Post-Production: Evaluation

The Test vs. the Final Film

Red Riding Hood shares the same style of photographic animation as my original test using images from one of the first ever stop motion films: Muybridge's 'Horse in Motion' from 1878. Though I added to this in my final piece by also having an animated set and wolf, the pure style of creating character and movement through individual photographs stayed consistent as I was very happy with the results of my initial test.

 

The main piece of feedback I received for my test run was that the figures needed to be double-sided (when my horse turned around originally it was blank on the other side). This, however, was not an issue in my final piece as I had designed my characters and set to never reveal the back of each figure: Red only ever travels right, and my revolving set moved with her, so there was no need to see the other side of each photographic frame as when I was experimenting with Muybridge's Horse. Furthermore, as I was photographing my own images to be animated (as opposed to using Muybridge's pictures) I was able to plan around the possibility that the back of my figure might be seen, and therefore ensure it was unnecessary to ever break the 180 degree rule.

Though the style of animation is the same, I realised in my test run that I would have liked the movement to have been smoother - I had used 24fps in my film, however had recycled the photographic frames three times before I switched to the next image. Though the movement of the figure was at 24fps, it meant that the photograph itself was animated at a third of that, and therefore became more jerky. For my final piece, I ensured that the movement of my figures worked smoothly at 24fps, however still recycled each photograph twice before changing to the next image in order to be economical. This meant that the animation flowed a lot more naturally, but still had the quirky and  'handmade' characteristics of stop motion animation.

Comparison with Existing Products

The primary influence for my style of animated photographic frames within a second animation of the 'outside' world was from a short film named 'Wolf And Pig' from Taijin Takeuchi on YouTube. The filmmaker used whole photographs to present the narrative of a wolf chasing a pig around Tokyo, while also incorporating elements in the 'real world' such as a sink or wall to create a connection between the sets. This inspired me to use a 'world within a world' style in my animation. Furthermore, since entering into the production of my film I realised the same style  of stop motion is used in the title sequence of Russell Howard's Good News on BBC, which likely subconsciously influenced the aesthetic of my stop motion.

 

As this was my first time attempting to create a stop motion animation, I wasn't able to reach the professional standards shown in both of these inspirations. Furthermore, the resources available to me and restricted time in which I was able to create my animation contributed to the fact that I wasn't able to create something so effective. The imaginative way that Takeuchi used his apartment and its various household items in his narrative is something I would've liked to mirror more closely: his use of a sink in place of a swimming pool, and a wall to show stairs created a wonderful effect - though was too ambitious for my project. I would also have liked to create more movement in my set like Russell Howard's title sequence: the props and text jerk around slightly as he moves in order to create a more vibrant and lively scene. Though my set revolved and included the animated wolf, more movement would have replicated the atmosphere of a forest more effectively.

However, I do feel like the quality of my animation is high given the circumstances, and I was able to approach a simple narrative in a similar way to 'Wolf and Pig', and also mirrored the smooth but interesting animation style following a single moving figure in a semi-static environment much like Russell Howard's title sequence.

Strengths and Limitations

After completing my animation I collected peer feedback from my classmates, and received an overall positive response. I asked, on a scale of 1 to 10, how strong various aspects of my animation were. Creative Qualities, Aesthetic and Editing scored the highest, indicating I had succeeded in my goal of creating an interesting and engaging visual narrative that my target audience of 7-12 year olds would enjoy. Furthermore, the fact that aesthetic and creativity was rated highly also suggests that my secondary audience of 16-34 year olds interested in creative filmmaking would also be attracted to my animation.

However, in order to collect more data for a more accurate and reliable response, I created an online survey (which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BP3PSDY) using the free website SurveyMonkey, that asked similar questions to those I had given to my peers. Again, I received mainly positive feedback and some constructive criticism. The results confirmed that many thought a target audience of 7-12 year olds would be interested in my animation, and there was an overwhelming positive indication that my stop motion was a creative interpretation of the classic fairytale (this again proved I had achieved my goal of creating a visually pleasing retelling).  Again, aesthetic, creativity and editing scored as the strongest elements of my film.

Specific successes people pointed out within my work was the use of colour (something I had initially aimed to exaggerate, with inspiration from Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood (2011) as inspiration), as well as the creativity of animating photographic frames within a separate set (specifically 'when Red Riding Hood is running'). Again, I was happy with this response as I had chosen my style of stop motion animation to be striking and quirky. Constructive criticism I received centered mainly around the wolf - something I agree with. I had originally planned to use shadow silhouettes of the wolf, as opposed to cardboard figures, however when it came to filming I did not have enough control over lighting to create a distinguishable silhouette, and so had to improvise with my original figures. If I were to repeat this project I would spend more time thinking of another way to present the wolf, or gain more control over my lighting. Another suggestion was that 'the narrative moves a little too quickly', and again I agree, however due to the fact this was my first time creating a stop motion animation, and I was very restricted when it came to deadlines and the resources available to me, I feel I made a strong animation given the circumstances. This is reflected in narrative scoring one of the lowest on my questionnaire, and I would definitely like to be able to take more time in my storytelling in the future - perhaps by shortening the length of my story in the first place, and therefore taking more time and care on a smaller project.

'How successful so you think the following elements are?'

'What target audience would be attracted to this project?'

'Is this an interesting version of the Red Riding Hood fairytale?'

'Is there anything else that stood out as particularly successful?'

'Is there anything else I could improve?'

Overall, I am happy with the stop motion animation I was able to create. I completed the brief of producing a short animated nursery rhyme/fairytale for children's television, as well as succeeding in my own personal goal of creating an interesting and visually pleasing retelling of Red Riding Hood. There were several elements I had originally planned to include in my ambitious first plan that had to be taken out due to restrictions on time and resources (e.g. the transition of 3D props into the 2D photographic frames; the wolf only shown as a shadowed silhouette), however I feel that simplifying my idea at the beginning of filming meant I could create a stronger animation with what I was able to carry out. In hindsight, I would've like to create a clearer storyline - but like I said in my pitch, I chose Red Riding Hood because the storyline is so well known I had creative freedom to play around with how I presented it, without making it confusing to understand. My focus on the style of photographic animation inside a set was definitely worth it, and the hours I put into pre-production, filming and then editing and sound meant that I was left with a high quality stop motion animation in the end.