Topic: Bud and Larry EP5: Devils Spring

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Bud and Larry EP5: Devils Spring

Bud and Larry EP5

Bud and Larry are at a hang out and Bud gets into a drinking contest, who could last longer basically.They are drinking one of the most alcoholic drinks ever called the Devils Spring.

Re: Bud and Larry EP5: Devils Spring

I will just say that you need to work on your animation a lot. Sorry. mini/eek

YouTube Channel Edmeier Animation
Email: [email protected]

Re: Bud and Larry EP5: Devils Spring

What specifically

Re: Bud and Larry EP5: Devils Spring

Lots of camera shake, so you should secure your camera and set to a table; also there's a good amount of light flicker, and the lighting itself looks like you're using the sun as a light source; you should try to cover all natural light sources, and use lamps to light your set; this will not only allow more stable lighting, but also will open the door to more dramatic lighting later on down the road. If your light flicker is due to something other than the sun or whatnot lighting your set, search on this website for some light flicker threads, as there are many, which should be suitable to fix any lighting issues you may be having. Securing your set/camera and stabilizing your lighting will go a long way; your focus doesn't seem like it's doing anything too crazy, so I assume you have manual focus enabled, which is good, but you should make sure that your camera is indeed focused entirely on the minifigure you're filming; in a sense, focus on the focus of the scene.

The animation itself is okay; practice making things smoother, by taking more pictures for each movement, as well as easing in and easing out. Here is a fantastic tutorial on doing this; once you know the technique, you just need to practice practice practice until you get it working well. Another thing that many people will complain about is that you have the minifigures not moving when they're talking, for a good deal of the time; try to have them move their hands and arms more when they talk. Take note: this does NOT mean the minifigures should be constantly moving all the time while talking; they should move their arms and hands at natural times in the dialogue, which is easily discovered if you imagine yourself as a LEGO person when you say the lines; if you had to rely on your hands and arms, within the constraints of a LEGO minifigure, in order to get your point across, when would you raise an arm, raise both arms, keep an arm in the air, etc. etc. etc. Again, a lot of it is practice.

Another thing that can make an animation look that much more professional is camera angles. You do have some camera movements, which is good, but getting into the habit of using more professional and dramatic camera angles is an even better idea. You can look online to get ideas of camera angles, including different shots to use and whatnot; although you are filming little plastic people, the more professional you make the cinematography, the more respect and praise you'll receive.

I can't turn on the sound, as I am in a hotel room with three other people at the moment, so I can't comment on voice acting; if someone else wants to do so, I think it might be helpful, but again, I don't know. From the description and the animation itself, however, I gather that two friends are engaging in a drinking game, and it lasts a ridiculously long time until one passes out, and immediately after the other passes out. Cliche, somewhat adult-themed, and unrealistically carried out. A mug such as that would not last two minutes, much less hours. Story itself isn't necessary in order to make a successful animation; it helps, but even a bad story can be successful if it is carried out well. However, carrying it out well does require some sense of realism. One thing that would help a lot would be to use several mugs; not just two, and refilling them, but to actually make each shot a new mug (technically in a drinking game you'd usually use actual shots, not mugs of beer, but that's a relatively minor detail). That way after the large amount of time passes, you could have the floor and table littered with empty mugs. This would add to the comedy as well as the realism of the film.

I have ordered these things coincidentally in order of importance; first the light flicker and camera stabilization, then the animation smoothness, then camera angles/professionalism, and finally story/realism. Please, please, please don't take this all for granted; I can promise that if you take all this into consideration, and practice the techniques mentioned here, your animations will become much better, as well as receive more views, praise, and respect, both here and on YouTube. There are, of course, other important things to think about when making an animation; character development/motives, story purpose, and pacing are just a few. However, I have allotted here what I have found to be the most important changes that you currently need to work on, while trying to not overwhelm you. Take these, and any other, suggestions to heart, and try to learn from what I and other, more experienced BiM members have told and will tell you. Cheers and good luck.

-kcirbfilms

kcirb-- its brick backwards.
Youtube

Re: Bud and Larry EP5: Devils Spring

Well i dont use natural lighting and thanks for all the advise