Speaking with Animation..

'flash'ing for attention

It’s hard to pick just one of the many 30-second animation clips Jennifer Shiman has created. Using Adobe Flash, Shiman was able to establish Angry Alien Productions , which created animated bunnies that re-enacted feature length films in 30-seconds.
She hand draws everything first by hand (on paper, using a lightbox) then scans it into a vector art, and eventually colors and animates it in flash.
Although I personally struggle with Flash, the technical aspects of her clips seem relatively simple. Leaving her to be more precise with time and content that allow each one to speak so much. Within 30 seconds there’s a beginning, middle and end, maintaining the classical narrative structure, and highlighting the key points that allow one to recognize the film which her characters (bunnies) re-enact.
The space is broken down to a background, middle and foreground which bring it more to life.
The characters are so similar in their drawn features and attitude, we can almost forget they are animated bunnies for 30-seconds and pretend they are the main characters of the original films.
They don’t move around much through each frame, but as a whole it moves so quickly that it feels almost feels like they do.

Animations for entertainment.

one of the many

Production notes..

involved lots of noodling


Brainstorming for the video project was the most difficult task. My partner and I had very different ideas (genre wise) therefore it was our biggest challenge. In the end of our planning we finally came to an agreement by making our thought process into the project itself, so we both had our ways.

Although the project was very limited with time, the planning process allowed us to cut out scenes, locations, props, and actors to allow everything to run smoothly. We did have to stray from the storyboard at times, but it was a good outline for how we wanted things done.

The editing process was definitely better than the planning process because we both felt on the same page, visually. Being that my partner had much more experience editing I had a lot to learn from him and really enjoyed it.

If given another chance, I would have more action filled footage to make it more of a montage and less dragged out. But After all it was less than an hour, so I am happy with the outcome and that we didn’t break the laws of continuity (thanks to transitions and effects). We had footage of many different angles so that helped bring the video together and kept things interesting.

Spending more time editing (to play around with different looks and feels) would have been effective. I felt as if soundtrack was rushed through, so maybe next time we would plan that ahead of time, instead of leaving it last minute.

Editing is not as hard as it seems. Making a film takes a lot time and effort. Gut instincts feel right, but when you look back at it, it might be one of your worst choices. So, there is definitely a domino effect through each stage of production. Preproduction is especially crucial and sets the path for the fore coming stages to flow better.

Being patient and open minded is the key.