This animation has used different effects on objects so they can stand out on the scene. The glowing and sharpen effects have been added to moon and stars as they are shining. Some of the scenes show the effect of night time as the colour adjustment technique has been used. This is a high quality technique and makes the animation professional. I will ensure that I use this technique if I put a sun or moon in my story; it will help me to make my animation realistic and that it is to the best standard possible.
This animation has used techniques to show the realistic effect of dog squeezing through a cat flap.
This animation has used motion tween to show movement, below the screen shots is to show there are lots of dogs and that are walking, running, blinking their eyes, moving their tails and movement of mouth to show that they are barking. There is also a circle which is spinning. The use of motion tweens in this animation has made it very vibrant and attractive. I will use motion tweens in my animation to make sure that it is vibrant and realistic.
The animation uses zoom in and zoom out technique to show the close up of dog while swinging. This is a good technique it helps to clearly show what happening in the animation, in this animation it has showed that the dog is happy while swinging. I will use this technique in my animation where its necessary to make the animation attractive to my audience.
When story finish there is a dog at the centre and text “play the story again?” below the screen shots are showing the technique used. The first screen shot is taken before moving the mouse cursor to “play the story again” text. The second screen shots shows that when you going to click on the dog or text, the text become black and dog runs. This is a high quality technique and has make the animation very appealing and interesting. I will ensure that I put a “play again” button on last scene so that user can watch the animation again easily. However the use of button and motion tween of dog will not be possible for me to use as I have got limited skills and time to complete my final product. This is a complicated technique so I will need time to learn it which may reduce the time to fulfil my animation’s basic requirements.
Navigation and interaction:
It is easy to navigate the animation by using the next and back buttons through page by page. On each page there is another button “read” to listen the story. The last page allows user to watch the animation again by clicking the play the story again.
At the start of the animation there are two options one is to start story and other one is to start game. The game is not relevant to story it about finding eight dogs on the screen by colouring it.
There are three relevant activities which can be done after reading the story. The first activity is for little kids. In this activity children just have to tick in the boxes next to a picture to tell what the girls played on, what did the dog play on? The next activity is for older kids. In this activity they have to write who said what and write about the play next to it picture. The third activity is to put the story in order. Only third activity in an online activity which means it has interactive features. The relevant activities is a good feature, these activities has made the animation suitable for its purpose which is to improve younger children’s English by checking what have they learnt and remembered from the story. The purpose of my animation is to provide entertainment and my client does not require me to create relevant activities so I am not going to include activities. However I will make sure that my animation is interactive so that the users do not get bore. I will include buttons to navigate around and allow users to choose their own route to ending.
Strengths:
Sound and text:
This product has a lot of strengths which makes it very professional and suitable for its audience. First of the content of the product is interesting and can be understand by its audience easily, this make sure that the audience watch the animation till the end and to fulfil the purpose of the animation it is important that audience watch it till the end. There is a sound on animation which allow user to listen to the story as well, this strength makes the animation suitable for as it improves the reading and listening English.
User interaction:
The animation interacts with the users as they can click on the button to watch the next or previous scene again. This gives the user some flexibility. The story is user friendly as it has an easy way to navigate through the pages by using buttons.
Related activities:
There are three activities of different level which can be done after watching the animation. These activities test the audience as they are relevant to the animation. I think it is good to have relevant activities because of the purpose of the story which is to teach children in an entertaining way.
Techniques:
The scenes flow in a sequence and enable the audience to understand what’s going on. The story has used a number of techniques to make it professional, it has used a lot of motion tweens to show the movement effects so the dogs’ tail are moving, eyes are blinking, mouth movement to show that characters are talking, legs movement to show running and walking effects, it uses the zoom in and zoom out technique, it has used different colour contrast to show night time, an effect has been added to make the moon glow and the text that appears on the screen fades in so that the next scene can be seen.
The story has three people and one dog at the start five scenes and only one scene has got a lot of dogs in playground. The number of chracters is appropriate which a good point is. If there are too many characters the animation will be tacky and hard to understand that what is going in the story or if there are only two characters the animation will be boring.
Length of the animation:
It is also important to have an appropriate length of the animation according to its audience as this story is only twelve scenes long. If the animation is too lengthy the audience will be bore and won’t watch it till the end. If animation is too short it won’t be an effective story as it would not fulfil it purpose.
Colour scheme and background:
The story is located at outside of school, playground and home so this animation has used three different backgrounds but on almost every scene the objects varies. I think this is strength because younger children get bore of the same thing very quickly. As there are different objects and different background the presentation of scenes are not same but the colour scheme is consistent all through. The colour scheme on every scene is consistent, for example the animation does not use bold colours on one scene and light colour on scene. It does use different contrast of colours to show night mode.
Weaknesses:
Stiff movement of characters:
There are only few weaknesses about this animation. The movement of the two girls in this animation is bit stiff while they walking because of their less arms and neck movement. It is a bad point about animation as the stiff movement does not loo professional and effective.
No multiple endings:
The story does not have multiple endings. It is better if the animation has multiple endings or multiple routes to endings as it would provide some flexibility. It also makes the animation interactive and interesting. I will ensure that my animation has multiple routes to endings so that the users have different options which will give them flexibility.
Less user interaction:
This animation does not use much interactive techniques. It only allow user to click “next” or “back”, the user can’t get involved in the story as it does not ask user to click on different objects or characters.
Limited access to activities:
The related activities of this story are on Acrobat Reader which means the user can not access this activities if they don’t have Acrobat and the activities can’t be done on computer so user have to print it out.
Suitable for the purpose and audience:
Though there are some bad points which limited the user control but the animation was suitable for its purpose and its audience as there are more strengths then weaknesses. This animation is user friendly and the text, sound, techniques such as motion tweens, related activities, colour scheme, and navigation. The length of the scenes made the animation suitable for its audience because children get bore very quickly.
The design and features that will influence the design of the final product:
The audience of this product is same as my product’s audience. This product is suitable for its audience so I will use some of its features in my final product. I will use sound in my product because it will allow my audience to listen to the story as well as reading and it will also make the story interesting. The scenes of this animation flow in a sequence which makes the animation easier to understand so I will ensure that my animation’s scene flow in a sequence. The techniques has influenced my design, I will use motion tweens as it will make the product more professional, zoom in and zoom out technique which help the scene understand clearly. This animation’s scenes have appropriate length; I will also make sure that the lengths of the scenes of my product are appropriate as it is important for my audience; if the scenes are too long the audience will get bore or if the scenes are too short it will be hard to understand. I will also consider the consistent house style by using same contrast of the colours, text font size, colour and style.
There are also some bad points which I will try to avoid in my final product. This animation did not have much user interaction so I will ensure that my animation has used interactive skills to keep the audience interest and to make the animation more professional; I will make my story with multiple endings as it will attract my target audience will give them some control. Finally I will also make sure that the movements of my characters are not stiff and look real, this will make my animation more professional.
Product two: The missing pencil by Jeff Caple
This story has been created by BBC. This story helps school to teach children in an interesting way, children can also watch and listen to the stories at home as well. The story is about a Mickey whose pencil is missing and he is trying to find it. He had forgotten that he had put his pencil behind his ear to keep it safe. All the animals play a trick with Mickey and don’t tell him about the pencil. The story is interesting and teaches the users the names of different animals and objects.
Purpose:
The purpose of this story is to improve children literacy. This story helps children to learn different animal names and different things. User can listen and read to story as well.
Audience:
The audience of this story are children age 4 – 7 and this story will help them to learn names of different things and animals and will improve their grammar. I found that by reading the story and it also has been mentioned on the website. The purpose of final product is to provide entertainment so I will need to include this feature however I will make sure that the text on my animation is appropriate and simple so that the audience can understand it easily.
Techniques used:
This animation has used a number of techniques to make it professional and attractive which eventually makes it successful. The animation has used buttons to navigate from scene to other by clicking the “story bear” or “next”. Users can start the story again if by clicking “back to the start”. This buttons are very useful as it allows the user to skip the scene or start the story again if they have missed any scene. I will also make that I use buttons on my animation so that user have some flexibility and can navigate easily. These features will make my animation professional and suitable for my audience.
At the start of the animation there are two options to watch the story with sound or without sound. This is the technique used by most professional websites, it helps user to understand the story more easily and make the animation suitable for its purpose.
This animation asks user to click on different things, when user click on an object the next scene can be watch. This means this animation has used different objects on different scenes as a button. I will use this technique on my animation as it will allow user to interact with the animation which will keep the user interested in the animation. This technique also makes the animation very professional which is a positive aspect about this animation.
The object to click on
An effect has been added to some objects so when a user is going to click on it and pointer is on it. The appearance of the object will change; a white border will surround this object. This technique will help users to show that this is the right object to click on to watch next scene. This technique is shown on the above screen shot. In this animation the objects has been used as buttons to make it interactive I will use this technique in my animation. I will also use objects or characters as buttons, which will allow users to watch next scene. I will use buttons on my animation and add effect so that the appearance of these buttons can be change when the pointer is on it. This technique will make my animation more eye-catching and aesthetic.
The zoom in and out technique has been used several times in this animation. This technique helps user to see the close of the objects which will help them to understand the story. This is a very useful technique as it clearly shows what is happening in the story. I will use this technique where it is important. This will help me to meet the professional standard.
This animation has used clouds and question mark to show that the characters are thinking. The face expression also shows that the characters are thinking because of the eye movement and hands position. Below the screen shots shows the two different characters of the story thinking.
This animation is very professional because it shows the face expressions. The face of the Micky becomes red when he is angry. Below the screen shots are showing two different emotions. This is a high quality technique as this makes the story interesting and realistic. I will use this technique in my animation; I will show the facial expression of my characters to make my animation attractive to its audience and professional.
This animation used a lot of motion tweens to show the movements. The legs of the characters move forward to show the walking effects, hands move to show that they are talking and thinking. At the start of the story the leaves are falling down. The bird’s beak is moving to show the talking effect, the eye balls of almost all characters are moving and the story bear is moving his one foot while thinking. This is a positive aspect on this animation as it makes the animation more interesting and realistic. I will definitely use motion tweens in my animation to show the characters walking and playing and to show the movements of objects. This will help me to create a realistic and appealing final product.
Navigation and interaction:
This animation is users friendly as its navigation is very effective. To watch the next scene users have to click “next” or “story bear” button, this button will also helps user to skip scene. There is another button “start the story again” which allow user to watch the story again. This gives the user some flexibility. This animation interacts with the users a lot as user have to click the button to watch the next scene and it also asks user to click on different objects. This animation allow user to get involve in the story which will keep their interest till the end.
Strengths:
Techniques:
There are number of good points about this story. These strengths make the animation suitable for its purpose and audience. First of all the animation has used range of techniques. Such as motion tweens, zoom in, face expressions and user interaction. These techniques made the story interesting and professional. This animation also uses clouds to show what the characters are thinking. I will be using some of these techniques to ensure that my product is to the best possible standard.
Another good point about this animation is that the scenes flow in a sequence which makes it suitable for its audience, as it is very easy for its audience to understand what is going in the story. I will make sure that the sequence of scenes of my animation is easy to understand and appropriate for my target audience so that they can enjoy the story.
Characters and objects:
This animation has got six different characters and used a lot of objects. The number of characters are appropriate as they not too much which makes the animation crowdy and audience would not be able to understand what’s happening in the story or there not very few characters which makes the story boring. I will also make sure that the number of characters in my animation is appropriate so that my animation is not boring or crowded. This will make my animation suitable for its audience.
Sound and text:
The story has an option which allow user to listen to the story as well as reading. This is a good point of this animation because it makes the animation suitable for the purpose it has made for by improving their listening skills. The text of this animation is appropriate for its audience and help to keep the user’s interest till the end. I will include sound and text on my animation so that the users can understand the story easily by listening or reading it. This will give users some flexibility. I will also include some other sounds for example sound of a ball kick to make my animation vibrant and professional.
User interaction:
This animation interacts with the user by allowing them to click on “next” button or start the story again. In this animation user has to get involved in the story as it asks the user to click on different objects. This gives the user some control. Below is the screen shot of scene in which user has been asked to click on the rock to see what is under the rocks. This is a positive aspect in this animation. User interaction makes the animation more interesting therefore I will make sure that my animation interacts with the users.
Colour scheme and backgrounds:
The colour scheme of this animation is consistent throughout. It has used light blue and brown colour. Though it has different objects and colour of these objects are different which could affect its consistency but the colour of these objects were also light colours such as grey, light green and these colours goes with each other. This animation has two different backgrounds because of two different locations. The few first scenes are located at Micky’s room and rest of them are located at jungle. Although this animation has consistent colour scheme throughout but the backgrounds of scenes are different so that it does not look boring. I will also ensure that colour scheme is consistent throughout to make my animation professional, at the same time I will use different backgrounds on my animation on different scenes in order to make the animation interesting.
Weaknesses:
This animation is been used on a professional website but still there are some weaknesses. The navigation of this animation is easy to navigate but does not allow user to watch the previous scene if it is missed, which means users have to watch the story again from start if they have missed a scene or wants to watch the previous scene again. This takes time and audience can get bore. This weakness also reduces user’s flexibility. To make sure that my animation has user friendly navigation and to give user some flexibility I will include a button to watch the previous scene again.
Stiff movement:
All the characters in this animation does not show the movement of neck and head while talking, turning back or walking which makes the movement of characters stiff. The arms of some characters are not moving when they are talking which does not look real. The movements of legs are too fast so it does not show the walking effects clearly. If the movement of characters does not look real then it does not look effective and professional. This is a bad point in this animation because it makes the animation unrealistic. I will make sure that the movement of my characters are realistic which will make my animation interesting.
No multiple endings:
There are no multiple endings or multiple routes to end; the structure of this animation is linear. It would be better to have multiple endings, as the users would have some options which would give them some control on the story. It also makes the story more interesting.
No related activities:
There are no relevant activities with this animation. This is a bad point because the purpose it has made for is to teach younger children, if there would be activities the audience can be tested. I will not include activities on my animation because it is not one my requirement and I have got limited time to create my final animation.
Too long:
The length of the each scene is appropriate but there are a lot of scenes. Too many scenes makes the story too long which is a bad point when targeting younger children because they gets bore very easily and would not watch the animation till the end. I will make sure that the length of animation is appropriate not too long and not too short. I if it will be too long the audience may get bore or if it will be too short I will not be able to fulfil its purpose.
Suitable for the purpose and audience:
The number of bad points and good points are equal but still this animation is suitable for its purpose and audience, the text is very easy to understand and the story is interesting to keep audience interest till the end. The story has also used some techniques which makes it suitable for its audience and purpose.
Influence on my design:
I will make sure that I use zoom in and out technique, facial expression, user interaction technique and different motion tweens. These are the techniques which makes an effective and professional animation. I will also ensure that the colour scheme of my animation is consistent or uses same contrast of colours because effective colour scheme will make my animation eye catching. The different contrast of colours will make the animation tacky. This animation also had appropriate text and sound, so I will also include sound option and appropriate text in my animation because it will help my audience to understand the animation.
There are some bad points which I will avoid in my animation. I will make sure that my animation is not too long because it bores the audience. I will make my animation with multiple routes or ending not like these animations. Multiple endings make the animation interesting and give the user some control and flexibility. I will also ensure that the movement of characters are not stiff as it doesn’t look professional.
Comparison between two stories:
Both products are professional animations which have got some bad points as well as good points but according to me “No dogs” was more effective than “The missing pencil” because there are more good points about “No dogs” than “the missing pencil”.
Both animations have used similar techniques, which has also influenced my final products such as motion tweens and zoom in technique. Both animations have some strength in common. The sequence of the scenes in both animations is easy to understand, both animation have used text and sound to make it suitable for its purpose. Both animations have used consistent colour scheme and different backgrounds. Both animations have used thought clouds to show that the characters are thinking. The scenes fade in to show the next scene.
“The missing pencil” was more interactive than “No dogs”. An interactive story keeps the audience interest. “No dogs” has relevant activities for different age of children, which is a useful feature that can be use to test audience if they have learned anything from the story. “No dogs” shows two different times (day and night) by making the colours dim. “The missing pencil” starts automatically but on “no dogs” user will have to click on the “dog” to start the story again.
The movements of some characters in both animations are stiff. There is no button on “the missing pencil” to see the previous scene but there is a button on “no dogs”. The audience gets more involve in “the missing pencil” animation but the “no dogs” gives the user more flexibility. The same weakness of both animations is that there are not multiple endings or multiple routes to limiting the user interaction.
Overall both animations are suitable for their purpose and audience and both have got good and bad points.
