mi6011emiliamcgee

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Final animation When creating my animation I came across a problem as I had accidently rendered certain scenes so they weren't transparent which meant you couldn’t see the backgrounds. I fixed the problem by going back and rendering all the scenes again so they wouldn’t automatically be given a solid back.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Design document

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Separated into parts

To make the creation process of my animation more efficient I split the animation into parts. This also helped to reduce the stress these files might have caused my computer if I did everything together. All these times relate to points on my animatic which proved very helpful for getting the timing of everything down. Some of the times overlap which is because they would fade into the next scene which would mean they are still onscreen for a bit.

Part 1: 00:00:00 - 00:06:10

Part 2: 00:05:15 - 00:08:20

Part 3: 00:08:11 - 00:26:06

Part 4: 00:25:14 - 00:30:09

Part 5: 00:30:07 - 00:47:11

Part 6: 00:47:08 - 01:05:03

Part 7: 01:05:03 - 01:09:01

Part 8: 01:09:01 - 01:12:29

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Characters for animation

Character designs:

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Props for animation

Objects used:

Objects outside the book:

Objects for the book:

Scrolling Earth background:

Shapes for characters talking:

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Hero image

With no text:

With text:

One sentence description: Education is meant to be what we use to inform both the young and old of our world’s history but not everyone is invited to share their side which we need to change. We must explore the true history of social justice and discrimination so that we might create a better tomorrow. 

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Rubber Hose animation test I made a short animation out of my first test using RubberHose which is the main tool I plan on using for the animation of the characters in my work. I found the tool easy to get used to and feel confident in using it for my final piece.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Making process

Potential changes: Continuing to take notes from my feedback I have made certain potential changes that might be carried over into the final animation if it improves my work. To add more violence and make the animation more serious I could edit certain scenes.

When the ruler pulls apart the other empire he takes the other rulers leg with him.

making the struggle of the workers more obvious with shaking legs and the empire slightly dropping down to show how heavy the weight is.

Have more skulls and bones beneath the empire to really show the amount of people lost.

When the script describes shaping their own arguments instead of having the thought bubble grow to take over the screen while the characters talk I could have 2 different potential things happen.

1: It transitions into the next scene by using a jigsaw puzzle that builds over the characters talking 2: The next scene comes in through blocks slowly coming together on top of the characters talking

Various pieces for my work: My first step was figuring out how I wanted the objects in my animation to appear as well as the colours I would use for them. To give myself a slight idea of how they might look together I made to tests using already existing character art and placed a desk and book Infront of them.  Looking at my two test images I will be going forward with the lined objects as they look more natural next to the characters who have lines on them, the lineless test just ended up making the characters look out of place.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Remade storyboard animatic After altering my previous storyboard I had to check if everything found fit in the timeframe by putting it into an animatic. I feel like I was able to fit everything together well enough so that the events on screen blend with the audio.

In this version of the animatic the part talking about exploiting people and taking for them is a lot more simpler as it only takes place in one location with no extreme camera movements so an audience wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Idea development

Taking my feedback into account I decided to rework the story breakdown and moodboard to reflect the dark nature of some of the topics discussed and to relate further to my inspirations. My first step was to rework the transcript breakdown.

Part 1: “Social justice as a concept - I’ve done my research on this - it goes back to the 19th century.”

Student character takes a book from the book shelf called “Social Justice”.

Student holds the book up to the camera where it slowly zooms in towards the title making it more clear.

Scene begins to fade for the next scene.

Part 2: “Because that’s a time when in this part of the world, in the West, you had industrialization kicking off; you had countries forming empires,”

Zooming in on a clock that slowly transitions to the Earth.

Continues zooming in but fades into a flat landscape.

The ground becomes a conveyor belt carrying the empire to the centre.

There is a triangle character seated at the top.

Part 3: “so suddenly there was a need for social inequality because that’s how countries get on -”

The empire rises slightly to be more pyramid-like but there are slight gaps in some places.

The triangle character morphs into a crown shape to signify he has made himself king.

You can see other empires appearing in the background and people gather at the base of the empire.

Part 4: “you know, you exploit people, you take from places, you colonize, you have workers at different levels,”

The crown character scoops up some of the bystanders and uses their bodies to fill in the gaps of his empire (exploit people).

The crown also uses another hand to remove pieces of the other empires which makes his own grow (colonise).

As the empire gets bigger it has to be held up by a cluster of people who are clearly struggling (workers at different levels)

Part 5: “so the concept of needing justice in society became really sharp in the West.”

Begins to zoom in on the people holding the empire up till we can clearly see their faces.

One in the centre looks up angrily (towards the crown character) as the scene begins to fade.

Part 6: “So, your curriculum has to have a position that factors that in, because there is social injustice built into society.”

Goes back to the student character who is still reading the “Social Justice” book at a desk.

A thought bubble appears besides the student of the pyramid shaped empire but it transforms into a more modern looking building.

Crown character would look more menacing.

Part 7: “Individual people need to shape their own arguments, but I can tell you what I believe to be true about social justice.”

Another character approaches the student and the student begins talking.

While talking the thought bubble grows larger and starts to zoom in on the people still holding up the empire.

Part 8: “A lot of people can’t because they haven’t been invited to interrogate it.”

Keeps zooming in to the bottom edge of the pyramid empire till we can see 2 characters holding the empire still and 2 other characters to the left happily talking.

There are skulls around the people holding the building to signify that time has truly passed.

The 2 talking characters notice the ones holding the building.

Part 9: “So, I feel as though the curriculum needs to be a place that fosters a spirit of interrogating the accepted truths and norms and the status quo, seeking to discover what actually happened,”

The talking characters approach the ones holding the building and place beams to help relieve the pressure and allow them to leave.

All the characters walk away from the empire looking much happier to be able to talk to each other.

The background becomes lighter when walking away from the empire.

Part 10: “with a view to putting your best foot forward in a deliberate and benevolent direction of ‘can we make things better and fairer?’”

The characters notice a path in front of them and walk towards it.

Zooms in on the path where we see a character step on it and everything begins to brighten.

All the characters join hands while the camera zooms out, more characters are joining in creating a full circle.

Ends on a rainbow planet surrounded by all kinds of different shapes showing a happier, more hopeful future.

Storyboard:

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Storyboard animatic To see how the timing for my animation would be I made an animatic out of the sketched storyboard I made. I feel like I would be able to fit everything into the 1:13 time limit even if I made some slight changes to the imagery used.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Idea development

Sketched storyboards:

What I might change: Based on feedback I feel like it would make more sense for the barrier blocking the 2 groups to be a door with a window as that would show that they can see each other which it looks like they couldn't before.  Using a door could help to create symbolism a new beginning or to show that the door is now open to everyone.

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Idea development

Designs: Concept images

Further developments

Texture tests: None

Paper

Velvet

Paper and velvet

Paint

Cloud

Out of these texture developments I think I would use the Paper and Velvet as it has a nice mixture of texture as well of not making the characters too light or dark compared to the original colours.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Idea development

Transcript: Social justice as a concept - I’ve done my research on this - it goes back to the 19th century. Because that’s a time when in this part of the world, in the West, you had industrialization kicking off; you had countries forming empires, so suddenly there was a need for social inequality because that’s how countries get on - you know, you exploit people, you take from places, you colonize, you have workers at different levels, so the concept of needing justice in society became really sharp in the West. So, your curriculum has to have a position that factors that in, because there is social injustice built into society. Individual people need to shape their own arguments, but I can tell you what I believe to be true about social justice. A lot of people can’t because they haven’t been invited to interrogate it. So, I feel as though the curriculum needs to be a place that fosters a spirit of interrogating the accepted truths and norms and the status quo, seeking to discover what actually happened, with a view to putting your best foot forward in a deliberate and benevolent direction of ‘can we make things better and fairer?’

Inspiration: Mr. Men & Little Miss I want my hat back Kurzgesagt (YouTube) Cas van de Pol (YouTube) Dumb ways to die Vector art

Reasons for my inspiration: Mr Men & Little Miss When I look at the characters in this series I always note how different each character is almost in the same way that no person is the same so when I looked at the themes found throughout the transcript the Mr. Men came into my head. The characters in the series are quite simple but recognisable which is what I would like to aim for.

I want my hat back The paint-like texture on the characters help to give them more depth and detail without needing to do much. I feel this would work well with my simple character designs.

Kurzgesagt (YouTube) A good example of a group that makes animated educational videos and my first thought when I thought of my idea. They do a very good job at keeping the attention of their audience with the interesting visuals even if the subject is rather complicated.

Cas van de Pol (YouTube) Uses a simple style that contrasts the more graphic content that they typically show. The style and shapes of the characters is mainly what I am looking at as it makes the designs seem more fun and interesting.

Dumb ways to die This animated video is able to pull off a very cute and simple style while also showing horrible things happening to them while relating to telling people about train safety. Since I will be covering a rather serious and horrifying subject I feel it would be a good idea to show how bad it was but not in a way that would turn people away from watching.

Parts: Next I split the transcript into parts so that I could describe what would be happening while the audio is playing out. This step will make storyboards easier when I do them. Part 1: “Social justice as a concept - I’ve done my research on this - it goes back to the 19th century.”

Character taking a book called “Social Justice” and opening to a page saying “19th century”.

Or the book is called “Social Justice - 19th Century” and the character just opens on a blank page.

The background changes to match the paper colour to show the transition into the book.

Part 2: “Because that’s a time when in this part of the world, in the West, you had industrialization kicking off; you had countries forming empires,”

Zoom in on a circle representing Earth till it is just a flat piece of ground.

A building begins rising from the ground to represent the forming of empires.

Part 3: “so suddenly there was a need for social inequality because that’s how countries get on -”

The building rises further, becoming a pyramid shape with a crown at its top.

The rising motion helps to show how it is a rising up of civilization.

Part 4: “you know, you exploit people, you take from places, you colonize, you have workers at different levels,”

A crown character takes money from someone. (exploit)

Removes the roofs off another town. (taking)

A hand grabs the town and pulls it up to match the previous town with a crown also at the top as they take over. (colonise)

There are people at the bottom of the town holding it up these are the workers considered at the bottom. (workers at different levels)

Part 5: “so the concept of needing justice in society became really sharp in the West.”

Goes up to one of the faces of the workers looking sad before looking up determined.

Slightly fades into the page colours to set up for the perspective switch.

Part 6: “So, your curriculum has to have a position that factors that in, because there is social injustice built into society.”

Focuses back on the character reading the book in the beginning.

We now see that this main character is the same colour as the workers at the bottom of society in the book.

Scene expands and we can see a ghost-like image of the pyramid where our character is at the bottom. Showing that social injustice is still there.

Part 7: “Individual people need to shape their own arguments, but I can tell you what I believe to be true about social justice.”

The “Social Justice” book is placed onto a bookshelf with the spine facing towards the camera splitting the screen.

The text on the spine begins to slide up to help transition into the next scene.

Part 8: “A lot of people can’t because they haven’t been invited to interrogate it.”

Continuing from the last scene as the text goes away we see that there are two groups of characters blocked off from one another. One group the same colour as the previous character and the others a group of other colours.

The group of other colours are all talking while the group of one colour stood there sadly.

This helps to further push that these characters are meant to represent a different race from the other.

Part 9: “So, I feel as though the curriculum needs to be a place that fosters a spirit of interrogating the accepted truths and norms and the status quo, seeking to discover what actually happened,”

One of the other colours notices the sad ones and walks over opening the barrier so they can join in.

1 character pulls out a piece of paper labelled “status quo” and another pulls out a magnifying glass inspecting it.

The scene fades out to a single colour.

Part 10: “with a view to putting your best foot forward in a deliberate and benevolent direction of ‘can we make things better and fairer?’”

Characters of all different colours and shapes begin to fill the screen.

All the characters are smiling while looking towards the camera, looking towards the better future.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Research

Why I chose this topic: I chose this topic because of my own belief that the curriculum should be a place where anyone can speak. Sharing the truth is very important when teaching people so it should always be shared even if it doesn't fit with the status quo. It shouldn't need to be a question of should the curriculum be changed, it should be why has it not fully changed already.

what I want to do with the topic: Due to the importance of the topic I want to show it set up like it's an educational video that anyone can understand. The animation would be easily linkable to the theme of needing to change the curriculum if it's set up like its education itself, almost to prove the point. I would need to look at various examples of videos that aim to educate people to know how best to approach this idea.

(articles or videos that were helpful in research)

Notable words from the transcript: Social justice Social justice refers to a fair and equitable division of resources, opportunities, and privileges in society. Originally a religious concept, it has come to be conceptualised more loosely as the just organisation of social institutions that deliver access to economic benefits. Industrialization Industrialization is the process of transforming the economy of a nation or region from a focus on agriculture to a reliance on manufacturing. Mechanised methods of mass production are an essential component of this transition. Social inequality Social inequality refers to differential access to and use of resources across various domains (e.g., health, education, occupations) that result in disparities across gender, race/ethnicity, class, and other important social markers. Exploiting people Exploitation is the act of selfishly taking advantage of someone or a group of people in order to profit from them or otherwise benefit oneself. Colonising Colonisation can be defined as a process of establishing foreign control over target territories or peoples for the purpose of cultivation, often by establishing colonies and possibly by settling them. Curriculum The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program. Social injustice Social injustice is when actions are taken that infringe upon a group's rights, marginalise their opportunities or treat them unfairly. Status quo The existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues.

Articles & video research: I looked for various types of media relating to the subject of racism and education and I was able to find a few to look into which helped my understanding of the subject matter.

How race affects education opportunities  https://www.aecf.org/resources/race-matters-how-race-affects-education-opportunities From this document I learned that schools with a higher percentage of minority students are more likely to employ beginning teachers who aren't as experienced at educating children compared to the more experienced teachers typically found in schools where the amount of minority students is lower. This is important as it affects the children's quality of learning which can greatly affect their futures when they have to compete with others who had a greater quality education than them.

We need to talk about racism in the UK education system https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/blog/racism-uk-schools From the article I learned of a statistic that 46% of schools didn’t have a teacher from an ethnic minority background which is a very high number when you consider how many schools there are in the UK. The article also covers how important it is to have diverse teachers for the students of any race as seeing them act as leaders in a classroom setting as either a teacher or headteacher would help to negate negative stereotypes which might form after never seeing someone in the minority in a leader like position. I also looked through various videos linked to the subject of racism to help expand my understanding of the history of the topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQV8qCkFV9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMUI9XbL-xE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNRDNT7TCpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFebp7GZeHY