Critique and Feedback

The hand in and feedback session didn't go quite as badly as last time!

Unfortunately, I was unable to get music in time, something that I still need to work on. This has been difficult because of all the story and animatic changes, and with my story music is very important, and has to be timed very specifically in some parts.

One of the main issues people had were that some parts were not clear, and this may or may not be down to the lack of sound. Whatever the problem, it is clear that I still have a lot of things to work on.

This Tuesday we had one on one feedback sessions with Leonie, to get our results back and a more in depth critique. I am currently marked in the C9-C10 area for my film, and while I know I can do much better, it is not a bad mark considering I had to redo most of my film in a short space of time.

The feedback I got included the film being very ambitious, and that I should enlist the help of 1st and 2nd years for compositing and colouring work especially. I definitely agree with this, and some friends have already volunteered to help if they have the time!

I was also told once again that I need to make some parts of the film clearer, which I already knew from the previous critique. The film relies on character animation, so I need to make sure that everything in that aspect is perfect, or as close as possible for the film to be clear to the viewer. I need to beable to show what the characters are thinking, and at this point that aspect is not coming across. One of the main sections that needed to be clearer was the dog. I need to better convey that the dog is calling for her, and later protecting her from the other dogs. I also need to show that the dog is still watching over and protecting her at the end of the film.

I was advised to look at animated dog films for reference on dog character animation, so I shall probably watch and research films such as Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians in the near future!

It was also suggested to me to leave some more subtle clues to the audience regarding the dog, maybe celtic references in the graveyard, an idea which I quite like and will definitely try to incorporate into the scene!

One of the main points in the critique was that the chasing aspect was not working. The dog has come to retrieve the girl, even if she doesn't realise it herself, so making her chase after him is probably not the best route. Together we worked out an alternate version of the story which is as follows:

-The dog is stern at first, 'proffessional'. The little girl is friendly but the dog is not interested.

-The little girl climbs onto the dogs back and they set off, with the journey getting progressively scarier for the girl until she stops the dog and gets off his back.

-Other dogs appear and they are menacing, but the dog chases them off effortlessly, maybe with a look or a simple gesture. It is here that the dog 'realises' that she is scared and comforts her.

-At this point the girl is ready to move on, and the dog takes her to the underworld, perhaps by way of a tree (Like Sleepy Hollow) and she crawls through to the field of flowers.

I think that this version has a lot going for it, so I am going to work with this and see what happens!