LO4 - Final animation

Animation sounds 

Found at free sound.org:

Sky Loop - FoolBoyMedia

Forest Song - FoolBoyMedia

Shanty Town - FoolBoyMedia

Four Voices Whipsering - With Reverb - geoneo0

Heavy Rain - lebcraftlp

Medium Wind - kangaroovindaloo

Footsteps, Muddy (Sony) - InspectorJ

Door Open Close - amholma

Voice actor - Robert Lee

LO4 - Draft edits

In this draft I 've gotten a lot further with the animation since the Offline edit. As some of the initial images for the animation were too bright, in this version I used auto colour to correct the aesthetic of each shot. I added a lot of visual effects such as a tilt shot when The Girl is next to the mushrooms and a zoom effect when she is walking into the woods, doing so helped keep my animation active so it wouldn't bore a young audience. In my next edit I will add in the extra images to complete the main bulk of the film.



This is the completed version of the narrative, but I still need to create an animation loop for the rain and add in music/sound effects. I will include more movement at the beginning and end of my animation so I will now start taking more photos to create the necessary images. Despite all this, I already feel my animation is beginning to achieve the tone I desired when setting out to create it.

Some of the main effects I later included are evident here, firstly being the glow for the mushrooms and Inn I created using lighting effects. For the Inn I only had to use one light with a large radius, whereas the mushrooms required several different lights with smaller radius' so you could see the individual shine. Above the main video layer there are a multitude of short cuts- this layer is the animation for the rain. I created four separate shots on photoshop by adding noise to a grey layer and then using motion blur to create the impression of rain. I then alternated these shots and duplicated them in bulk to create movement.

In order to keep the animation interesting I also added in new shots during the conversation between the Innkeeper and The Girl as I felt this scene became too monotonous. Editing in images related to what the character was saying also serves as a reminder to a younger audience about what has happened so far.

By the end of the animation I had added in the extra audio, including music for each scene and sound effects such as doors closing and rain. By doing so I created verisimilitude as you could hear events taking place as well as see them. Including this, I added more movement to the end of my animation such as using key frames to pan across a shot of the night sky. Again, this added animation will help to keep the child's attention.

LO4 - Evidence of applying effects, transitions and audio

 Below are some clips and screen grabs of me editing the audio and video for my animation:

I began by editing the audio as there were a lot of recordings that were unusable or needed to be cut using the razor tool before they could become a part of the animation- any faults in the voice acting would've detracted from the narrative immersion. Listening to the narration also gave me a better idea of where the visuals needed to come in. 

Initially I worked on getting the main bulk of the animation and narration down, ensuring they lined up so I'd have a basis to start adding on extra visual and sound effects. One of the first things I did after this was adding in video transitions such as different dissolves so that I could set the mood for each scene and perfect the timing before I made any further alterations. These transitions connoted a dream-like sense of time distortion.

There are three audio levels here, the first being the recordings of my narrator, the second being the unlicensed sound effect of rain that is looped throughout the majority of my animation and the third layer contains any extra sound effects necessary for my animation to further engage an audience e.g. doors shutting. I will also need to edit music into 'The Star' in order to enforce the fairy tale genre so it attracts a younger audience due to the simple, cheerful connotations of the sound. Without sound, children would probably lose interest; all their senses need to be stimulated to hold their attention.

The sound for the narration needed to be raised as it is the most vital part of the audio to ensure the viewer knows exactly what is happening. Seeing as the rain is continuous I thought it should be quietened to seem more like background music, similarly to the sound effects which were also lowered in order to prioritise the voice acting. As seen above, I used the audio mixer to achieve this.

In this video I finalised the audio by importing in background music and any sound effects I'd previously missed out, then adding them to the actual animation. I feel like the music was exactly what I needed in order to tie my animation together and the magical soundtrack truly emphasised the fantasy genre.
More obviously viewable here is the series of quick cuts made using the razor tool to alter the length of each image- the quicker cuts are often used to actually animate a character or connote drama. For instance, the scene in which The Girl remembers that she is The Star gradually becomes more theatrical as the conversation races towards this revelation, and a young audience will become more gripped here due to the faster narrative pace.

Throughout my animation I repeatedly alter between utilising cuts and fades in order to change scenes and add diversity. However, the editing technique I most often incorporated was using position and scale toggles to create pans, tilts and zooms- which created more of a storyboard like effect throughout. As I often remain on a single image for a long time, these edits help create more interest and also show off the detail of the scene. It simultaneously denotes a slower pace which connotes serenity; as 'The Star' is styled similarly to a bed time story, children need to be calmed down by the visual narrative and the audio as opposed to stressed out or confused.


This video contains purely the audio of my animation, including voice acting, SFX and music.

LO4 - Offline edit

In this edit I managed to successfully present the characters and set with the images I took, showing off the textures within the set design- I also spent a while editing the voice acting to ensure it flowed well and I am incredibly pleased with the outcome. The best part of the animation so far has included the most movement when I photographed the creatures flying around the flower, I will need to add more movement in order to keep a younger audience entertained. As well as this I will add transitions such as fading and panning in order to make each scene more visually pleasing and then edit in the music and sound effects of rain and footsteps that will create verisimilitude. 

LO3 - Edit decision list

LO3 - Shot log

Shot lists helpful to look back on when filming so you know what you will need to do next, as well as being able to influence your storyboards. In the editing stage you will be able to look back on the shot list to create continuity for the animation.

Shot log
- Long shot of the night sky.
- Cut to close up of The Girl with her eyes closed.
- Close up of her eyes beginning to open.
- Close up of her eyes fully open. The title flashes onto the screen before they both fade out to black.
- Cut to wide shot of The Girl lying down on the grass before gradually standing up. Rain is pouring down.
- Cut to wide shot of the forest.
- Cut to close up of the trees on the left.
- Cut to close up of trees on the right.
- Cut to extreme close up of The Girl's eyes, squinting.
- Medium shot pan left to right of the clearing.
- Cut to wide shot, animation of her walking towards the forest then fade out.
- Fade in wide shot of the empty forest.
- Fade in to wide shot of The Girl walking down a path into the forest.
- Fade to the same shot but with her having moved further into the forest.
- Fade to her moving further into the forest, then zoom in.
- Fade to wide shot of the empty forest.
- Fade to black.
- Cut to tilt medium shot of The Girl walking through the forest by the glowing mushrooms.
- Cut to wide shot of the scene.
- Cut to close up shot of the flowing mushrooms.
- Cut to overhead long shot of her walking through the forest of upside-down trees.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl being amazed by the flower houses, animation of the insects flying around.
- Cut to black.
- Cut to long shot of the village.
- Cut to close up shot of The glowing Inn, fade out.
- Fade in to the interior of The Inn, The Girl walks across the room to The Innkeeper sat at the registration desk.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper sat behind the desk.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper speaking, animated.
- Cut to close up shot of The Innkeeper speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl speaking.
- Cut to close up shot of The Innkeeper speaking.
- Cut to close up shot of The Girl, fade in scenes of the animation so far.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl speaking.
- Cut to extreme close up of The Girl, fade in image of The Star.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper speaking.
- Cut to medium shot of The Girl speaking, fade in and fade out picture of the night sky.
- Cut to medium shot of The Innkeeper speaking, fade in a tilt of 'The Giant' tree.
- Cut to medium shot of the Girl.
- Cut to wide shot of The Inn, fade out to black.
- The rain picks up immediately. Cut to medium panning shot of her battling the elements to reach 'The Giant' tree, fade in mist.
- Fade into zoom out panning shot of The Girl walking through the forest.
- Cut to black.
- Cut to long shot of 'The Giant' tree.
- Fade to tilt up close up shot of the tree.
- Cut to shot of The Girl climbing the tree, zoom out from close up shot to medium shot. Fade to white.
- Fade in tilt up shot of her standing on one of the tree's branches, fade to white.
- Fade to black.
- Cut to close up shot of The Girl's face, fade in shot of the sky above her.
- Cut to establishing shot of The Girl stood at the top of the tree, above the clouds and seemingly closer to the sky.
- Cut to wide shot of her atop the tree, then pan to show the stars- freeze on shot of the sky. Fade out.
- Fade in shot of the stars.
- Cut to close up shot of some smaller stars.
- Cut to close up shot of another cluster of stars.
- Cut to gradual tilt down shot of The Girl realising she is floating.
- Cut to wide shot of The Girl floating away from the tree, fade out.
- Fade in shot of the night sky, fade out.
- Fade in End Title, fade out.

LO3 - Evidence of following a script

The video above depicts images of my voice actor sat reading from the script in front of him as he uses the microphone to record each line. I have included images of the actual script itself in between these pictures, as well as overlaying the recorded audio to show that he is reading what I have written down.