Brief and Rationale:

Brief:

Create a short animation about red squirrels for a banner on a web page. This should help make adults more aware of the red squirrels and the red/ grey squirrel problem.

I should finish the brief feeling I have learnt more about the animation process.

Rationale:

I am going to hand draw an illustration of a red and a grey squirrel to animate for a banner for a web page. The animation will be 6- 10 seconds long.

First of all I will need video footage of a red squirrel so I can capture frames/ still shots to print out and draw from. By doing this I will be able to closely examine and understand the exact movement of a squirrel making the animation as believable as possible for the audience. All the frames will be made the same size so I am able to trace the squirrel to make it seem more realistic.

Everything within the animation will be a silhouette shape. The foreground/ background will be black and white to focus more attention on the squirrels themselves, which will be their correct colours (red and grey). This will also highlight the red squirrel more as it will be the only bright colour (others monochrome). While the foreground will be drawn freely, the squirrels will be traced individually to ensure the correct silhouette shape.

Once the foreground and each frame has been drawn I will then scan them in to Adobe Illustrator. In Adobe Illustrator I will make the images sharper with crisp edges, making them look more professional. I will then merge the squirrel drawings with the foreground to create the single frame.

When all the frames have been put together I will ask for assistance with the animation process as it is something I have never done before. I will need to know which is the best software to use and to make sure it is compatible on a web page. I will then have to be shown how to use the software.

If I manage to finish the work I will send out an email to a local Red Squirrel charity to see if they are interested in using the animation on their web page.