One of the first things we explored in class was timing and spacing, which we explored by using the ‘flour sack’ technique.
After some research, I discovered that this is actually a widely used method when starting out in animation, as it allows the animator to experiment with positioning, in order to create depictions of the flour bag stretching/ its weight distribution, etc., as well as using key frames to indicate the key points of the animated action.
For my flour sack animation, I chose to make a short clip of it jumping from left to right. It took me a while to get the hang of depicting things such as the elongation and slumping over of the flour sack, but I found that planning out the pace of the animation went well. I was able to start of animating in 1s (each frame individually) and then include 2s (every other frame, or frames spaced further apart) to show the bag of flour accelerating towards the ground after its jump;
This was animated on Procreate at 12fps.
In class, we also did some experimental work with free form animation; rather than planning out an action or sequence using key frames, we began with a random shape, and continued to draw frames to turn that shape into something new. I enjoyed this because I feel that I am still relatively new to the medium of animation, but by using this free form technique, I was able to explore my abilities- for example, I started out with a circular blob, but by the end of the exercise, I had turned it into a growing mushroom;
This 4 second clip was also animated on Procreate at 12fps.