Self Evaluation
What did you set out to make?
I set out to make a Claymation stop motion animation about something unusual which would shock people and make people laugh by the weirdness of the narrative and characters mixing reality with surrealism.
What goal did you want to achieve? (Make something funny/arty/interesting/unusual)?
My goal was to make the animation a bit surreal and comedic.
Do you think you have achieved your goal?
I think my goal was achieved because the narrative is quite original and it is something you wouldn't expect to see in your everyday kitchen setting which makes it surreal and it also makes it funny because of the unusual/surreal elements of it.
What are the best bits from your stop motion in your opinion? (Characters/set design/storyline/sound/props? Give some screen shot examples
In my opinion some of the best bits of my stopmotion were when I made it look like the camera was zooming into the characters, I did this by slowly moving the characters closer to where the camera was standing still.
I like my narrative because I think that it's unusual and funny which is just one of the types I like to watch. I think that my narrative is creative and is different to ones i've watched in the past.
The use of sound in my animation is quite good as it is recognisable making the animation funnier and it relates to the narrative well. I especially like when I used The Imperial March.
What are the weakest bits of your stop motion? Why do you think they are the weakest?
There is a bit in my animation where I try to do a gradual panning shot which I think is the weakest part of my animation this is because the movement looks a bit jumpy which is due to the fact that I didn't take enough shots to make it run a bit smoother.
Who was your target audience?
My target audience was adults and teenagers.
Do you think you have successfully targeted them? (link to some screenshots that you think are the best at targeting your audience)
I think that part of my target audience was successful as it would appeal to teenagers due to the light colours and the narrative of my animation however my characters are quite simple so it may not have been successful at targeting an adult audience. I also think that the simplicity of my characters and the setting would have helped target my audience successfully as it is a mixture of claymation and real live action basing it in a real life setting which makes it more realistic and relatable in a way.I think that the use of well known soundtracks helped to target my audience as it appealed to their personalities and what they might like.
What different types of sound did you use?
I used some different sound elements, varying between soundtrack and sound effects. I have used 4 different recognisable soundtracks and several sound effects to create cinematic impacts and to match the action happening on screen. I used both diagetic and non-diagetic sound to enhance my animation.
What bits of sound do you think are the most successful?
The bits of sound that I think are the most successful are when I use the Star Wars Imperial March and the Jaws Theme, I think that I fade them in at good moments making it relevant and ironic to the on-screen action. I like the sound effects that I chose to put in my animation I think they are well suited making my animation funny and attracting my target audience.
Peer Analysis
After getting in a group of my fellow students we managed to analyse our animations to gain good feedback for things that went well and things that need improvement. From this I learnt the following:
- That my peers found that my narrative was interesting and funny and it was so gory that it became funny which made it good for my teenagers who were my target audience.
- That they liked the movement of my peers labelling it 'sinister' and that they thought that the facial expressions of my characters were good, especially my screaming orange. They thought that my colours were good and realistic.
- They liked a lot of my sound effects but mentioned that my soundtrack at the start was a bit quiet so in improvement I could change the volume to make it loud enough.
- They also advised that to improve my animation I could speed up some of the frames at the start and to speed up the movements where the peas roll.
- Another thing they liked about my animation was my set that it was unexpected and that the props -the weapons were good.
- They also mentioned that some of my camera movements were slightly jerky so to fix this I could erase some of the frames or speed them up so it would make it less noticeable.
Questions to ask people on the open day
- What did you think about the storyline?
- What did you think about the character design?
- What did you think about the colours/drawing?
- What did you think about the set?
- What do you think could have been better?
- My target audience was teenagers do you think it targets them?
After completing my stop motion animation I proceeded to screen it to parents and future students who came to the open day to look around. During the open day I gathered lots of feedback from various sources by asking them the questions above which helped me to get some helpful feedback. From the sources I drew some conclusions from my data.
'I don't think I've ever seen anything like it'
'suitably horrific'
'liked unsuspecting orange'
'more agressive'
'understandable'
'imaginative and unexpected'
The common answers about the narrative (storyline) were that it was funny and horrific which I was pleased with as it was my original aim of the stop motion. I found that a lot of people said that it was great and that they really enjoyed the creativity of my idea.
The common answers about the character design were that they were very likable, a lot of people commented that they liked the character of the unsuspecting orange and that the peas looked very intimidating and scary. I was also told that people liked the transition of the peas' facial expressions from happy and sweet to evil and intimidating.
The commons answers about my set were that it was very fitting and that people liked the fact that it just seemed ordinary.
The common answers about improvements that I could make were a bit mixed. A lot of people said that they didn't know or that they felt that there was nothing to improve on however I did get some comments on an improvement to make the peas look more aggressive.
The common answers about the target audience were that the stop motion fit my target audience of teenagers, with this I also got a comment as they thought that it would also be suitable for a slightly younger demographic.
Looking at the most common answers I would have to say that I do agree with the common answers. I was quite unsure of whether it would be well received with my target audience and whether people would be interested in the narrative so I was pleasantly surprised when so many people enjoyed it and found it fitting to my target audience. I agreed with the likability of the characters and I think that I portrayed the different characters quite well. I do disagree with them saying that I had nothing to improve on as I feel like I still could have sped up some of the shots and if I would have had more time I may have gone back to re-film some of it again. In conclusion I agree with the majority of the comments.
Overall in my opinion I found that the open day was a really good way to screen my stop motion as it helped me ask people who were specifically interested in media or film their opinions. I felt more comfortable in this kind of environment as it was a bit more relaxed and I got to explain why I made the stop motion and a bit about what I enjoyed, it helped me feel connected to my audience.
Looking at my stopmotion in comparison with others of a similar style I found that mine compares in a few ways. From looking on youtube I found a stopmotion with a similar context about some oranges that explore the kitchen.
In this animation the oranges gradually move across the screen similarly to the way I moved my peas across frames. In comparison to this animation mine seems a bit shakier and it doesn't look as smooth. However I think the transition between the facial expressions in my animation are just as good as the ones in this one as mine are separated by transitions and the music builds up which I think is better in my animation but the faces change smoothly in this animation. The narrative is similar in both animations, there is a bad outcome in both resulting in a dead orange. Another way it is similar is that the narrative involves a group of fruit/vegetables exploring their surroundings. 
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