Final PortfolioEmily Pontanares

week twoMy personal mythological elements, which were much harder to come up with than expected, are the following:

Now: “A sheltered twenty-something constantly looking for more happiness, one-way plane tickets, & french fries”

Culturally: “A typical village girl who seeks adventure and a better life and yearns to see the world beyond her small isolated province”

Future: “Just another girl accepting adulthood but refusing to let all of its responsibilities and obligations keep her from being happy”

Thinking back to week two, it's amazing to see what i have now in comparison to what I started with. Who knew that a story that originated from my personal views and experiences would be made into this type of project. Thinking of a high concept based on myself was an interesting approach for a project and I liked how it gave everyone an opportunity to make something unique.

Week 3This was the week I knew this class wouldn't be a walk in the park. Going into a class knowing nothing about the program is always challenging, and After Effects is no exception. Making the seemingly bouncing ball animation and text on a path proved that a good understanding of the programs and its controls are a must.

week 4There wasn’t much of a difference between this week and the one prior. After being introduced to more After Effects basics (masks, keyframes, origins, etc) I felt pretty overwhelmed thinking about how I would be able to remember all that (I don’t remember too much of it). But this lesson (as well as most of the others) showed me that there are so many things you can do with this program.

Week 5Looking back on this assignment I feel like I could have done a lot more with it. But at the time I was just focused on meeting all the requirements. I’m pleased with what I learned and the steps I had to go through for the final product. My personal bumper that I made for future projects is very different from the one I submitted, however I’m not opposed to using this one if I feel I need to.

week 6

Week six concentrated more on further developing the story and gettin our scenes together. Making a production plan and beatsheet benefited me greatly in that it gave me a place to refer to with how to go about working on my shots. From there I was able to easily make changes it I needed to and see what details I wrote down but had forgotten. It is a great tool to keep organized and make the production process run more smoothly.

week 7It was good to have a “finalized version of the production plan so that aspects of the project were set in stone and could allow for the process to go further. Of course even the “finalized” production plan underwent further changes as the weeks went on, but it only consisted of changes that would make the the process go quicker, such as taking out scenes or dialog.

Week 8Making an animatic was an interesting experience. I probably like making the animatic more that the final trailer because it consists of my initial story and all the scenes that I had intended to make. It was also true to what I had originally envisioned because I was able to draw out all the scenes in the way I saw them in my head and how they played out. I like how animatics are more raw and simple but are still able to convey a story as well as the completed film they represent. I like that my final project turned out a lot like my animatic in its style and how it was organized.

Week 9For a girl who had zero experience using photoshop going into this class I think I did a pretty good job with my color script. Adding to color adds life to work but no color could also be just as powerful. I initially wanted to add color, but eliminating color was one of things I changed in the production process to make things easier for me.

Week 10Making a first shot took more thought and precision that I thought it would. I tried to go for a hand-drawn, wiggly animation style but my sketches weren’t as similar looking as I thought they were so the transition between the frames wasn’t as smooth. It gave me a heightened appreciation for animation and all the work that goes into it.

Week 11

Week 11 was a nice break from working on the project with just a small assignment that utilized skills and concepts we were introduced to in the beginning of the semester. It was a good refresher for me to use some of the tools and functions that I would have otherwise never looked at again and make a type of title sequence/bumper.

Week 12Week 12 was mostly lab time and asking individual questions with the professor, which were both things that everyone in the class really liked. As an in-class demonstration we looked into green screen and other visual effects that can be added to your project, like snow or rain. There are truly unlimited possibilities with what you can do with After Effects, but only if you know how to go about doing it.

Week 13

Week 13 wasn’t very much different from week 12. My classmates and I really like the one-on-one time with the professor to advise on all the things unique to individual projects. Most of us were in the process of finalizing our projects or really close to doing so.

Week 14The animatic I submitted this week consisted of many of my scenes and felt that the trailer was at least 60-70% complete. I was during this time I knew what scenes were going to be in the final project and wasn’t going to make any more changes to the production plan. Also during this week I submitted a story pertaining to the trailer. It was a cool experience creating the details of the story that would be included in a full length feature of my project, and to imagine, from a film maker’s perspective, how i would what to the story to unfold.

Week 15And after all the in-class exercises, questions, scans, class time and Saturdays in the computer lab, I finally finished my trailer for VSAR 402. Sure, there are things that are very different from the original high concept I pitched week 2 but the essence of it is still there. I think that considering I knew nothing about After Effects and Photoshop prior to this class, I did a decent job. I’ll always be my harshest critic but I have to give myself credit for dedicating time to work on this project and doing a lot of hand-drawing in the production process. I’m glad I was able to learn about visual effects from such a good professor.