Proposal

Chosen Animation
The chosen animation I will be using will be stop motion animation. I will be taking photos of
the scene as I make minor adjustments to the scene. After this process, the short video will
be on the way. I think that for this idea in particular, stop frame would work the best
because I can manipulate my characters round the set.

Clay animation is one of the many forms we see in todays stop motion animation. Clay is a
good item to use in the formation of stop motion animation because it is deformable and
can easily be changed from its original creation, also clay can be manually moved rather
than acting, as the actor would have to remember the position that they were in. In our stop
motion ident for the childrens TV station "Ceebeebies, we will be using plasticine clay in
bright colours to attract the childs attention and seem child attention. Primary colours are
more widely used in childrens programming rather than dull bland colours such as grey as
primary colours are bright and attract the attention of the children.
In clay animation, each item is sculpted, usually around a skeleton architecture. In our
meeting we had many ideas of what we would be doing, these included the small "blob-like"
creatures currently used on the Ceebeebies idents or using a morph like creation. We would
most likely be creating a centre object and have the action occurring around this centre item.
We have not yet decided on what the centre object may be; we will come to this conclusion
in a second meeting after each group member has conducted his or her research. If we were
to go with the "blob-like" idea, then the clay would take on a freeform motion whereas the
morph idea would involve using character motion where the character will be recognizable
throughout the motion. An idea we looked in to during the meeting involved strata-cut
animation which would involve slicing a loaf of clay in to various scenes and then moulding
from that but we felt that would limit the amount of creativity we could put in to producing
the ident and would not be suitable for the station we have decided to create for;
Ceebeebies.
Storyline
Draco is not any ordinary dragon. Instead of being red in
colour, Draco is white. Was born in a different land but fell out
of the reach of his of his mother mid-flight and fell into the
land of the red dragons. The series is based around Draco
going back to his homeland by being helped by the red
dragons.

Characters
The main character is Draco the White Dragon whom the
show is based around. There is his red dragon elder friend
called Daiki. There will also be some characters who will
make brief appearances but will not be seen as much as the
main cast.

Visualisation
In terms of visualisation, I want to bring a kind of
modern day vibe to this, as everyone seems to
relate dragons to the medieval times with castles
and kingdoms, but this show is going to be set in
modern day as some humans will make an
appearance too. During flyover scenes, you will
travel across the city.

Technical Limitations
When thinking of technical limitations, there are a number of different key things, which
limit what we can and cannot do within our animation. One of these is the period in which
we have to complete the project. Obviously, the longer period you have to work with, the
more detailed, complex and perfected the overall outcome will be. Another limitation is the
actual size of the set with which we have to work. The stage is only small and this needs to
hold all of the set, background and characters/objects etc.

Format Potential
To fully exploit the format is potential, if I was to properly do this as a production, then I
could for example use a real fixed stage. This would mean that I have to have a bit more
flexibility in what happens with props and characters.
Set
When I come to create my final animation, I will need to
ensure that my set is complete and ready to use. This
includes the background and any other props I might
need for my animation. The background will be made
out of either paint or a printed image in which I am
going to paint my set with hopefully a technique I learnt
independently which will stand out. The props can be made out of either plasticine or any
other material that may be best used for the prop (paper, cardboard etc.)

Props
I dont think I will need any props within my animation as the episode shows Draco learning
to fly due to the help of his friend Daiki. I will probably make plasticine tress or bushes for a
bit of scenery.

Scenario
Therefore, in this episode, it starts of Draco trying to jump and fly with his wings but
continues to fail with each attempt. This is when Daiki notices him struggling and decides to
help him out and teach him the techniques. Draco begins to explain to Daiki that he needs to
fly home to try to get back with his mother and father, so flying is the crucial part to his epic
quest. After a couple of tries of flying, he finally learns the hang of it and can fly.

Audio
With the audio, I am going to include introduction music, backing
music, voiceovers, and sound effects to really bring my animation to
life. All the music and sound effects are going to be somewhat magical
and have magical feelings. Then the voiceovers are going to be done by
either my friends or me.

Target Audience
The target audience is the little children who enjoy watching
Ceebeebies, so preferably 2-7 year olds, however because it is a
story based animation, the younger generation may find it hard
to follow the story but they might just enjoy the little creatures.

Planning
I will plan by using the ILP we have kindly been given by college to organise my time
completing this. The ILP includes all the work I am doing toward the creation of this project
in a lesson-to-lesson schedule which will help me divide my time.
Animation

Characters will move throughout the animation in individual frames, which capture small
movements. This will enable me to take many images and finally merge them together to
create a working animation. To enable this being as smooth as possible, I will need to make
sure that I only make a small movement to the characters between each frame/photo and
therefore it will not look jumpy when it is all put together.

Clay animation, or Plasticine animation, uses figures made of clay or a similar malleable
material to create stop-motion animation. The figures may have an armature or wire frame
inside, similar to the related puppet animation (below), that can be manipulated to pose the
figures. Alternatively, the figures may be made entirely of clay, in the films of Bruce Bickford,
where clay creatures morph into a variety of different shapes. Therefore, I am going to take
on his idea on this because I like his style, however my characters will not be morphing into
different ones, they will simply have the illusion of flying which kids and adults will find
fascinating since there is no CGI in my animation.

Another problem unique to animation is the necessity of ensuring that the style of an
animated film is consistent from start to finish, even as films have grown longer and teams
have grown larger. Animators, like all artists, necessarily have their own individual styles, but
must subordinate their individuality in a consistent way to whatever style was selected for a
particular film. Since the early 1980s, teams of about 500 to 600 people, of whom 50 to 70
are animators, have created feature-length animated films. It is relatively easy for two or
three artists to match each other's styles; it is harder to keep dozens of artists synchronized
with one another.

Script
Scene 1 (5 seconds) Draco tries to fly I cant do it

Scene 2 (5 seconds) Daiki sees his struggle. No speech.

Scene 3 (5 seconds) Daiki walks over. Are you alright Draco?

Scene 4 (5 seconds) both together. Draco I cant Fly! Daiki Ill teach you

Scene 5 (5 Seconds) Teaches him and Draco can fly Well done! Daiki says

Scene 6 (5 seconds) Playing in the sky. Draco This is so fun! I know! Daiki says.