Transitions

I would like to keep a fluid motion throughout my animation, but keep the images mostly static. With the form I’m trying to create, the point of view will always be panning across the wall, creating a fluid motion, but the images will be “sprayed” on as the camera is moving by, so in that sense, the images will be still. By arranging the images by size and how close they are to each other along the wall I can create the rhythm of the narrative.
Once I add the spray effect by revealing each image on the wall, I’ll have some more control over the speed at which the images are revealed. It’s difficult to create an animation this way because I am editing the photo placement as well as how fast they appear—all while keeping it believable that they are sprayed onto a wall by making them move in the same direction and at the same speed.
By choosing this method of animation, I’ve found that the previous image lingers on the screen longer than in traditional animation. This leads to images having several different meanings, which I find very interesting. For example, the image of the volunteer hand seems at first strong an free-willed as Michael explains that they had a chance to volunteer, but then as the tone switches to his father’s war when many people didn’t come back, the image of the hand seems more like a shadow—a memorial to those who died. I’d like to experiment more with this aspect of my style and see how I can say more than one thing with each image. I feel like it’s a nice corollary to the things that Michael talks about.
I’d like to stop movement on the last set of images to indicate the end as well as focus attention to what I feel is the “moral” of my animation. This also provides a way to reflect on the last images and have the meanings change as Michael explains more about humbling himself as he becomes a civilian.

McCloud’s Transitions:

1. Aspect (Iraq to Sandstorm)
2. Scene (to hands)
3. Aspect (to cross)
4. Scene (to walk)
5. Aspect (to target)
6. Aspect (to sand)
7. Aspect (to hymn)
8. Aspect (to scared)
9. Scene (to killing)
10. Aspect (to humble)
11. Action (to eye)
12. Scene (to Vietnam)
13. Aspect (to Korea)
14. Aspect (to draft papers)
15. Scene (to volunteer)
16. Scene (to portrait)
17. Aspect (to moving on)