Evaluation (Self-Portrait Task)

Evaluation (Self-Portrait Task)

My task was to create a self-portrait that could be done in any format (examples; mini video, story or picture). This task overall had a three week deadline.

My concept was to create a small 2D animation where I would talk about myself alongside other thoughts such as my hobbies, ideal/dream jobs and my usual routine throughout the day. I would include an animated persona of myself, this went through some debate whether to draw myself or to use my animated counterpart/mascot I occasionally use on my YouTube channel. I did also have the thought of mixing some live action shots via a green screen, though I couldn't think on where to fit it in the idea I had. I chose to use animation/illustrated frames for my video just because it was the style I'm most interested in (both hobby and job wise) and also I felt it was easier to make. 

The overall process started with writing down the ideas, this took about a couple of days to at least a week as I wanted to get the idea done as soon as possible as I knew because I wanted to animate/draw out my video, I needed more time to work on that as it's more time-consuming. On the second week, I started a storyboard which I drew up with a mouse in Adobe Photoshop, this was done to have a more detailed layout and order for my video and I doodled up some persona concepts in Procreate so I could get a rough idea on how I looked drawn in my style.

Colour keys were also made so I could try out various colours that could work for the background (as I only wanted a simple single colour for the background). I started lining out some frames on the Tuesday using my usual animating program, FireAlpaca and Wacom drawing tablet and I used the storyboard sketches to go over. I also done the audio on the same day, where it took around 1hr 30 minutes roughly to record. I didn't go by a script as I felt the audio recording would've sounded forced/robotic. Though I did write down a rough and basic list of what the bases of what I will say and what order I should say things in. I started editing, using Adobe Premiere Pro on the Thursday as I knew this part would probably be the quickest/easiest to complete (as it was similar to what I already do in my spare time anyways). The full and finished edit was completed on the Sunday, where after exporting, I did check over it just in case I missed out any details such as audio or frames. 

Editing and Drawing Process

The finished video was then ready for Monday (aka the deadline) on which I then presented. 

I wrote down my process via a Google Document to keep track and to catalogue almost everything I done throughout this task.

For what I could've improved on is I could have shown more of my previous work rather than drawing up new frames. I would have also added more animation to the frames but I either felt like it was better still. I felt like the audio could've been improved, performance wise slightly though that was down to me as I'm not usually comfortable talking into a microphone, though I am trying to improve my confidence skills so if I ever have to record audio again for another project, I might sound less awkward. I also felt like I could've added more stuff about me like the general likes and dislikes. 

The thing that was most irritating through the process of making this was the editing software as throughout the college, they had multiple versions of Premiere Pro which would sometimes not work on different versions so my first draft/edit of one of the scenes had to be redone because of this. I also ended up working most of the editing at home so I could assure I wouldn't have to restart the project.

I overall enjoyed working on this as a whole as it was something different compared to other projects I've done in the past. I liked drawing up the frames and getting creative with a few editing tricks. The only thing I wasn't too keen on when working on this was recording audio as again, trying to record the audio was a pain to try and do. 

FINISHED VIDEO (CLICK HERE)