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BBC Evaluation

In this project, working as a group we achieved what we set out to create, on time. I think that the colour palettes, although not as consistent shot to shot as we had originally discussed, worked well to capture the atmosphere and mood of the topic. I would say as a group our biggest problem/flaw was lack of communication and lack of adherence to regular deadlines. I think that if we had been regularly sharing our progress and giving each other feedback we could have made a stronger, more cohesive animation. I think that this is an area I really need to improve on personally as well. I’m not one to initiate the communication and that’s something I’d like to getting better at. In terms of my animation I think  that although the movements are very simple it works because of the ease in and follow through, because without them the movement would be extremely boring. That being said I don’t think I spent enough time polishing the animation, in particular the slot machine landing. I didn’t get across the weight too well, after the first impact it should have slowly started to tip before slamming down. One aspect that I would have liked to revisit is our composition. All the shots are rather safe/ basic. The focus of the shots always center frame. This makes our compositions a little repetitive. And I think we could have made use of light, colour and motion to guide the eye instead of framing with the camera.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Personal Branding Evaluation

In this project, I have created a website, showreel and CV in order to demonstrate an understanding of the job I want and how to specialise my branding to best achieve getting it. Positives aspects of this project, I believe are that I’ve shown a wide array of relevant work that is a good indication of my knowledge and skill relevant to the job and through researching the industry I now have a better understanding of the direction I need to take. One of the key things I would improve if I were to do this project again would be to create more iterations of the website and CV design. I didn’t do too much experimentation with the style and I settled for a look too soon. I also think my research was too limited and didn’t include enough analysis. Overall, I’m not too pleased with the results of this project. It wasn’t a complete failure because I built up my knowledge but I don’t see myself as using the website, showreel and CV simply because there is a lack of quality in presentation.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Personal Branding Week Commencing 7th May

The final steps I took this week were polishing the website composition and ensuring it was compatible with mobile. And also, creating the final look for the CV. I think it demonstrates an understanding of what’s expected from me if I want a job in 3D art but it could benefit from me having more experience or a section about myself on hobbies and interests to create a sense of who I am.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Personal Branding Week Commencing 30th April

This week I managed to produce a showreel as well as complete all the major aspects of the website. There are still a few tweaks left to make but that will be done next week. As for the showreel, I’m not at all happy with the result. I have little experience with editing so wasn’t quite sure of what I was doing most of the time but the biggest problem I had was that clips I have relating to my CG work. They were never made to be shown off, the work I’ve done are essentially tests I did to learn the software. Rather than the final outcome looking pretty, I’ve prioritized trying different techniques each time and I think it shows in the quality of final outcome.

There’s not much I can too to fix this for this project, however, I’m not too concerned because I have another year to start building up my portfolio with CG work before it really matters.   

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Personal Branding Week Commencing 23rd April

After receiving feedback on my website, I made the necessary changes and toned down the font and merged the about and contact page. I’m satisfied with the current state of it. It’s easy to navigate, in my opinion at least, and the key information and work are displayed straight away meaning the viewer sees what they need to see as soon as they click on the website. Next week I plan to have the first pass on my showreel completed. That’s if I can get a render of the current BBC project completed before then.

Research Sources: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/self-employment/freelancing http://www.instantshift.com/2013/02/01/advertising-as-a-freelancer-keys-to-success/ I did a little research into freelancing this week. It’s not something that I’m considering right now but in the context of the project it was useful to understand the differences in how to brand yourself and the greater need to network

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Personal Branding Week Commencing 19th March

This week I experimented with Wix to create a couple of different layouts for my website and I’ve now got a basis to start working with. The next step will be to collate all my work and determine what’s strongest, what’s relevant and what an employer might want to see. Another task I did this week was to research CVs and I’m now starting to collect all the information I need into a word document so that I’m ready to start designing one for the role of 3D generalist.

Research Sources: https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/getting-job/building-cv https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/which-parts-of-my-education-should-i-include-in-my-cv/ https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/creativeCVs.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kySh6jspg

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Personal Branding Week Commencing 12th March

This week, I did as planned and looked at a number of websites of 3D artists and their showreels and I then made notes on what features I want to try to incorporate in mine. Alongside that, I also did some research into what the job market is like for 3D artists and it would appear the demand is certainly there, it’s just case of working out where I fit within that now. The goal for next week is to start playing with website creator to get a scope of what’s possible and start working on the basic layout and aesthetic.  

Research Sources: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Job/3d-animator-jobs-SRCH_KO0,11.htm http://janjinda.com/ https://www.3dartistonline.com/news/2016/03/top-10-portfolio-tips/ http://www.sergicaballer.com/ https://www.sengjoon.com/professional-work http://www.davidmattock.co.uk/ http://www.marieraoult.com/ The research went well this week, I’ve got a better understanding of what I want my website and showreel to be like and how I can go about achieving that. I would say that I could have done with looking at more examples and it might have been wise also look at websites of non 3D-artists to get a broader picture.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Personal Branding Week Commencing 5th March

With this being the start of the project I didn’t do too much this week. What I did do was read the brief through and start to consider what it is that I want that I want to do because what job I want to advertise myself for will change what skills and work I need to present on my website. I think for next week a good place to start will be to look at examples of websites and just note down the features I like and what works and what doesn’t work. Research Sources: https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/becoming-3d-animator-takes-get https://www.theartcareerproject.com/careers/3D-animation/ https://www.theartcareerproject.com/careers/3D-modeling/ My research was rather limited this week, although what I did look at was useful. It’s given me a  clear idea of some of the key skills I need to ensure I highlight when creating a website for a 3D animator perspective.  

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Research Report Proposal Evaluation

In this project, I have managed to carry out a series of research that has led me through several paths of inquiry culminating in a complete proposal that I’m satisfied with. The reason I happy with the result is that the topic is interesting and engaging, it relates to animation and can aid in my own practice and the research I carried out to support it has already resulted in a vast array of statistics, theories, studies, and contemporary and historical works to reference. I’m confident that this will act as a strong foundation for when it comes to writing the actual essay. In terms of this project though, although I’m happy with the result I can’t say I’m satisfied with the process I took to get there. One of my major flaws when working on this project was not setting myself weekly goals and failing to record progress through missing some of the weekly summaries. This lack of commitment to regular a work pattern is not something I want to fall into as it can have adverse effects on time management. Luckily I wouldn’t say it had too much of an impact on this particular project as I was still able to allocate myself a comfortable amount time to complete the proposal with enough time left to respond to feedback. So going forward I plan to have more self-discipline with setting myself regular goals and sticking with them to ensure I complete everything on time.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Research Report Proposal Week Commencing 30th April

This week I met my goal of having a complete first draft by Thursday. I responded to the feedback and as a result, I’m a lot more confident in my current position and direction. I still need to fiddle with the structure of the proposal a little to make sure my intended thought process is reflected in the writing. So the goal for over the weekend is to have near finished version for the last tutorial. And as for next week, I’ve allocated time on Wednesday in case I need to make any significant changes to respond to the feedback.

Research Sources: https://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/animation-advertising-how-important-it https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3203022/ https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/11/2/643/1806532 https://www.statista.com/statistics/272443/growth-of-advertising-spending-worldwide/ https://hbr.org/2014/04/what-makes-the-best-infographics-so-convincing In terms of the research, I found a few more sources and figures to support the new direction into looking at advertising and I’ve certainly got enough to get by in the proposal but I think it’d be best to continue building up the research as I’m going to need it for the actual essay anyway. So I shall do that.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Research Report Proposal Week Commencing 23rd April

This week I have done a large proportion of research and also started to layout the information in the form of a proposal, ready for next week's tutorial. After I receive feedback I plan to have a complete first draft done by next Thursday to ensure I leave myself enough time to rework it if needed. To make sure I’m ready to write the first draft I will continue to do some research over the weekend.

Research Sources: http://www.uta.edu/faculty/mputnam/COMS4302/Notes/PoliRhetWTP.html http://www.ncurproceedings.org/ojs/index.php/NCUR2016/article/viewFile/2011/1107 https://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.7/AWNMag1.7.pdf https://prezi.com/m3e0yyeiurob/propaganda-limited-effects-theory/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/201702/the-con-propaganda http://psychofwar2009.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/cognitive-dissonance-and-propaganda.html http://ydraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Stop-Motion-Aids-Multimedia-Learning.pdf

I tried to favour academic sources this week, looking for research reports and studies. The reason being that a lot of sources I’ve looked at so far have been blogs that are anecdotal and don’t substantiate any claims. So to ensure reliability of the information, I looked for sources where I could find their references and if the author was qualified to talk their respective topics. This not only helped with getting reliable information but I found the information that was there to contain a lot more substance and were actually thought-provoking.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Research Report Proposal Week Commencing 12th March

I didn’t do as much as I should have this week and I think this is because I’m struggling for ideas which is hampering motivation. That being said I did manage to start looking into one potential interest. Which at the moment is some kind of inquiry into the history of sculpture. The reason being, I’m interested in learning and developing my 3D modelling and I have interest in sculpture. It’s a tenuous link at the moment which is why the next steps I will take is to try to think of possible questions that connect the two in a way that benefits my learning in relation to animation.

Research Sources: https://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Sculpture/ http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=bzt http://www.theartstory.org/sculpture_timeline.htm https://www.britannica.com/art/Western-sculpture/Modern-sculpture

Research was limited this week and what I did do wasn’t of particular use. I think this is due to the lack of direction. Without a clear goal, I’m finding it hard to find look in the right places. Looking back on the week though, I now realise that the library is probably a good place to start and will make this a priority of next week.

[steffanwilbyba2b]

Weekly Summary Research Report Proposal Week Commencing 5th March

I didn’t achieve much this week, it was a bit of a slow start to the project. The main activity was just consideration into potential topics for the project. I haven’t managed to settle on everything yet but I don’t expect to for a while yet. And due to the longevity of this project with it carrying over to next year I want to make sure I choose the right topic and ensure there’s enough research out there to be able to carry out the 5000-word requirement. As such, I’m going to take my time with this element and not rush into it. For next week though, I hope to have a couple ideas for potential areas to look into.

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Working Title

How and why does animation manipulate information and the emotions and what are the implications of this?

Report Type Extended Essay

Word count 5000

Background And The Research Question

The advertising industry has seen serious growth and is expected to continue growing with global spending projected to reach $557.99 billion by the end of the year (Statista, 2018). And within this industry there has been an upwards trend to use more and more animation, for example, from 2012 to 2013 there was 40% increase in the amount of businesses using animation (Animation Career Review, 2016). As a result of animation becoming extremely desirable in the market, the industry is the fourth highest in employing animators (Animation Career Review, 2016). This begs the question of why is animation seeing this kind of demand. Whilst animation has been a part of advertising for a very long time, with the earliest example of an animated tv commercial often been considered the “Botany Lamb” series in 1941 (AdAge, 2003), one of the reasons for this recent growth, other than an increased demand in traditional TV marketing, comes from the internet, in particular social media. One study looking at 900 brands over 5 social platforms found that there was a 61.5% increase in spending on ads from 2016 to 2017 (Morrison, 2017) and other data claims social media advertising now makes up 34.5% of the digital advertising spending worldwide (Statista, 2018). One form in which this has materialised is through the relatively new medium of the animated infographic. Designed to translate data and ideas into easily digestible images, it embodies one of the factors I wish to investigate in the essay. Which is animations ability to simplify complex information in an appealing and memorable way.  

I intend to outline and analyse theories, such as the picture superiority effect and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, in order to try establish how visual imagery can be used to convey information more effectively than just words or audio. Then go on to contextualise it within the modern world of advertising looking at examples and data but also, contextualise it historically with instructional films created by Disney for the US and Canadian military in WW2. As an extension of this, if time and word count permit I may also compare the two in order highlight how the animation techniques have developed as the understanding behind the psychology of media has developed.   

The second factor I intend to explore in my essay is closely linked to the first in that they are both used in tandem to create the largest impact on audiences. Animation can be utilised to manipulate the viewers emotions, guiding them to feel and perhaps even think differently and it’s this that I most want to legitimise through analysis of research like the paper “Emotion and Perception: The Role of Affective Information”, Zadra and Clore 2011. This factor will also be complimented and contextualised with research into animated propaganda and its effects; by breaking down particular propaganda films such as Der Fuehrer's Face, 1943, I hope to identify the theories and techniques which I will discuss throughout the essay in practise. Another area of this I intend to explore is the use of subliminal messaging alongside the hypodermic needle theory and how it fits within the two subjects.  And to conclude this segment of research I will then relate this back to animation in advertising, to hopefully demonstrate if and how the research and techniques are still applicable in modern works.

So to conclude, by looking at both historical instances of propaganda and modern examples of advertising I intend to identify how and why animation is effective at manipulating emotions and information through the analysis and application of psychology theories backed up with market data.

Overall Aims

To investigate the benefits of animation as a device for information communication.

To identify the psychology behind why animation is an appropriate medium for propaganda.

To analyse how both of the above factors are utilised within advertisement industry.

Research Methods

Research will consist of existing market data and industry stats for advertising and in particular animation in advertising, although I have found the statistics for animation in advertising to be significantly fewer than advertising as a whole. I don’t however, believe it’s too limited as not to serve my purpose. The second areas of research will be psychology journals, focusing on memory, emotion and perception. Aspects of concern with journals will be the validity of the studies themselves. I should bear in mind sample sizes, ecological validity, and if the studies have been replicated to ensure that my sources have merit. The last main area of research will be my own analysis of animated films, both propaganda and advertisements. The main limitation of my research will be the reliance on secondary sources and my ability to find valid, relevant ones at that. In general, to avoid some of the issues with relying on secondary sources I will attempt to cross reference sources wherever possible. It is feasible that I could, however, carry out my own survey to obtain some information regarding how animation impacts viewers but I don’t think I could do it a scale large enough to be of any use, plus self-report style surveys tend to have issues with the validity of the information gathered.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Introduce the hypothesis that animation has the ability to do as the essay title suggests

Chapter one: Context

Outlining both the growth in advertising and the growth of animation within advertising

Chapter two: Contemporary examples and theories

Examine recent animated advertisements in relation to picture superiority effect and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and then through this establish and analyse animations ability to manipulate information

Chapter three: Analysis of propaganda films

Examine Disney animations from WWII in relation to the relevant theories in order to establish and analyse animations ability to manipulate emotions with regards to contemporary examples Conclusion

Conclude findings - application of the knowledge gathered

Bibliography

Potential Outcomes

The information gathered and analysed in the essay will hopefully lead to a better understanding of how to effectively use visual language in animation, mainly in the context of advertisement but ideally also, the theories could be extended into all areas of animation. The intent of this essay is for it to benefit my own understanding of animation but due to the research being quite broad and based in theory it should be applicable for any animator.

Bibliography

Adage.com. (2003). Animation. [online] Available at: http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/animation/98320/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Animationcareerreview.com. (2018). Animation in Advertising: How Important Is It? | Animation Career Review. [online] Available at: https://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/animation-advertising-how-important-it [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Childers, T. and Houston, M. (1984). Conditions for a Picture-Superiority Effect on Consumer Memory. Journal of Consumer Research, 11(2), p.643.

Der Fuehrer's Face. (1943). [film] Directed by J. Kinney. United States: Walt Disney Productions.

Gavin, M. (2017). Influencing America through Animation – WWII Propaganda Cartoons: Part Three: Walt Disney | Inside the Magic. [online] Inside the Magic. Available at: https://insidethemagic.net/2017/01/influencing-america-through-animation-wwii-propaganda-cartoons-part-three-walt-disney/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Ívansson, K. (2011). Intersections of Modernity: Nationalism, The History of Animation Movies, and World War II propaganda in the United States of America. [ebook] University of Akureyri. Available at: https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/9520/1/Intersections%20of%20Modernity%20Nationalism%2C%20The%20History%20of%20Animation%20Movies%2C%20and%20World%20War%20II%20propaganda%20in%20the%20United%20States%20of%20America.pdf [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Mayer, R. and Moreno, R. (2002). Animation as an Aid to Multimedia Learning. [ebook] Plenum Publishing Corporation. Available at: http://ydraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Stop-Motion-Aids-Multimedia-Learning.pdf [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Morrison, K. (2017). Social Media Advertising Spend Was Up 60% Year-Over-Year in Q1 (Report). [online] Adweek.com. Available at: http://www.adweek.com/digital/social-media-advertising-spend-was-up-60-year-over-year-in-q1-report/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Ovans, A. (2014). What Makes the Best Infographics So Convincing. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/04/what-makes-the-best-infographics-so-convincing [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Sphancer, N. (2017). The Con of Propaganda. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/201702/the-con-propaganda [Accessed 8 May 2018].

Statista. (2018). Digital advertising: social media spending share 2017 | Statistic. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/271408/share-of-social-media-in-online-advertising-spending-worldwide/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

University of Twente. (2018). Mass Media | Hypodermic Needle Theory. [online] Available at: https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Mass%20Media/Hypodermic_Needle_Theory/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

www.statista.com. (2018). Topic: Global Advertising Market. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/990/global-advertising-market/ [Accessed 8 May 2018].

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Infographics have an emotional power because they can show you an idea — or a relationship, or how something works — very quickly

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This website has the statistics I need but their sources are hidden behind a paywall meaning I can’t check them. I’d like to think a business based on statistics would only use reliable sources but I can’t be certain of that so it’s probably best I try to find other sources to corroborate before I reference these numbers in an essay

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The results indicate that picture superiority occurs in both immediate and delayed recall tasks when processing is directed at appearance features. Verbal-only stimuli are recalled as well as pictures in immediate recall but become inferior once again in delayed recall  

Picture superiority effect

Simply, images help with recall which would explain their effectiveness in teaching.