Moving on to our next project, we were paired with a Year 2 Character Animation student to assist them with their final year project, which aimed to simulate a professional work environment. Our collaboration involved regular meetings to discuss the project and outline the tasks we would undertake to support them.
My assigned student was Amal Ghamlooch, who had chosen to create a stop-motion project with 2D animation elements for their final assignment. I initiated contact with Amal via email to arrange a meeting and exchanged phone numbers to facilitate communication. Our first meeting took place at the university, where Amal shared their vision for the project.
Amal explained that after working on a 2D animation project previously, they wanted to explore stop-motion animation due to their passion for hands-on, practical animation techniques. Their project concept revolved around an elderly frog aspiring to become a renowned artist, performing at a bar filled with younger frogs in a pond setting.
The inspiration for this story stemmed from a real-life musician in Beirut, Lebanon, who Amal had encountered during their travels. This musician, who was once quite popular when he was younger, served as the inspiration for the frog character in Amal’s project, playing the oud (a pear-shaped string instrument) with accompanying music.
During the pre-production phase, Amal detailed their plan to create nature-themed props using paper and design elements such as hanging flowers for lighting and lilypad stools for chairs. For the character animation, they intended to hand-animate the 2D characters before printing each frame on paper for stop-motion filming.
They then proceeded to show me their animatic and the scenes that I would help in animating. They mentioned that I could adjust the angles of the shots and make simple animations, as long as they were moving. They wanted the characters to have idle animations that weren’t too over the top so it doesn’t draw away attention from the main character.
They also showed me some reference photos of the style they wanted for the frogs. Since these were younger frogs, they wanted them to look cute and smooth. I took it upon myself as well as them suggesting to find some more references on Pinterest to really capture the youthful vibe they were going for.
Once I got the green light from Amal these, I started animating the shot of the two frogs sitting across from each other. I envisioned them as a couple, with one frog looking adoringly at the other. I wanted to show some chemistry between them in a short amount of time.
With a lot of creative freedom, I sketched out rough drafts of each frog, starting with the one on the right.
My main goal here was to show that one frog was in love with the other frog and completely focused on them, making sure that I got the movement down first and then allowed Amal to change the angle of the shot afterward since this was going to be printed out. To make sure I captured the simple movements Amal wanted, I made the frog’s leg move in a cute, animated way to convey feelings of love. I paid close attention to using arcs and ease in/ease out to make the movement look more realistic.
For the other frog, I noticed in the reference shot that he was holding a cigarette in his mouth, so I used that as inspiration for the keyframes. I wanted to show the frogs in a casual and romantic setting, so I had the male frog lean in to show interest and affection. After roughing out the animation for both characters, I combined them into the same scene and synced their actions before cleaning up the animation.
I kept in mind the animation principles and feedback from my tutors on previous projects, adding anticipation and spacing for the male frog’s breath and creating an arc when he leaned toward the female frog. I also drew on my experience with body acting and facial expressions from Silent Film animation to capture the subtle look of admiration on the male frog’s face. I shared the scene with Amal, who reacted positively to the animation when I finished it.
Overall, this experience was incredibly enjoyable. It was my first time assisting with animation for someone else’s project, and it was a rewarding challenge to step outside my comfort zone of animating humanoid characters. Through this collaboration, I believe I have successfully applied animation principles and techniques learned from Unit One practices.
Amal was super passionate and easy to communicate with. They were quick to schedule a meeting to discuss their ideas and send work on the scenes I would be working on. They were very open to giving me some artistic freedom in changing the composition of the scene and coming up with what the action would be for the different frogs. Even though I only worked on one scene, I’ve agreed to work on more scenes after the assessment and shadow them (or even potentially help them with the stop-motion when the time comes).
Reflecting on this experience, Amal taught me to draw inspiration from my travels, culture, hobbies, and interests when brainstorming ideas for animation. Their love for frogs, for example, showed me how personal interests can shape unique characters and worlds. Working with other animators and hearing their ideas pushed me to think outside the box and embrace the creative process, even if it meant exploring unconventional ideas. In conclusion, this collaboration has been a valuable learning experience that has broadened my perspective on animation and creativity. I look forward to applying these lessons to future projects and continuing to grow as an animator.