Flash Project C'est Complet!

Here are a few still shots of my Flash Project.

Flash is definitely a program I want to familiarize myself with more. I learned about key framing... which is something I realize is used a lot in other types of programs, like After Effects. I also think back to how each frame used to have to be manually drawn or made... and how 'tweening' has made my life that much more easier. Lol.

The in-class critique was pretty crazy too. I got to see the talent in my class and what my generation is capable of creating. I really enjoyed one of the last projects where one student used masking and made that television animation with different themed channels. It was brilliant! It inspired me for more ways I can use Flash other than just making a title sequence or a kinetic font video. Flash can combine so many elements, like video, animation, text, pictures, to create a really cool product.

I'll leave you now with this:

Artist Statement

The concept for my flash project is a title sequence introducing a mock television show about my roommates and I. We call ourselves the Granby Girls. I wanted to do something of a very handwritten and hand drawn esthetic. Considering my lack of drawing skills, I took photos that I had previously photographed of us, and opened them up into Photoshop. I made raw cut outs and posterized the images to give them more of a cartoon-hand drawn feel. I played around with their movement using classic tweens. I also free hand wrote out all the text featured in the project. My project is very Juno inspired. The use of the loose-leaf lined paper as a background adds to the overall look as well.

My target audience would definitely be my demographic, that being high school and college students. The imagery and text reveal that this show is young, hip, and fun. It really reflects who the characters are, and what can be expected to be seen on the show.

Some of the challenges I faced were trying to time the music with the movement of the words. I’m used to using editing programs in which you can hear the music on the timeline, making it simpler to match up movements. This wasn’t the case for flash, and I found it really time consuming and frustrating. I decided to use a different song instead that had more flexibility in terms of matching up with movement. I had to bring the chosen song into Garage Band in order to shorten the length. Other struggles I had was with the text. I originally had used preset fonts for text in the project, but I didn’t like the end result. The text didn’t look as authentic as having it all handwritten.

I’m a big fan of what I’ve produced. I do have plans to create a web series based on the lives of my roommates and I would like to expand upon what I’ve created to make a longer title sequence for it. If not for my web series, then definitely use the same esthetic for something else. I really like the end result; it looks really clean and simple.