Greetings - Advice and Feedback on 'GAIA'

[RicGray]

Hello there i've recently signed up at Animation Nation, and i'm just introducing myself.

I've been doing animation for around 18 months now - I had no previous ambition or interest in it, but after taking it as part of my course at university, it's become my main passion since.

I've come to the end of my course now, and have spent the past six months completing 'GAIA', my final university project.
It was made by using hand-drawn illustrations and digital colouring and compositing in the Adobe Creative Suite programs.

I couldn't really think of anywhere else better to post it for feedback and advice than to impartial viewers on an animation forum, so here goes...



I've shown the work to many people already, and they have offered different opinions on its style and narrative.

I know also that i've got a long way to go with animation - and i'm striving to continue my progress.

Any feedback you guys have on the positives and negatives of its style, and what you gather from the narrative, would be great.

Thanks very much for your time, and thanks for letting me into your awesome board once again i'm looking forward to taking a look at it!
-Ric Gray

[Charles]

Welcome to AN Ric.

Nice film. Lent itself to a contemplative frame of mind as I watched it. You're stronger with graphics than with character based animation at the moment. My suggestions would include building upon your strengths and working on the character side of things. Considering you're a newcomer to animated films this is a commendable effort. Thanks for posting the video and good luck on your projects.

[RicGray]

Hi Charles,

Many thanks on watching my animation and the useful feedback.
I would agree that I could improve my character animation skills, and this is something i'm aiming to build upon in my next project.
I've been focusing on some character expressions at the moment, and these can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricgraymed ... 149162234/

Graphics is something i've worked with for a long time, but character animation and the fluidity of movement is something i've got a long way to go on.

Thankyou once again for your words, if you would have any feedback on my above work also, that would be great.

Ric

[Charles]

The character rotation you have at that link is pretty good.

Look at the arms. See how they overlap the legs in the front and back view? To be precise we should see the same overlap on the side view.

That's okay cuz you still did a good job with it. Looking forward to what's next.

[RicGray]

Hey Charles,

Many thanks for the additional feedback on the sketches - I did notice the error with the difference in arm length between views after doing it, certainly will make sure to rectify that next time.

I'm considering drawing more expressions of the clown from a 3/4 perspective next, to help see how it'll look in 3D space.

Will put those up when they're finished
Any more advice on either GAIA or the sketches would be great guys, thanks for all the feedback so far!

Ric

[TransRobo]

Beautiful Ric, this is simply beautiful! It doesn't even need a spoken narrative to explain what's going on.

[RicGray]

Hey transrobo,

Thankyou very much it's so nice to hear someone really enjoys my work! And it would also appear you understood the narrative well which was one of my concerns before.
I also appreciate that you like the visual style of GAIA, that's really cool

What does anyone else think of the work in terms of its style and narrative? Is there anything I can do to improve with my next work?

I really appreciate all the feedback so far, thanks very much everyone!
Ric

[TransRobo]

There is nothing to be improved upon in this animation, nothing at all.

[dgamm562]

Hi Ric,
The narrative in Gaia was very clear. I like happy endings. Your creatures were unique, especially the green protagonist(ghost or spirit?) and antagonist. I think you could've pushed the world they're in to be as unique as your creatures.
It reminded of the animated film, Ferngully. If you're going to continue with this piece, I think that would be a good movie to pull inspiration from.

And your turn around for your clown was strong. Is he going to be apart of another animation?

I hope this helps.

[TransRobo]

Hi Ric,
The narrative in Gaia was very clear. I like happy endings. Your creatures were unique, especially the green protagonist(ghost or spirit?) and antagonist.

I think the green creature was supposed to be Mother Nature taking back the Earth from pollution and industrialism.