Bringing it all Together.

Whenever I work on a project I always review what I believe to be the final version just in case something may need to be improved upon whether it be added scenes, narration, the character designs, backgrounds, animatic, storyboards or narrative. It is necessary for me to gather all the work compiled and to ask the pivotal question, “Is this what I envisioned before I commit any further to it?”

On this occasion I feel it is an improvement of what I initially brainstormed at the beginning of this process. Although it is not exact in its entirety compared to the initial brainstorming process, i.e. the duration of the project being longer than anticipated and including multiple voice-overs with regards to the transcript narration, I do believe the foundation it was built upon, the structure, is similar. What I have found interesting is that although I showed leniency concerning the narrative content I remained adamant in relation as to how the characters and backgrounds should look. Whilst some aspects of this pre-production have transformed through creative exploration others have remained unchanged through intuitive choice. Overall I am cautiously satisfied with the project at this pre-production stage. Whether any possible amendments need to be made to the structure, visuals and audio will be determined if, or when, that issue arises.

Although I understand from a visual perspective that both my character designs and background designs are simplistic in their appearance I do believe they compliment the nature of the subject I am addressing, thus staying true to my initial idea. For me it was important to focus on the looseness, energy and fluidity of the design. I purposely chose to design the characters in a specific way whether or not that is acceptable that would be a matter for the public to decide; I have stayed true to my vision. To reiterate, the animation and design may appear to be simplistic in theory, however in practice it was complex to develop.

I have purposely left writing the tag line, synopsis, treatment and character profiles until the end of the pre-production as it is only at that stage when I have reviewed all my work that I am able to conclude what the story is about and who the characters are, otherwise for me, if this process was completed initially there wouldn’t have been certainty as to whether the story and characters would have remained the same through exploration.

From a personal viewpoint, in connection to production, I have to be cautious about my inner critic and thus attempt to assess the quality of my work produced in an objective manner. Whilst intending to complete this project as independently as possible I think it would be beneficial to receive support, i.e guidance/ advice from numerous sources such as student peers, lecturers and possibly family and friends along with additional support from various professionals within the creative industry, i.e. animators, voice-over actors and musicians.