Scene 21

This scene was especially tricky because I wanted it to be as smooth and fluid as possible, so I animated on ones rather than twos like I usually do. This meant a lot more work and I sadly didn't get the scene completed in time for the assessment, but I think it was worth is for the quality I achieved over all. The shot should look really effective once it's completed, which I intend to do for the degree show.



I started by tracing the keyframe from the animatic and tweening the falling towards the screen movement in order to get the correct timing.



I then worked on the facial expressions. I could have just kept her expression the same as she fell, but I really wanted to put in the extra effort to show her panic and fear as the lightning/ground closes in from above/below, so I took the time to properly animate a slight change in her face as she gasps for air, most likely crying out.



This time added the flapping coat tails. I animated each side separately to avoid them looking symmetrical and flapping in time with each other.



Rough cut shot complete with background.

Scene 20

Due to the previous shot being slow motion, I really wanted this scene to be fast and fluid in comparison to make up for it, as well as to hopefully exhilarate audience and raise tension due to the speed at which she's falling. I animated this scene on ones (24 fps) in order to achieve this, rather than twos (12fps) as I have done for all the other scenes.



I started with the coat/hat first (since you never actually seen the 'body' here), then animated the hair. Thanks to not having to worry about the body, the coat movement came surprisingly easily. I made sure to add a slight jerk at the end as she swings back with the string.



Next I animated the top half of the string to follow her down and she keeps tight hold.



Last was the key and the bottom half of the string, which was a lot more tricky. Getting the correct amount of flick from the key and the end of the string was difficult, especially considering the perspective and the necessity for the string to follow an arc motion. But I think in the end I got it looking right.



Finished animating the key and changed all the outline colours to match the rest of the scenes so there's be no confusion when it came to colouring.



Fully coloured scene with the background. I think the bright colours of her coat stand out especially well against the dark grass of this scene, and it's here that I think my decision to make the inside of her coat a paler yellow really paid off. It really helps differentiate the inside from the outside of her coat as she falls, making the rapid flowing movement easier for the eyes to read.

Scene 19

Slow motion falling/silhouette scene (with lightning flashing in the background, once the background for this section is finished). I started animating Tizz on the spot in mid-air for this in order to get the arc of her body right as she changes falling position.





I then animated the hair and clothes separately. None of the flapping is looped, I drew the hair, coat, and sleeves individually for every frame in an attempt to make the scene look interesting to watch despite not much happening.



Coloured silhouette with the string and key added. I fear the string might be a little too thick, but I feel it's necessary in order to make it readable...

Scene 17

Short but simple scene. Started animating just the face alone, making sure to as as much expressive detail as possible since it's such a close up shot. I took extra care with her eyes, making them widen and her pupil contract slightly as she looks up in order to show her shock/surprise. I could have exaggerated this more but I wanted to keep it subtle, after all the lightning hasn't struck the kite yet at this point, so it wouldn't make sense for her to have an over the top expression. This is more a 'breath catching in your throat in fearful anticipation' kind of glance. She knows the lightning is coming, and she looks up just in time to catch it.





Added the hat and the hair. Since the shot is so zoomed into her face, I purposefully over exaggerated the wind blowing her fringe in order to get more of it flicking into the frame in such a short period of time. I think this also serves to make the shot more dramatic and will hopefully help it make an impact despite being over so quickly.



Colour test for the scene.

Scene 16

Rather than just having a static hand reaching out before grabbing the string, I wanted to have the hand tremble and twitch slightly to really show how hard Tizz is reaching and struggling to grab it. While this will take a lot more time, I feel the scene will be too dull to watch without some secondary movement like this since it lasts several seconds. It's all part of the dramatic build up to the climax, so I need this scene to give a sense of desperation and determination like the others.



Started by key framing/animating the two extremes.



Added the yanking down/back movement as she finally managed to grab hold.



Exaggerated the hand grabbing and yanking down a little more.



Fully animated the string and added more twitches to the hand.



Finally animated the flapping of the sleeve int he wind.

Scene 14

I found this scene extremely difficult to figure out due to the odd perpective of the camera angle (chosen to make the shot more interesting and give the viewer some variety between scenes), so much so that I had to leave it and move onto other scenes before I finished simply because it was taking me so long. It took a lot of trail and error to get to it's current state, but I think it was worth it because now I have a good idea of how to go about finishing it convincingly when I get time rather than starting from scratch again (working from a blank canvas is always the most difficult).



Started just animating the head to get a sense of timing and distance for the fall.



Added the outstretched arm/hand, adding secondary animation to make the arm waver and tremble slightly to show the strain and effort she's putting into reaching.



Added the coat, though with no wind blowing it around yet. I'll add the secondary wind animation in last once I have all the other movements working right, as they're the most important. Billowing clothes should never be used to hide bad body acting.



I tried to add more pressure to the hand sliding down with her here, I wanted to make it look like she really grabbing onto the edge of the pylon for dear life to stop herself falling any further. Something' off about the way she looks up.back afterwards, though... I don't like it. I was trying to go for fear and worry for her personal safety, but she seems almost too afraid... I don't want it to seem like she's regretting her actions despite her situation.



I realised it didn't make much sense for her to glance back over her shoulder after she slips... What exactly is she looking at? The horizon? If anything it would be a lot more believable for her to to look back up at where she fell from, her eyes filled with frustrated determination as she tries to claw her way back up again. She may be afraid of falling, but she's Tizz, and Tizz isn't going to let a little setback like that stop her when she's so close to achieving her goal. It's vital I always keep her personality in mind as I animate, especially these scenes whether she's going through physical and emotional stress, otherwise I could fall into the trap of bad character acting which is the last thing I want to do.

Scene 13

Simple loop of Tizz's hair and coat billowing in the wind as she clings to the side of the pylon. I coloured her in silhouette because I envisioned the sky being lit up dramatically light lightning at this point and creating great contrast, but the current background is far too dark for this to work. I need to talk to Roshni about making the necessary adjustments in order for this scene to be effective.