This week, we looked at making animatics in Krita and After Effects. We followed a demonstration in tweening in After Effects with some files given to us, and we were shown how to add keyframes and timing to create animations. I was excited to move onto the creation of animatics because I have always been a huge fan of making them for my own characters.
We looked at how animatics are made, and what they’re used for. They’re used after the storyboarding process as a sort of in between between concepts and rough animation. I think they work great for conveying concepts in a non-finished form, but in a format solidified enough to be able to demonstrate what is going on. We were shown previous student work and I think it really helped me to gauge the full effect animatics can have on portraying the intended storyline. They don’t have to be anything crazy or super detailed, but can help to convey the general concept of what is happening in a scene.
We were put into our groups again to begin conceptualising animatics based off of our storyboards. I took my storyboard and began to work on my animatic, and I added a 2D camera effect in Adobe to emulate a camera pan. I had my scene begin with a shot of the outside of the bar, followed by the boot of the protagonist slamming down onto the ground. I then have the camera proceed inside of the bar, just outside the doors, as the protagonist kicks open the saloon doors dramatically with onomatopoeia to exaggerate the noise and add a bit more character. After that, all of the vampires inside stare at him in silence, and the camera pans across the vampires inside. I wanted to have an establishing shot of all of them, followed up by closeups to give more personality and comedic elements to the scene.
I took inspiration for the scene off of the Levi vs Kenny fight in Attack on Titan. I thought this fit with the whole aesthetic of the wild west because of the section in the fight where it takes place in a bar, and Levi is hiding behind the bar counter from Kenny and there is the long moment of them waiting for the other to make a move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeLvx_1FBdk&pp=ygUNbGV2aSB2cyBrZW5ueQ%3D%3D
My favourite frames from the animatic are these two. I really like the pose and the perspective used in this and I feel like the quick zoom in after the initial kick helps creative a sense of weight behind the boot, and coupled with the onomatopoeia helps to emphasise the ridiculous and overdramatic entrance of the protagonist.
I’m also very proud of this frame, especially regarding the cast shadow leading into the bar. I planned a slow pan shot for this to have it serve as a sort of establishing shot for the inside of the bar to help with creating the sense of space and the cast of characters inside. I also think it helps with the serious but comedic nature of the scene.
