Here is some visual inspiration for you: Nosepilot is an entirely Flash-created animation originally made in 1999 by Alexandru Sacui. The animation has music and some text but is loosely constructed and, in my view, more visually poetic than concerned with narrative. In other words, it makes visual sense but does not have a clear “story”. Apart from the very beginning it is not interactive.
For this week’s blogging,
- comment on the Nosepilot animation; what do you think of its look (color, line, shape), its transitions, its pacing? Is there anything these you can draw from for your own work?
- provide a link to an animation that you find visually inspiring and tell us what you enjoy about it.
I thought the animation was very simple. The characters really did not make a lot of movements with their bodies for the most part. They were simply flying and floating on and off the stage (webpage). The colors were combinations of similar shades. For instance, yellow was matched with orange and light blue matched a darker blue. The music was used to accompany the animation, which sort of helped and added story to the illustrations and figures. However, I didn’t quite understand how the music went with the robotic pink bird and falling objects in the end. Overall this animation was great to look at. I really liked the spinning blue fan and the yellow cat from it. I discovered some ideas that I can work with to developing my flash banner and some effects that I may use or create in flash.
I found several interesting flash animations on the web and I thought I should share them all. This first animation was about the story of icons. I’ve seen this many times in the past and I enjoyed it every time I watched it. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/icons
I really liked the sound effect and the creative idea of using ordinary static icons on a pc desktop to create a short story. The animation brought those icons to life and allowed them to move freely across the stage (desktop).
Adam Phillips created this second animation called “little foot”. You need to hit Watch this movie and it plays in a pop-up window. http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/276841
I thought this animation was great in the way that it was very visually engaging. I liked the shades and gradients used in the objects and scenes the author created. The sound also enhanced the animation and made it even more interesting to watch. Every scene and all the character’s movements worked very well with one another.
This last animation movie was actually created to advertise Coca-Cola. I loved the characters and the storyline. The main character had to go through different situations to finally reach the source and fill his empty bottle with coke. This animation is probably not created in flash but the website is flash based so I just wanted to share it with the class. http://www.coca-cola.com/template1/index.jsp?locale=en_US&site=../happiness_factory/index.html
I hope you enjoy these animations!
I feel the author expanded on simplistic ideals. He used very little color but used different shades to accentuate features of the objects on stage. I think the line was crisp and his transitions were solid. If I had to draw anything from my own work it would have to be his use of eases and the consistent recycling of symbols to create new objects. Even though there is so much going on in his animation, it loaded so quickly because you notice the same objects and symbols are being used over and over but it is still creating a show for the viewer.
A website I really like is http://www.hauntinginconnecticut.com/ I am not posting it because its the first thing that came out of my head, but I absolutely love the fact that they make this kid on the website what the movie is all about. When that thing comes out of his mouth it covers the stage in such a profound way that it is simply all you need to see to get an idea of what this movie is going to be about. I think you rarely find something as simple as that to catch your eye.
Nosepilot is quite a random Flash animation. The colors that Sacui uses are bright and therefore, keep the animation lively. The shapes are simple. For example, many people in the animation simply have an outline of their body- they don’t really have any facial features. Hence, detail is not very important here. Even though there is not much detail, people still get a sense of what’s going on in the animation. The lines that Sacui uses are smooth, whether they are straight or rounded. The transitions from one shape to another or from one scene to another are smooth as well. I like how the an oval shape explodes into blue flowers towards the beginning of the animation. I also noticed that Sacui uses shape tweening. For instance, when the inside of a cauliflower transforms into a person. He also uses many rotations and a few motion paths throughout the animation. The pacing is just right- it’s not too fast or too slow.
A link that is amusing is http://www.pomwonderful.com/. If you refresh the page, there are different flash animations of how POM juice is wonderful. They are simple and short, but funny. I like how the POM juice flies in each animation as if it is a superhero. The bubbles that pop up are fun to read. Lastly, the music goes well with the animation.
It’s funny how I didn’t figure out what Nosepilot was for a few minutes. Then I realized it was a scuba -diver. The flash animation is very simple, but it’s simplicity makes it interesting for some unknown reason. It’s the theme. The water bubbles and the scuba-diver that comes together perfectly. The shapes are either from an original circle or a hand drawn swiggly. The hair wiggling probably took up many frames in the symbol editor. The transition is gentle.
I cannot really relate any of these flash techniques to my project. However the easing may be similar.
Recently, NCAA March Madness is in play. I found the banner animation for NCAA’s website is rather cool. One, it gives information. Two, the scissor cutting the hoop-like wrap is very cool. The animation is controlled, meaning the timing is perfect. Overall, it gets those who are betting the NCAA games [me] excited.
I forgot to leave a link. Sorry. Here it is http://www.ncaa.com
Nosepilot was quite interesting to watch. The colors used were really bright, and it was also very colorful with the different shades used. Many of the shapes did not go into detail but they looked more like shadows or silhouettes against the background. Even so, I liked many of the shapes used for the flash animation. The unique shapes along with the music in the background made me feel like the animation is very dreamy. The blue flowers shown in the beginning of the animation is similar to what I had used for my project.
A site that I found with an introduction animation scene was the Wall-E site: http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/wall-e/flash_site.html. I liked how Wall-E strolled out with a cooler and then the buttons with links to go to other pages showed up. I also liked the wacky music being played in the background. After awhile Wall-E also changes into different forms, such as a box. Its really cute to look at and I enjoyed the nicely done animation.
The Animation is very nice. The movement is synchronized nicely with the sound. The transition is smooth and nice. Even though there is no story everything seemed related to each other. The opening, however, was too long, and there is no way to skip it. I liked the second part of the opening better. I think I liked it more because the animation had more depth than the first part. I also think that there should be a mute button even though the animation is synchronized with the sound and it will lose the full effect without the music, but the music at some point started to annoy me. I didn’t like the interactive part because I got to a page with nothing on it beside black background and there was no navigation to go back. Also the text on the side was half hidden and there was no scrollbar, I had to guess that I need to highlight the text and move down with the mouse to see the rest of it.
Animator Vs. Animation: http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/art/Animator-vs-Animation-34244097
I think this animation is amazing. It tells a story in a funny way. The movement and the sound affect are synchronized very well. What I enjoyed the most is that the story is inside flash, which we all can relate to. I like the interactivity between the animator and his animation. Especially the way the animation uses the flash tools against the animator, like the brush to draw things that helps the character to fight, and the eraser as a shield. I thought this animation is very amusing and funny. I also can relate to it when I’m working in flash and I get frustrated I just want to destroy everything there, just like the animation does.
Sacui starts off Nosepilot animation with many simple shapes, it is repetitively use throughout the transitional scenes, which help cuts down the loading time. The applying of colors was very capturing and colorful to coordinate the people, animals and background together. The use of lines was very smooth to carry the objects being distinguished in each transitional scene. I was pleased that I am able to exploit some of these techniques in my own work.
One of my favorite animation site Pixar.com from Disney who is recently promoting their new animated movie called UP (http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/main.html). I like the continuity of the helium balloon house flying off in the beginning and leading it to the two main characters (Russell and Carl). Russell is the young little Boy Scout and Carl is the old guy holding a cane. The short introduction end when you see the forest, which both characters are continue walking together until you click on the bird’s beak to meet the characters. Most of all, the animation and sound fits perfectly together. I cannot wait to see this movie on May 29.
For a moment I thought Nosepilot was a never ending animation. The animation was very well constructed using a variety of shapes to create all the objects and movements. I liked the use of colors for the people showing those in the background as pale and the ones in the foreground with bright tones. For most of the animation, there is a series of people floating through the air in very odd positions. This reminded me of a tv ad I saw for car safety. The message was that no one’s body was made to be in the position as it is in an accident. All the floating people seem to be falling over with groceries flying out of shopping bags. The only thing I can take away from this for my project is the different movement paths for the objects but my favorite part was the two officers dancing to the music while the cat was staring as if in amazement. This is something I want to animate before ending the semester.
I found this animation http://flash.artie.com/arg-goldzinger-url.html about a news repoter that is trying to get a news story but finds difficulty in doing so. The James Bond opening was a good fit because the reporter is on a mission. All the sounds are on point to the animations. The animations are done with utmost precision to every expression of the reporter which created a funny piece of a day in the life of a news reporter.
The Nosepilot animation was pretty interesting. A lot of colors were used and the movements and sounds kept things interesting. Random items would show up and that made things more interesting too. For example: strawberries floating around. The animation was pretty long though. I still sat through it always wondering, what does this all mean? I did not understand the story behind everything, but all the images transitions to the next smoothly.
I found this animation (http://www.happyingreenville.com/) and I really liked it. It is simple but works. It is also minimal in color. Everything is black and white except for the sky. From the beginning, you will see animation starting with the loading page, then when you enter the site, you will hear a short story-telling by a narrator about Greenville. This site is also interactive. The “find a doctor” has a row of doctors and you can click on each of them and they will move. Everything looks like simple hand drawn figures and this gives it a nice feel along with the calming music. There is also a mute button on the top left and that gives people the option of having the sound off which is very important. Everything works well and with the user in mind.
I was pretty intrigued by the Nosepilot animation, mostly because the score kept my attention. I really liked the use of color- it was simple and most of the characters and settings used an analogue of colors, rather than pairing a green with a red, or a blue with a pink. The characters’ shapes were complex, however their detail was fairly simple (the use of color added the detail). Also, since learning how to use the bones tool, I noticed that the animator used that tool to make his characters move. The pacing was fairly slow and steady, and I think I would have liked the pacing to change a little more. The music was great and really helped the story progress, and overall I thought it should have been a little shorter as the story was losing my interest towards the end.
As for an animation that I really enjoy, go to http://www.crappycat.com/. The homepage leads you to an interactive animation, or an online store. The site is incredibly interactive- the viewer moves the “crappy cat” with the arrow keys, and the scene moves and he experiences different animals and situations. I love the feel of the whole setting as well. It has skeletons and things exploding, and the colors the animator used are great together. Everything is incredibly detailed, even the smallest characters and the clouds of smoke that occur when one of them explodes. The sound effects are really successful and it does feel like I am there- that I am the crappy cat! The one thing I would have been really impressed with is if the cat didn’t “walk through” the objects that weren’t interactive. The cat kind of just went through them like a ghost, it would have been better if instead of walking through a rock, it stopped him and force the user to make him go around it. Also, the online store is complementary of the animation and very well designed.
I thought that the nosepilot animation was quite interesting in terms of animation. In my opinion the colors gave it a sort of abstract feeling. I also enjoy how the animator was able to incorporate the shape of a nose throughout most of the animation. In terms of the content itself, it looks a lot like something you would see in a dream and not remember the very moment you wake up.
As for my choice of “inspiring” animation I choose an animation that is a part of series of animations created by XiaoXiao. The animations themselves involve a lone stick figure as it fights hordes of enemies and/or an object that’s trying to kill it. I choose XiaoXiao 3 as it was actually the first example of what one can do in flash I was shown back in high school. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/fight3
Even though the animation looked simple, I thought it was very complex when I analyzed it closer. There isn’t much details in colors but the shapes and use of shades is very intriguing. The figures and action each figure made was candy for the eye. I agree that the animation made no sense with the story line but I think the artist was just being playing and imaginative.
I found this flash site http://www.andreaswannerstedt.se/flash/infected/ which is similar in creativity but doesn’t have a set storyline. The images and illustration does flow well and the music is a good mix. The design also looks very complex and detailed.
After viewing the noseplot animation I was impressed with the length and the use of symbols and tweens throughout the work. I liked the tweens because there were animated symbols within symbols which contributed to the intricate complexity of the work. It was however a bit dull and lacked an understandable storyline or contains a storyline, but a rather randomized one, overall I just didn’t understand why there are dancing uniformed men and cats all around. A site I found while surfing the net is: http://www.bio-bak.nl/ the site is interactive and I assume it’s the designers portfolio of some sort. It’s quite impressive and uses lots of scripts as to making the mouse cursor a realistic hand that tweens from fist into pointing poses. Upon clicking random items on the large image, talking animations pop-up and are found very interesting.
I was very impressed by the noseplot animation. I liked the simplistic look of the entire animation. Goes to show that being simple can actually go a very long way. The bold and bright colors as well as the music goes well with the overall theme of the flash. My only qualm is the very long length of the animation. I found myself being very distracted by the middle of it.
A visually stimulating flash site (at least just for the first 10 seconds) is http://okaydave.com/. The intro to his portfolio uses a very cool flash effect where it looks as if everything is “blending” and somewhat on fire. It’s eye catching and very intriguing, which is what a online portfolio should do.
i liked the animation and the progression of the different scenes. It had a very, “flash feel” with the way the items were drawn and the movements themselves. The seemingly simple animation had many difficult tweens and movements that would have taken many hours and effort to make. As well, the overall animation must have taken a lot of trial and error and playback to make sure that it all moved well.
In terms of animation, the new wave of animated movies would be something inspirational. To create life-like movements as well as changes in light and shadow on all the elements is something I find very interesting. Here is a clip of someone who played a part in making of the movies that we all love. http://www.bobbyboombeck.com/index2.html
I think the animation is loosely organized because the images just appear scene to scene. There are no reason why they appear. The pace of the animation is too slow thus it wears out my patience to keep on watching the animation. As of color, I think that they use really bright colors and I think the colors fit perfectly fine in it, though I don’t get the purpose of this animation. I think that the way the designer uses transition is something that I can think of in my work because I think it is really nice how the designer transit between scenes by the change of the shape.
The site I’m providing is http://www.flashanimationwebsitedesign.com/. I found this site on Google and its a site with many 3D animations in it. I think the work are nicely done in that the website design matches the theme of the video and the typography was nicely used.