This is my very first attempt at animation in Flash. I went for rough and loose, hoping that the expressiveness would make up for these being only stick figures. I was also interested to see if I could suggest sound through movement and color alone. The Flash timeline is organized by frames, so putting my changes at equal intervals is how I kept them all on ‘tempo.’
I had to google walk cycles to figure out how to make my characters convincingly walk onto the stage. The movements of the musicians, however, were super easy for me to figure out from memory. I found it ironic that I know what my arms have to do when I play violin, but apparently not what my legs need to do to walk.
Adobe Flash never made any sense to me in the past, but as I begin to understand the needs and processes of animators (so very different from graphic designers), I start to see why the software works the way it does. I just have to adjust my thinking and my processes too. In this class, we’ll be animating traditional walks, bounces, and character takes, as well as watching documentaries about Disney and video tutorials from animators. It’s going to be a fun glimpse into a new field!