught to value the art of the sword. His father drilled into his mind that he needed to be tough and fearless, that only those who use brute strength could survive.

Ryu was the newest heir of Mei-Ban. Ever since he was born, politicians inside the kingdom have been planning his death, believing that the kingdom should not be passed over to someone so young and inexperienced. Though Ryu was also taught to fight, his parents stressed the idea of intelligence and caution.

The upbringings of these two princes turns them into seemingly very different characters, however, there are more similarities than they think.

After seeing so many of their subjects die to do the extreme violence of the war, the two princes decide to take action into their own hands.

There is an ancient legend that has been told in both kingdoms about a goddess who lives atop the mountain that divides their kingdoms. The journey to his is full of peril and danger. Only the strongest, smartest, and bravest can make it to her sanctuary.

On this journey is when these two individuals meet, and that’s where our story begins.

The Research

Currently, most animated features seem to revolve around the comedy genre. The animation community, however, seems tired of comedies, their attention reverting to movies with a more adventurous core. In 2017, “Moana”, “Zootopia”, and “Kubo and the Two Strings” are all Oscar nominees that presented quite the journey for their main characters. These movies do not belittle their younger audiences with weak toilet humor. Instead, they dare to challenge kids and make them think about themselves and the world.

Zootopia is a film that tackles prejudice, a topic many would claim kids are “too young to understand”. Kids know what prejudice is and it’s almost insulting how we chose to believe that kids are ignorant to real world issues. Children are only ignorant if we keep them in the dark. Since my film has similar themes of prejudice and racism, it is very comforting to see how well Zootopia did in the box office. The movie itself grossed $1.02 billion dollars and was critically praised for it’s strong message, lovable characters, and beautiful animation. All of these factors ultimately won this movie the Oscar for best animated film.

However, the artistic style and influence of my work does not come from 3D animated features, but is influenced from the styles of Hayao Miyazaki, Lauren Montgomery, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko. Miyazaki is famous for his film’s amazing characters and fantastical stories. Many of these stories incorporate fantasy, but still stay very grounded in reality. Avatar the Last Airbender is one of the most critically acclaimed animated series of all time. Thought the live action movies was garbage, the animated show is known for it’s strong characters and the amazing development they go through. This series also discusses serious matters like war, death, and prejudice while still remaining fun, adventurous, and optimistic. Though the opening for my movie will be done in silhouettes to represent a story from the past being retold, the rest of the film echoes the stylings of these beautiful and influential pieces.

In my next post, I will go more in depth with my story and the production choices I have made in order to make an animated feature that has great artistic and moral value.

Calendar Staff. "Academy Awards 2017: Complete List of Oscar Winners and Nominees." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

IMDb. "Zootopia." Box Office Mojo. IMDb, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Zootopia. Dir. Rich Moore and Byron Howard. Perf. Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodman.

The Walt Disney Company, 2016. Film.

Konietzko, Bryan, and Michael Dante DiMartino. Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 21

Feb. 2005. Television.

Spirited Away. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli, 2002. Film.