Completing our Animation!

Unfortunately, trying to complete the animation before the deadline was a tough process as we began to run out of time towards the end. As my team mates were busy completing the final drawings and editing the PhotoShop files in After Effects, it only made sense that I would write the report as my team mates each had a heavy workload.

I divided the report into sections, which included the introduction, stating what we wanted to achieve and a conclusion: Stating what challenges we faced, the things we are most proud of and things we'd have given more time/resources to if given the chance, followed by a sum-up conclusion.

I also wrote my individual report about my own role, as did my team mates on each of their roles.

On completing the animation, we had to render each of the 6 After effects projects and put it altogether in Premier Pro.

The next step was to upload the animation to YouTube.

The Completed Narration

I wrote the narration for our piece based on Sean's Storyboards, Darragh's script and Alex's drawings. 

The narration informs the viewer about the events leading up to the rising and the events that happened on Easter Monday right up until the end of the rising. The narration also gives a detailed account of emotions and atmosphere, which is kind of an abstract element to the narration. 

Panel One: On Easter Monday 24th April 1916, a group of Irish rebels and Volunteers marched up

O’Connells street in Dublin. This was to be the Irish fight for Independence from British rule.

The rising was set to take place at an earlier date, as the IRB arranged with Germany for arms to be delivered before the 21st. However this ship was seized by the British navy. Rain lashed as the Irish marched forward with worry and anxiety on their faces knowing full-well they were marching towards certain doom. Civilians gazed at the soldiers portraying a 

variety of mixed emotions. Tension was palpable between those who agreed with the rising and those who were against the concept. 

Panel 2: 

 
Just after noon, the Irish rebels stormed the GPO which caused complete pandemonium. 

Their aim was to take over such important points in Dublin. Padgraig Pearse, one of the 

rebellion leaders, set foot outside producing a proclamation and bellowing its contents to an 

increasingly exasperated crowd. Many of the crowd grew aggressive, hurling taunts at the leaders and their surrounding guards.  Panel 3: Chaos broke out when shots were fired by several Irish soldiers at British soldiers in the 

vicinity of Dublin Castle. The rebels aim was to take over Dublin Castle, as it was the heart of 

British Rule in Ireland. On this day, the castle was defended by raw recruits. If the rebels had

 known about this, they could have taken Dublin Castle over with ease.  Panel 4: 

 However, this did not prevent the British from defending the Irish attack.  The Irish

were still out-gunned and out-numbered by the British. They also had easy access to reinforcements.The British fought back hard, driving the Irish away from the castle by shutting the gates and

firing at them. As a result, the Irish failed to capture Dublin Castle.    Panel 5: Horrific scenes continued on the streets. Gunshots and explosions boomed throughout the city. The city center was in ruins. The rebel positions were completely surrounded and many civilians had been 

brutally killed. Irish rebels were continuously being captured by the British. The rebels knew they were being defeated. In order to put an end to this tragic battle and to save the lives of his fellow people, Padraig Pearse surrendered unconditionally.    Panel 6: The Rising was an immediate failure. The leaders of the rising were captured one by one by 

the British. Rebels were executed publicly. People watched in shock and horror as British soldiers aimed their guns at the leaders.With their faces covered, and their hands bound, they each waited anxiously for their turn to die. The British soldiers collectively pulled their triggers. The rebel leader’s fate was sealed...

Moodboard

This moodboard suggests the style we are basing our animation on. 

Here there are images of the comic style of Infamous and also The Walking Dead. 

I also included a font style sample. I downloaded this font from dafont.com

The font is called Fighting Spirit and I think the "roughness" of it may be suitable for our animation. Its sharp, edgy and aggressive, therefore something like this would suit our animation.  

This font is found under the comic section, hence it would be suitable for a comic style animation.

Link: http://www.dafont.com/fighting-spirit-tbs.font

More sample sound effects

From reading the script, I noted the extra sound effects that we need.

Here are some samples:

Marching

http://freesound.org/people/WebbFilmsUK/sounds/200321/

http://freesound.org/people/stib/sounds/240732/

Crowd shouting

http://freesound.org/people/benjaminharveydesign/sounds/316640/

Sound Effects Samples

1916 Rising Project Sound Effects 

Here are some sample sound effects that could be use for our project: 

These sounds are from SoundDogs.com and freesound.org

Explosion with echo delay 

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects/explosions-pound-explosion-u-267045

Bomb Explosion 

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects/explosions-bomb-black-power-230653

Mauser Riffle 

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects/rifle-mauser-kar-98k-439518

Possibly a Background noise? 

https://freesound.org/people/2887679652/sounds/171475/

Different Gun pitches 

https://freesound.org/people/lensflare8642/sounds/145206/

The first few seconds of this one before the plane comes in. 

https://freesound.org/people/juskiddink/sounds/64647/

Music : I’m not quite sure what type of audio we should use yet, but here’s a sample. 

Intense Battle Music 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOORk2gx3Kw

There are a few sound effects to be added to this list, such as crowds shouting etc. However, it is difficult to find good quality sound effects. 

Apart from sound effects, I am also working on finding a voice actor for our voice-over narration. 

Voiceover Narration

In order to get a better understanding of the qualities of a good voice narrator, I read an article about the Top 5 of Cinema's  Greatest Voiceover Narrators.

Among the voice narrators listed were Morgan Freeman, Orson Welles, Cate Blanchett, Werner Herzog and Sam Eliot.

http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/cinemas-greatest-voiceover-narrators/

Each of these voice narrators have distinct voices, that evidently naturally appeal to the listener.

For example, Morgan Freeman's voice is relaxed, soothing and calming making him a pleasure to listen to.

However, with the variety of accents in this list, such as Blanchett's soft British accent, Herzog's strong German accent and Elliot's Southern American accent, none of these voices would be suitable for an animation about the 1916 Rising.

I then researched the characteristics of a good voice over actor/artist and here's a diagram at shows the traits really well.

 

I also found a diagram with good voiceover tips that will really help with this project.