Backgrounds set

These will be my inspiration for some of my background Im going to put together on Photoshop.

How to make a Background for your Flash Cartoon

The Animator Survival kit

A highly recommended book by Richard E Williams  a easy to understand animation basics book recommended to me by my print teach and online tutorials and sites.

draft character sketch

I will probably not be using these sketches however Sam 1 was my first practice at trying to draw a character.

character design tips and researc

I have looked at PIXAR character design info page here are the tips i took from the page

Exaggerated characteristics - 
Exaggerating the defining features of your character will help it appear larger than life. Exaggerated features will also help viewers to identify the character's key qualities.

Colour -

Colours can help communicate a character's personality. Typically, dark colours such as black, purples and greys depict baddies with malevolent intentions. Light colours such as white, blues, pinks and yellows express innocence, good and purity.

Conveying personality -

Interesting looks alone do not necessarily make for a good character; its personality is key as well. A character's personality can be revealed through animations, where we see how it reacts to certain situations. The personality of your character doesn't have to be particularly agreeable, but it does need to be interesting (unless your characters is purposely dull).

Beyond the character -

In the same way that you create a history for your character, you need to create an environment for it to help further cement believability in your creation. The world in which the character lives and interacts should in some way make sense to who the character is and what it gets up to.

Second character design

For the end of my animation im going to fill in the blank character and make him seem more normal.
The character is going to be draw in Photoshop and I have begun to draw a rough sketch by hand.

Animation tutorial

From the tutorials I've learned how to set up and structure my stage or background and how character placement and layering this is when you build a character out of multiply layers and pin them together using the bone tool creating the effect that the different limbs are connected this make moving and animating the characters a lot easier.

Animation tutorials

I have watch video tutorials by Draw with Jazza a YouTube and professional animator i watched his videos on drawing backgrounds on flsash and walking cycle 

Indie animations

I have watched a couple of indie animations (Independent animation) to research any codes and conventions they may have. Indie animations are mostly personal projects with little to no story however most dont use narration but rely on character movement and expression
to convey the emotions and the theme of the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erUMp1WZ6l4

Short Animation.

The Final Exam : Animatic-StoryBoard - A animation with a similar art style to my own idea similar themes.

This Test Does Not Define You -  Is a narrative based animation with similar themes to my own however the style is too complex for my to replicate and I will not be using narration however it was interesting to see narration used in an animation and will make a good reference if I choose later on to use narration in my work.

Stress?

LONELINESS AT SCHOOL

Earlier this year YoungMinds surveyed 2,000 young people in education aged 11 to 25 across the UK.

The results were distressing, with a third of pupils feeling that they had no-one to talk to at school during difficult times.

Loneliness emerged as the central problem confronted by these 15-17 year old school students – 35% of males surveyed said that they had no-one to talk to about their stress, and 31% of females.

The poll reveals that children and young people are growing up in a ‘toxic climate’. It found that:  

• Over half of children and young people believe they will be a failure if they don’t get good grades.
• Half of children and young people have been bullied.
• Four out of ten 11-14 year olds are skipping meals to stay thin.
• One-third of children and young people don’t know where to turn to get help when they feel depressed or anxious.

ABOUT SCHOOL WORK AND EXAM STRESS

There is a lot of pressure on children and young people to do their best and get good results, and the stresses and strains of school life can sometimes get on top of them, and they can find it hard to get on with their school work and homework.

There may be a number of reasons for this:

• Difficulties concentrating in class due to noisy or disruptive pupils
• Problems with friends or bullying
• Difficult relationships with teachers
• Pressure around course work hand-ins or exams
• Problems learning due to specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia 
• Problems paying attention due to developmental problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Problems at home getting in the way
• Feeling unsupported by parents or carers.

TIPS ON MANAGING EXAM STRESS FOR PARENTS

The following tips should help:

• Accept this is going to be a stressful time for the whole family – expect outbursts and try to remain calm
• Try and find out as early as possible what is expected of your child, when their exams will be and when coursework needs to be handed in
• Try and work with your child and support them rather than policing them
• Be clear that avoiding subjects they find difficult will not be helpful in the long run
• Encourage children to talk to you if they are really worried they haven’t done enough work. Reassure them that if they do not get their expected grades, there will be other opportunities ahead, and they should just do their best
• Find out what revision techniques are recommended by the school, and check out online revision sites
• If you have any concerns or questions, contact the school rather than relying on your child to do it – most teachers have email addresses which can be useful if they are hard to contact
• Encourage your child to have regular breaks, to do something they enjoy, even if it’s just half an hour off for their favourite soap
• Make sure they eat healthy snacks regularly, and drink enough so they don’t get dehydrated – you can always pop your head in to see how they are doing and bring them a drink
• Exercise is also a good way to relax, even just a walk round the block
• Children have different ways of revising – some may prefer to be alone, others work best surrounded by noise and family
• Respect their body clocks – many teenagers are more alert during the night and this may be the best time for them to revise even though it makes parents anxious!
• After an exam or hand-in, they might not want to talk about it immediately so let them decide
• Try and plan something nice for when it’s all over – reward them for trying their best, however they feel it went.

What is stress?

Stress- A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.

Stress is simply a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium. In other words, it's an omnipresent part of life. A stressful event can trigger the “fight-or-flight” response, causing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to surge through the body.

Emotional symptoms of stress include:

• Becoming easily agitated, frustrated and moody
• Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control
• Having difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind
• Feeling bad about yourself (low self-esteem), lonely, worthless and depressed
• Avoiding others.

Physical symptoms of stress include:

• Low energy
• Headaches
• Upset stomach, including diarrhoea, constipation and nausea
• Aches, pains, and tense muscles
• Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
• Insomnia
• Frequent colds and infections
• Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
• Nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear
• Cold or sweaty hands and feet
• Excess sweating
• Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing
• Clenched jaw and grinding teeth.

How to reduce stress

1.Eat a healthy diet. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat.

2.Reduce caffeine and sugar. The temporary "highs" caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy.

3.Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs.

4.Get enough sleep.

walk cycle foot poses

walk cycle basics

I looked at a tutorial on how to animate a walk cycle on flash the video is by Alan Becker a online animator 


The four most important frames when animating are the contact pose and passing poses once you drawn the first set revers the sides of the feet this is how to create a basic walk animation.

To give your character personality you change the pace and timing of the walk so to make a character seem depressed you have to slow down the walk and the time between steps and for positioning the position of the arms and hear create the effect of emotion.

questions for students

• Have you felt stressed about exams or moving on to college?
• Were you offered any support?
• Were you made aware of any other forms of help?
• Did you feel the help you got was useful?
• how could it have been better?
• who could we make other students aware of the effects of stress and anxiety 

questions to ask Ratton school

• Does Ratton school provide counseling or help towards students who might be feeling stressed?
• What kind of support do you offer?
• How do you make sure students know about the different forms of help you provide?
• Do you have any policies around student mental health?
• Do you support awareness on the effect stress can have on a student?
• What support do you offer to students moving on to college?
• When would you say student feel most stressed in there final years at school?

April schedule needs update

				1 Research media story’s similar to my own for my blog	2	3
4	5 Draft for story board (no text)	6	7 Script and practice on flash	8 Begin to colour images on Photoshop	9	10
11	12 Finish and Show story board to saffron	13	14 Finish script and show john story board and script	15 Begin animating walk cycle	16	17
18	19 download and edit backgrounds	20	21 Finish first animation	22 start second animation	23	24
25	26 basic edit backgrounds	27	28 Finish basic background edit	29 Finish second animation	30

news article from last year

stress awareness day

National Stress Awareness Day (NSAD) is an annual event held on the first Wednesday in November of each year, NSAD is organised by the International Stress Management Association and aims to raise awareness of the effects of psychological distress in the workplace and the many coping strategies and sources of help available to address it.

This is similer to what im researching however I'm only aiming my project towards a younger target audience

twitter story

The college uploaded a post

to twitter today (10/03/2016) the tweet is slimier to my fmp topic

March schedule

March Schedule 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10 Finish proposal draft and schedule Theory research topic	11 Flash research and tutorials	12	13
14	15 Survey to send to local school	16	17 Background research and flash character research	18 Practice with flash And Photoshop	19	20
21	22 Research on stress and teen psychology	23	24 Research on stress and teen psychology	25 Mood board and NHS help line research	26	27 Easter Sunday
28 Easter Monday	29 NHS help line research find relevant stories for inspiration	30	31 NHS help line research find relevant stories for inspiration