Evaluation        After  producing  and  editing  my  stop  motion  animation  I  conducted  a  screening  where  roughly  20  people  had  the  opportunity  to  act  as  film  critiques  and  analyze  my  animation;  giving  important  criticism  and  feedback  in  the  form  of  answering  an  online  questionnaire.    The  overall  response  was  extremely  good  and  rewarding  and  it  was  interesting  finding  out  peoples  opinions  on  how  things  were  successful  and  unsuccessful.  As  you  can  see  pictured  below  nobody  disliked  my  animation,  which  was  pleasing,  and  even  better  was  that  people  actually  thought  it  was  executed  very  well.    

     Genre    People  generally  responded  positively  towards  my  animation  and  from  the  initial  question  they  were  able  to  understand  the  intention  behind  it.  People  recognized  that  it  was  designed  for  trailer  purposes  almost  teasing  for  what’s  to  come  with  the  full  film.  However,  people  interpreted  it  differently  to  others  (Which  was  the  impact  I  wanted  to  bestow  on  people)  one  of  the  answers  even  considered  the  possibility  of  it  being  an  advertisement  apposed  to  a  film  trailer.    The  genre  that  was  unanimously  opted  was  Action/Adventure.    (Screenshot  from  the  trailer  pictured  below)    

   People  were  able  to  spot  connotations  relating  to  the  genre.  For  example,  the  scenes  containing  violence  and  fighting  instantly  make  you  think  the  genre  would  be  action,  due  to  there  being  a  significant  amount  of  action  people  were  able  to  decide  early  on.  Plus,  when  you  think  of  superheroes  you  naturally  think  heroic  adventure  films.  From  my  own  perspective  the  genre  I  was  aiming  for  was  indeed  action  and  adventure.  So  subsequently  people  were  able  to  work  it  out  which  suggests  that  my  genre  was  made  clear.  Lot’s  of  previous  work  exist  in  this  genre,  in  fact  some  of  my  initial  ideas  came  from  watching  stop  motion  animation  from  the  likes  of  ‘YouTube  ‘and  ‘Daily  motion’.  There  are  too  many  

examples  to  possible  name  or  choose  between  because  the  standard  found  on  YouTube  can  range  from  complicated,  intricate  pieces  and  lesser  standard  ones.      Characters    I  asked  multiple  questions  relevant  to  my  characters  within  my  production.  The  main  one  I  was  intrigued  with  was  ‘from  watching  my  animation  who  would  you  regard  as  the  main  character?  What  impressed  me  was  the  variety  of  answers  that  I  received.  Ranging  from  the  likes  of  ‘The  Joker’  to  ‘Captain  America’.      

   Because  the  joker  voiced  the  narration  so  I  was  expecting  that  too  be  the  more  common  answer;  and  it  was.  However  it  was  nice  to  see  multiple  o  her  suggestions,  which  means  people  interpreted  it  different.  Which  is  the  effect  I  want  people  to  experience  when  watching  my  animation.    The  majority  of  my  characters  were  recognizable.    I  only  used  these  well  known  characters  apposed  to  the  lesser  known  ones  because  when  appealing  to  my  target  audience.  Because  I  was  generally  aiming  for  people  around  my  age  such  as  fellow  students  I  understood  that  superheroes  are  not  everybody’s  cup  of  tea.  So  I  decided  to  only  use  the  big  names.  However  to  my  surprise  everyone  who  answered  my  questionnaire  were  able  to  decipher  the  difference  between  Marvel  and  DC.      

   I  got  inspiration  character  wise  from  films  such  as  the  avengers  and  other  highly  rated  superhero  films.  I  thought  with  the  more  noticeable  characters  in  it  the  more  likely  a  better  reception  would  occur.  The  Characters  and  their  stories  are  fairly  ambiguous  so  I  doubt  from  watching  the  animation  my  audience  could  relate  to  them.    The  style  of  the  piece  is  fairly  clear  due  to  the  choice  of  characters.  This  allowed  people  to  understand  early  the  tone  I  was  aiming  to  achieve  within  my  production.  I  feel  the  target  audience  could  range  from  a  very  

young  age  to  even  an  old  age.  It  is  down  to  personal  opinions  and  what  people  like  to  watch.  Superheroes  are  commonly  associated  with  the  younger  generation  and  are  promoted  through  likes  of  comics  and  toys.  However,  a  lot  of  the  previous  generation  have  grown  up  with  the  whole  superhero  concept  and  could  still  be  keen  on  the  topic.      Narrative    The  narrative  much  like  the  story  behind  the  characters  was  intended  to  be  ambiguous,  what  I  mean  by  this  was  tat  intentionally  the  narrative  was  meant  to  be  unclear.  My  plan  for  my  animation  was  for  it  to  be  a  trailer,  but  as  the  production  and  editing  was  underway  I  realized  that  for  a  more  successful  out  come  I  should  consider  making  it  a  teaser  trailer  instead.  This  then  creates  the  sense  of  mystery  of  what’s  to  come.  By  not  revealing  too  much  I  was  able  to  create  that  ambiguous  feel  I  was  trying  to  obtain.  Some  of  the  answers  however  thought  there  was  a  clear  narrative  and  the  storyline  for  what’s  to  come  is  understandable.  Fortunately  two  people  were  unable  to  see  a  clear  narrative  and  gave  an  honest  answer.  I  find  this  beneficial  when  people  have  contrasting  answers  because  it  allows  me  some  middle  ground  when  it  came  to  the  final  production.  My  target  audience  for  the  narrative  was  open-­‐minded  people,  people  who  were  willing  to  accept  what  they  watch  and  then  try  and  decipher  what’s  to  follow.  The  narration  was  initially  going  to  be  voiced  by  a  fellow  student.  However  due  to  unforeseen  circumstances  he  was  unable  to  do  it.  So  I  considered  the  next  best  alternative.    By  using  snippets  from  the  infamous  ‘Dark  Knight’  film  I  was  able  to  piece  together  something  that  sounds  like  a  memorable  speech.  ‘  I  think  it  was  used  effectively.  ‘Using  the  Joker  as  the  narrator  emphasizes  the  utter  twistedness  and  nihilistic  tendencies  of  the  character.  I  think  more  voices  would  have  disrupted  and  fragmented  the  tone  and  energy  of  the  trailer.  Using  one  voice  carries  and  continues  the  growing  energy  of  the  trailer  rather  than  it  changing  with  each  different  voice’  was  a  response  that  I  was  overwhelmed  with.      

   It  effectively  summed  up  everything  I  was  trying  to  achieve  with  the  voiceover  and  how  the  tension  builds  up  to  the  climax  at  the  end.  I  appreciate  responses  of  this  nature  because  it  shows  how  my  animation  has  the  potential  to  really  make  people  think  and  consider  the  depth  behind  the  narrative  and  how  it  was  constructed.  When  asked  again  if  my  narrative  was  clear  one  of  the  answers  summed  up  perfectly  the  point  I  was  trying  to  convey.  ‘Not  especially,  parts  were  clear,  but  the  fact  that  not  too  much  were  given  away  were  conventional  to  the  trailer’.  In  terms  of  making  comparisons  with  pieces  of  work  already  established  

similar  to  mine  I  would  have  to  say  the  idea  was  fairly  common.  The  whole  concept  of  moving  Lego  pieces  step  by  step  to  simulate  movement  mixed  with  superheroes  has  more  than  likely  already  been  produced  many  a  times.  But  I  wanted  to  be  a  little  different  and  have  something  unique  about  mine.  Lego  animation  thrives  of  video  sharing  sites  such  as  YouTube,  with  content  ranging  by  the  level  of  complicity.  By  the  way  of  narratives  simple  stop  motion  sketches  have  a  tendency  of  not  having  a  significant  purpose,  just  a  series  of  shots  edited  together  and  the  result  nine  times  out  of  ten  lacks  a  concept/narrative.            Content    Due  to  the  tempo  of  my  animation  being  so  fast  it  was  easy  too  look  past  a  lot  of  the  content  used.  It  would  probably  be  more  beneficial  watching  the  trailer  a  few  times  so  you  can  let  it  sink  in  and  notice  everything  that’s  going  on.  With  the  narration  and  clips  on  display  the  content  is  easily  overlooked.  However,  with  the  feedback  I  received  through  the  live  screening  there  was  plenty  of  praise  and  acknowledgment  for  the  more  minor  details.  I  opted  to  add  the  marvel  cinematic  introduction  in  a  way  where  it  made  my  animation  seem  more  realistic  and  suited  for  the  trailer  purpose  I  desired.  This  also  went  along  way  in  deciding  which  piece  of  music  I  would  use  for  the  soundtrack.  The  introduction  actually  coincides  perfectly  with  the  tempo  of  the  music;  which  may  seem  unnecessary  but  it  just  adds  to  that  finer  detail  which  vastly  helps  from  alter  the  piece  of  work  from  a  mediocre  standard  to  a  much  higher  and  appropriate  standard.  The  soundtrack  I  have  used  reflects  perfectly  on  the  mood  I’m  trying  to  portray  through  my  animation.  The  intense  build  up  accompanied  by  the  snippets  of  audio  from  the  ‘Dark  Knight’  film  provided  great  chemistry  between  the  two  tones  and  then  working  very  well.    It  had  to  be  an  orchestral  piece  with  lot’s  of  stringed  instruments  because  they  are  often  regarded  as  the  most  dramatic  of  sounds;  suitable  for  my  trailer.  Delving  back  into  the  clips,  I  initially  inserted  the  files  as  previously  exported  videos’  so  instead  of  adjusting  multiple  pictures  I  could  work  on  the  one  piece  of  footage  making  it  a  lot  easier.  This  applies  for  when  attaching  visual  effects  and  color  distortion,  which  I  will  discuss  in  the  aesthetics  part  of  what’s  to  come.    To  emphasize  some  dramatic  parts  within  my  production  I  used  the  ‘Ultra  Key’  effect  to  green  screen  footage  over  the  top  of  my  clips.    In  the  scene  where  Batman  and  The  Joker  are  stood  on  the  rooftop  with  a  daze  of  dark  smoke  lingering  around  them  was  a  memorable  scene  where  I  believe  the  green  screen  visuals  were  used  well.    Someone  who  completed  my  questionnaire  gave  an  interesting  statement,  which  signifies  that  there  was  indeed  certain  scenes  that  appealed  more  than  others.  ‘There  were  many  powerful  scenes,  but  two  that  were  especially  memorable.      

   

The  first  was  Superman  standing  impressively  in  the  rain  and  the  second  in  the  Joker  coming  out  of  the  smoke  behind  Batman.    It  was  a  very  powerful  use  of  the  smoke  aesthetic.’  In  fact  there  were  a  few  answers  regarding  the  inclusion  of  dramatic  scenes  and  how  they  were  you  included  in  the  appropriate  places.  I  am  extremely  satisfied  that  people  have  responded  with  in  depth  answers  such  as  the  one  I  have  previously  stated.          Aesthetic  Qualities    Overall  I  would  say  the  Aesthetics  within  my  stop  motion  animation  were  extremely  successful.    A  lot  of  planning  went  into  each  individual  shot  where  I  can  to  contemplate  how  I  could  achieve  the  best  looking  outcome.  Personally  the  aesthetics  played  a  crucial  part  in  my  animation,  with  certain  scenes  looking  better  than  overs.  Referring  back  to  the  content  section  I  stated  that  memorable  shots  are  the  most  rewarding  of  shots,  this  was  only  achieved  due  to  the  time  and  effort  put  in  to  make  the  scene  appropriate.    I  adjusted  the  colours  with  the  colour  balance  tool  to  make  a  Green/Blue  effect.  (An  example  below  of  the  effect  used  on  the  clips)    

   This  was  necessary  because  without  the  distortion  in  the  colour  the  vibe  of  the  animation  looked  rather  bleak  and  unprofessional.  Not  only  did  I  enhanced  the  colour  but  I  also  delved  intro  changing  the  lighting.  By  doing  this  I  could  direct  the  focus  onto  the  brightest  part  of  the  clip,  (The  most  important  part)  so  that  people  watching  would  be  able  to  notice  the  content  a  lot  easier.  Another  reason  I  made  this  change  was  for  when  you  stereotype  a  ‘Bad  Guy’  you  think  of  dark,  bleak  colours.  This  is  why  whenever  the  bad  characters  made  an  appearance  I  changed  the  lighting  to  create  the  sense  of  evil  and  darkness  that  their  character  personifies.  I  would  retake  certain  shots  until  I  was  satisfied  with  there  aesthetic  values,  this  is  down  to  me  being  a  bit  of  a  perfectionist  where  I  always  aim  to  get  things  done  to  my  potential.  When  looking  at  the  responses  for  my  question  involving  aesthetics  and  were  they  considered  appropriately  and  effectively  almost  everyone  who  had  answered  had  something  positive  to  say.  ‘Camera  angles  worked  well,  helped  to  understand  what  was  happening  in  every  scene.’  Justifies  why  I  spent  the  length  of  time  trying  to  obtain  the  ‘perfect’  angle.  A  good  piece  of  constructive  criticism  that  I  received  was  in  places  the  lighting  was  a  little  bit  intense.  Whether  it  was  too  dark  or  too  light,  I  respect  opinions  like  this  just  as  much  as  the  positive  ones  because  if  I  were  to  produce  another  animation  

similar  I  can  take  the  advice  and  do  things  differently.  A  word  that  was  used  a  lot  in  my  responses  to  this  question  were:  ‘Professional’  this  implies  that  what  I  have  set  out  to  achieve  with  the  whole  aesthetics  side  of  things  has  been  noticed.    In  a  few  scenes  within  my  stop  motion  animation  there  are  embellishments  of  the  likes  of  lens  flares  and  other  decretive  ideas.      

   I  have  used  this  effect  to  personify  the  clips  further  creating  atmosphere  in  the  background  through  the  power  of  sunlight.  Adding  depth  to  my  animation  is  something  that  could  easily  go  unnoticed.          Techniques,  technical  qualities      When  analyzing  the  techniques  and  ideas  I  have  used  within  my  animation  it  is  obvious  that  due  time  and  attention  has  been  placed  into  the  general  process.  I  used  a  wide  ranging  of  techniques  from  the  likes  of  recording  and  producing  to  all  things  editing.    My  most  unorthodox  technique  that  I  have  used  was  exporting  the  images  and  changing  them  into  video  footage.  I  did  this  purely  for  the  reason  that  editing  singular  clips  apposed  to  multiple  pictures  ranging  around  12fps  (Frames  per  second)  is  much  easier.  This  is  something  that  will  go  unnoticed  because  consumers/viewers  tend  look  past  the  smaller  details  that  go  into  making  the  larger  production.  So  as  I  expected  nobody  really  commented  on  anything  to  with  the  production  side  of  things,  more  the  finished  product.  Maybe  I  could  have  included  a  question  In  my  questionnaire  asking  whether  people  would  be  interested  in  learning  more  about  how  the  animation  was  put  together,  however  now  that  I  know  this  I  can  apply  it  to  any  further  consumer  research  techniques  I  will  be  trying.  It’s  hard  comparing  techniques  that  I  have  used  to  others.  The  main  problem  is  that  personally  I’ve  never  been  interested  enough  to  watch  a  video  or  anything  on  the  topic  of  edit  stop  motion.  My  target  audience  hasn’t  change  throughout  the  whole  process  and  it  certainly  wouldn’t  differ  when  it  came  to  whom  I’m  trying  to  appeal  to  through  the  use  of  techniques  and  ideas.  I  tried  to  cut  almost  every  clip  to  the  beat  to  improve  the  smoothness  between  the  transitions  of  my  clips.  Only  one  person  commented  on  the  cutting  to  beat  in  the  aesthetics  questions,  they  simply  stated  that  the  technique  was  used  effectively  and  how  it  helped  create  an  atmosphere  within  the  animation.        Style    The  style  was  always  intended  to  be  of  a  serious  nature,  it  would  have  been  nice  to  include  a  small  dose  of  comedy  however,  due  to  it  being  a  teaser  trailer  my  main  priority  was  trying  to  convey  the  darker,  more  serious  tone.  In  general  

when  you  compare  both  Marvel  and  Dc  Comics  you  would  associate  marvel  with  the  lighter,  brighter  and  the  overall  warmer  tone.  Apposed  to  Dc  who  has  released  films  such  as  the  Dark  Knight  trilogy,  which  was  significantly  a  lot  darker  and  striking.  I  was  trying  to  find  some  middle  ground  for  my  animation,  combining  ideas  from  both  sides  of  the  spectrum.  My  audience  was  very  impressed  with  the  serious  nature  of  the  animation,  and  I  think  the  biggest  factor,  which  separated  it  from  the  lighter  hearted  side,  was  the  voiceover.  The  Deep  voice  with  the  perfect  tone  was  very  much  the  center  of  attention.  Not  only  do  I  think  this,  but  the  majority  of  the  people  who  answered  my  questionnaire  do  as  well.  ‘Tone  suits  trailer.  Effective’  was  a  short  and  snappy  answer  which  sums  up  a  lot  effectively.    

 I  was  never  focusing  ridiculous  amounts  on  the  whole  idea  of  style.  I  was  planning  on  letting  that  unfold  naturally  during  the  production/filming  process.    As  long  as  I  followed  the  general  guidelines  I  had  in  place  in  terms  of  keeping  Dc  dark  and  serious  and  Marvel  the  opposite  was  the  priority.  I  believe  because  I  wanted  my  concept  to  be  serious  and  twisted  that  my  target  audience  would  be  better  suited  towards  the  age  of  14+.  However  this  doesn’t  mean  anybody  younger  can’t  enjoy  it.  I  had  a  mixture  of  responses  ranging  from  in  person,  the  questionnaire  and  even  a  comment  on  YouTube  directly  underneath  the  link  for  my  video.      

   What  makes  things  interesting  is  that  the  comment  is  from  somebody  within  my  selected  age  bracket  and  who  thinks  the  serious  nature  of  my  animation  was  portrayed  to  a  high  standard.        Creative  Quality    I  feel  my  animation  wasn’t  exclusively  unique;  the  general  idea  of  moving  and  filming  and  moving  Lego  figures  has  been  used  and  previously  done  on  numerous  occasions.    However  the  concept  is  unique  and  I  feel  that  nobody  has  explored  the  use  of  characters  the  way  I  have.  When  designing  my  concept,  by  allowing  it  a  noticeable  purpose  I  was  able  to  create  something  that  was  very  much  new  in  the  form  of  a  movie  trailer.    I  was  very  much  inspired  by  a  series  of  different  ideas  such  as  Lego  stop  motion  animation  on  it’s  own  and  then  big  Superhero  franchise  films.    So  I  considered  doing  a  collaboration  of  the  two.  

Which  has  resulted  in  my  current  animation.  Because  my  idea  was  effectively  a  mash  up  of  multiple  other  ideas  I  believe  that  my  target  audience  will  be  aimed  at  both  fans  of  Lego,  and  film  fanatics  who  commonly  watch  super  hero  films.          In  conclusion  for  my  evaluation  I  have  read  through  every  available  response,  whether  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  questionnaire,  in  person  or  even  a  YouTube  comment.  There  was  basically  no  negative  comments  used  at  any  points  and  form  the  majority  of  people  who  actually  watched  the  trailer  a  comfortable  90%  complimented  the  animation  labelling  it  as  ‘Completed  to  a  high  standard’  Seeing  and  hearing  answers  of  this  stature  has  will  help  me  make  improvements  if  I  ever  had  too  and  better  myself  for  any  future  animation  productions.