Where to start. This is the first time I have ever done voice recording with people with written dialogue. I was very nervous about how this would work, especially as I didn't really know these guys I had only met them a couple of times. This was my first time at direction and their first time at voice recording for animation. A new experience for all of us.
I have used the Pheonix room before so I new how the set up worked. I was in the booth with the guy who did the audio recording. I had the two voice actors outside of the booth in front of the mikes they were asking me what I wanted them to do - thats when it finally dawned on me that it was all down to me. I wasn't sure how I felt.
I gathered myself together and decided how to take charge of the situation. I started by asking them to just read through the script to see how long it took them. They started by colouring in the appropriate lines for them to read. Using paper versions of the script was problematic as the sound of them turning the pages could be heard on the recording. They realised that as they had the script on their phones they would read it off there. That worked well.
After listening to their interpretation I started to direct them, to enable the version of the script I had in my head to be realised. I guided them by asking them to go through it again with me reading one of the parts and directing them at the same time and then swapping over. This thankfully gave them an insight into what I wanted.
After the second read through things started to come together I gained in confidence and increased my direction. I felt I was sensitive in the way I spoke to them, I didn't want to offend them. They reacted to my direction very well and they were very patient with me.
Nigel the guy who controls the soundboard and sets up the mikes was very helpful he did the initial set up and then left it to me to get the best performance I could.
After i had done the run through with each of them, I asked them to run through it again together and timed this at around 3 minutes this included me making improvisations as we went along.
We seemed to be stuck at around 3 minutes even after a few read throughs. The next problem to solve was how to reduce the dialogue without loosing too much of the comedic element. I decided to see where we would be at the 1 minute point. I started them reading and then stopped them at 1 minute. Although it does have a few 'dead spots in' I feel that I can get enough dialogue in that time frame.
Needless to say there is a lot of editing to do and I feel another session will be necessary. I do feel more confident now and that the next session would be less time consuming and more productive resulting in a more efficient run through and hopefully a useable track.
Fireworks is a program I have been using for many years now right back to when I was in College. We used this at college as a tool to build websites, it is essentially an image building tool. I have my own copy as we bought a student version via the college. It works on the same principal as photoshop .
The difference between Fireworks and Photoshop is that Fireworks is more for building images or objects whereas Photoshop creates a slightly cleaner image and enables you to clean up and touch up work.
The reason I am using Fireworks is that it has a layering system which allows you to place things on top of or underneath of each other. Because I have used Fireworks for over 6 years now I feel very comfortable with it and now my way around it. Fireworks is a .png file which allows you to make alterations. An example of this is my initial eye drawings have been adjusted to smooth out the lines.
By using Fireworks I can pick up my work whether I am at home or University, I need the flexibility to be able to work wherever I want whenever I want. This is not possible using other forms of animation techniques.
I am careful to name the layers as I go along to ensure I can make adjustments as easily as possible.
There are different programmes that could be used to make this animation, but with the time I have its not possible for them to be utilised efectively.
Toon Boom
Although this programme is best suited for traditional 2D, it requires you to be precise in everything that is inputted into the programme. If any mistakes are made, you have to begin from the start again. This can be time consuming and in addition the software is only available at university on a limited amount of comuters and cannot be accessed off campus. As the software is only available on a limited amount of computers at University, at times these computers are being used by other students and therefore the software cannot be accessed at all.
3D Animation
Packages like Maya and 3D Max can be technically demanding as you have to make sure that all the settings are all selected correctly. I have used this software and have created some pieces using this software.
Flash Animation
Unfortunately, although I have experienced this technique whilst at college. It was only the basics and I am not competent enough in this programme to be able to complete a project using this software.
The idea for my final project I felt could be best portrayed using 2d and that is why
