Evaluation.

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them.

Skills i have gained in this module include using Adobe After Effects and how to do effective story boarding. Adobe After Effects has been a interesting piece of software to use, the movies i have made in both the silent and film season are very simple and dont really push the software to its limits. At times i have found it hard to use but like any software it take time to get use to it. The problem for me in this module has been time and how its been managed. Because of this i feel that i haven't fully pushed myself and the software to its limits. However the interesting thing about this module has been knowing what can be achieved and what cannot be achieved in a set time.

Story boarding has been really useful. Past methods of storyboarding that i have been taught have been wrong. The fact that you can story board on sticky pads then move them around to help you has been really effective. The fact that you not just designing something that is flat or always going to be the same has been really interesting.

Also, preparation of files has been a key part to this module. If all your images are located and correctly labelled then it makes it a lot easier for yourself to make you video's. Something i should do a lot more with my illustrator files.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I felt that i spent a long time making notes about the movies and listing key events and quotes. Instead of watching the movie for pleasure i was evaluating it. Something that can be quite hard to do because of the temptation to relax. Because of this i used a lot of the research in my idents. Research into existing moving image has been interesting. Prier to this module i had no reference to any digital/ moving image design. Now i have quite a few sites and designers to take inspiration from.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I cannot really identify many strengths in my work for the module. This is mainly due to the fact that its a resubmission and the fact that i was so badly organised in the module. However if i had to pick anything i would say that for such a simple piece of design for both silent movie and idents. I feel that they all work well and clearly and effectively get the message across.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

Not enough time was spent experimenting with After Effects and i didn't get the chance to use DVD studio. Time management was the key problem and has been the key problem all year. The fact my sleeping pattern and personal issue's have had a large impact on this module which is a shame because i have really enjoyed it at times. Having to cope with life outside uni and not bringing it with you to uni is something i have to look at. I also think my story boards could of been a little more better. I could of communicated the actions threw drawing more than using words.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1. Experiment with software a lot more. Try to push myself and the software.
2. Work harder on concept development.
3. Better use and management of time. Be more productive with my time and do more work in uni.
4. Turn up to more crits. Feedback from colleagues is so valuable in my development and the development of the work.
5. Keep on top of my blogging and to label my blog posts.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

Attendance 1
Punctuality 3
Motivation 2
Commitment 2
Quantity of work produced 1
Quality of work produced 2
Contribution to the group 1

Rationale.

Brief Title.

A season of british gangster films.

Subject & Rationale.

The target audience is mainly aimed at males but can also attract the attention of female viewers. Because all of the chosen movies that will appear in my idents are certificated 18, the viewers of these idents will have to be 18+ resulting in the showing of these idents being in the evening. Since there are some classics from the early 50's being shown in my movie season on Film Four, the age range could go as high as the late 60's. The tone of voice will be little humorous but will also be very serious. There will be 5 idents that will be 10 seconds each promoting 7 british gangster movies. There won be any repetition of the same images or text.

Design Directions.

• The type used will be helvetica.
• Colours will be restricted to black, white, red and blue.
• Voice overs will be used at the start or end of the ident depending on development.
• Music will be used throughout the idents that will compliment the visuals.

DvD Cover Development.

DVD Interface Development.

More to follow.

Ident Three.

The three idents i have produced are good. They get the message across effectively. The run time for each of them is good, not too rushed and in time. Theres not too much of a delay between each action. The only problem i encountered was with adding music to the idents. Placing the file into the time line was easy however nothing played. Because i made all these idents at home and not in uni i have no way of finding out what is going wrong. A bit of a shame really because i think they would be much better with some music playing.

Sexy Beast Final Ident. from Ross Stanton on Vimeo.

Ident Two.

Lock Stock Ident final from Ross Stanton on Vimeo.

Ident One.

Get Carter Ident Final from Ross Stanton on Vimeo.

Get Cater Ident Development.

Below is just a test to see how the animation is. Just need to play with the camera settings so that it zooms in slightly into the bullet.

Get Carter Ident 1.1 from Ross Stanton on Vimeo.

Get Carter Ident 1.2 from Ross Stanton on Vimeo.

Sexy Beast Development.

AS you can see i had some problems getting the text that logan is saying to fade out on time. I will have to shorten the tim Gal appears at the beginning of the ident and also reduce the time it takes for the text to emerge.

Sexy Beast Ident 1.1 from Ross Stanton on Vimeo.

Ident 1 Development.

This Ident is all about the fact that every one is after carter. Shows the image of a man missing carter whilst attempting to shoot him. Very sure this Ident will be easy to make. Not too much technical skills involved.

Each of these idents all start the same and finish the same. I did consider animating the film four logo however for me to do it i will have to have it large and fitting the whole screen. I dont really want to do this because i like the simplicity of how it is now just fading in. I have also decided not to have the british gangster films moving off the page but fading into the page.

Ident 2 Development.

This ident focuses on the flower and what is contained within the box with the flower on. Thought it would be a good idea to show all the pills coming out of the box then zooming into them. The main consideration with this ident is how hard is it going to be to zoom into the pill. Using the camera in After Effects can be a little bit tricky.

Ident 3 Development.

Thought it would be good to have logan ranting to Gal in this ident. Different to the others because it uses more text. The image of Gal at the beginning is very iconic, laying down in his trunks. The time management with this ident might be a little touch. Will have to spend some time getting it right.

Ident 4 Development.

The idea for this Ident is that the 774 of cards is the losing hand in the poker game. And that the guys from Lock stock know owe hatchet Harry £500.000. Its the main scene in the movie and very much sums up the film in 6 seconds. I don't think it will be too hard to animate this and i'm very sure the pace of it will be perfect.

Ident 5 Development.

Vector Art Development: Layer Cake

Below is the poppy from the box of pills in layer cake. Thought it was the perfect image that summed up the movie. The whole film is about retrieving the pills and the poppy is frequently shown.

Vector Art Development: Get Carter

I'm very happy with this attempted at vectoring people. Mainly due to the fact that how they are presented is a lot more dynamic.

Below i have filled in the right arm sleeve. It looks much better than having it white and makes the vector look much more like a vector. If you get my drift.

The above image looks ok. Not too sure about they eyes. makes the quality of the vector poor.

Too much happening with this vector. Too much detail, doesn't fit in with the other vectors.

Way too much happening here.

The above vector is perfect. Simple but effective. Plenty of style and swagger coming from it.

Vector Art Development: Sexy Beast

I found it very hard to vectorize Gal and Logan. Both look very stiff and rushed even though a lot of time was spent on them. After doing these vectors i realised that doing vectors for shapes and objects is a lot more easier then doing it for living things.

Decided to remove the ear for this vector. Looks better without it and no so shabby.