The Reluctant Blogger

For the main body of animation, extra drawings were created using both pen and paper and then digitally drawn in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. After the drawings were made, the images were scanned into a computer and drawn over and coloured. The fill tool was used for the main bulk of colour, and then shading added. The drawings on the left were for the 'What Do Aliens Eat?" part of the film. The original idea was that the food drawings would appear as a tally chart every time the item was mentioned in the interviews. A 'ping' sound would then accompany it. However after second thoughts, another idea was had: 'A trolley in a supermarket moving along and the items falling off the shelf into the basket - perhaps with an alien pushing it down the aisle?' So, a supermarket aisle was drawn on half an A3 piece of paper. A single food item was drawn on each shelf.  Once the image was scanned in and opened in Photoshop, each item was coloured in and the...

Testing and creating the title sequence: To achieve a childlike style many different drawing styles were looked at to see which would appeal most to children and young adults. The detailed ones were fascinating to look at, however placing too much detail into a stop motion animation would clutter the screen. Simpler drawings with black outlines - similar to the style of Rachel Ryle - were more suited. Sketches were made and the colouring was tested. Felt-tip pens created too harsh a tone, whilst colouring crayons provided a softer layout that was pleasing to the eye. The title sequence for 'Kids and UFO's was made up of 147 different photographs. The basic idea was this: A girl in a rocket is launched into space from her back garden, flying past stars, planets, aliens and ufo's. The rocket then flies away to reveal the title of the film: 'Kids and UFOs'. Drawings were created on paper, coloured in using crayons and cut out. These were then placed on a col...

What is Coverage? The original storyboard In professional filmmaking, 'coverage' is a term used to describe the shooting of a scene from various different angles and perspectives. This gives the post-production editor a variety of options when putting a film together. If a scene does not have enough coverage it becomes difficult to make a sequence work. The less footage one has, the less options there will be. Creating a scene with a broad amount of angles is far more likely to keep it's audience engaged than one with just two. In general, good coverage includes a variety of close ups, medium shots, wide angles, establishing (setting the scene) and cutaway shots. The assignment criteria was as follows: "Shoot a short scene of your own devising that will last for around 30 seconds. This must involve 2 characters and must involve a small narrative between them. S hoot the scene with enough coverage that you can provide 2 totally different edits of th...

"The Angels are coming and they are fast! Faster than you could ever believe! Don't turn away, don't turn your back and don't blink!" Doctor Who is perhaps one of the best TV shows of all time - 50 years in the running is by no means an easy feat. But one of the best episodes as rated by the fans  is 'Blink' - known to most as the Weeping Angels episode. The Weeping Angels have been considered one of the most scariest enemies of all the Doctor Who villains and monsters,( http://onepopz.com/doctor-whos-top-20-scariest-monsters-get-behind-sofa/4/ ) n ever moving when you look at them, but as soon as you blink or turn away they are at liberty to move. And they are fast. As part of an editing experiment, I was given an idea by Lifeline which was to make a short video edit of the Weeping Angels to the music of ' The Blue Danube ' in an attempt to see if the creatures were still just as scary when accompanied by ridiculously contrasting musi...