initial trial at flash
-For this video I decided to use the font "Champagne and Limousines"because it was clear and easy to read, and because it had cartoon-like proporties, especially with the curvy dash on the 'Q', which could help achieve a more humorous/less serious feel and make the animation look comedic and cartoon-like.
-I found that with flash, it is quite difficult and time consuming to break up the letters individually and shape them to how I wanted them to look like for when I make the characters/letters perform certain actions, so after watching a video that showed me a way to use the free transform tool to manipulate objects in order to make them appear as if they're bouncing. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9FldZkcLPI- thats the URL for the video i watched in addition to flash tutorials). i used the same principles with my letters and created a similar bouncing effect for the letters as they move towards the centre on the screen.
-I decided that by making the letters bounce, the animation would have a more comedic flow, like a cartoon, and tis would emphasize the humor and personality that i tried to bring into the film. The bounce movement of the letters also have a more natural relation to the rest of the animation as opposed to the letters floating, which looked irrelevant to the style of the font and the cartoonistc approach to the idea. It looked to harmonious and relaxed, which didnt make sense to me because the action of squeezing takes up effort and can include things like tension which is far from relaxed.
-I have explained in my storyboard that the letters will form at the bottom and will gradually shrink in size, letter by letter to emphasize how the action of squeezing effects sizing and dimensions, for example a small ring stuck on a big finger needs to be run under hot water so that the metal expands/ gets bigger and the skin on the finger is stretched and extended as the ring is trying to come off.
Ideas for improvements!
-rather than having the letters at the bottom get smaller as you read towards the right, I could have the letters shrink at the middle like so:
SQUEEZE
This makes more sense because the viewer will understand this imagery better, ie can relate to a tube of toothpaste where the user squeezes the tube and the paste will be under pressure and will gather at the two ends of the tube.
-I think that at the end where the the letters settle at the bottom to create the word, it looks wrong to have the words separated, when the essence of the word squeeze involves closeness, so I think that it would suit if the letters bunched in together tightly at the very end to tie the end of the video together in a relevant way.
-I think that it is not enough to have only the giant 'S' trying to squeeze through the 'Q' when the rest of the words effortlessly pass through the hoop. It would look more appropriate to have all the letters squeeze through the 'Q' in order to give the word and meaning more character and motion.
-I need to explore looking at sounds that match the actions and movements of the letters in the film. Im think that in order to maintain the cartoon-like animation the sounds/ effects need to be more like generic cartoon noises so that the audience identifies the cartoon style of the film.
Additional Note
The significance of having a strong cartoon influence in my animation is so that the motion of the letters have a fun and interesting personality that can be as over-the-top or as limitless as possible. The cartoon approach not only gives the animation character and personality, but also suits the word 'squeeze' since the action of squeezing is widely used in cartoons (example: Simpsons where the character Homer squeezes Bart's neck)
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