This is the second post regarding this project.  Please see here for the first post. Also check out Todd’s post here. 

I started out this week building the characters and the set to place the characters within.  I am still working on the Dance Floor set which will be the opening scene.  I am experimenting with creating a parallax view using a still photo.  Below are my draft sets for the entire story.

Once I had the sets built, I finalized all the characters.  This biggest challenge I had this week with After Effects was learning to navigate withing 3D (2.5D) space.   At one point I lost the navigation tools that are attached to the anchor point which added to the frustration learning this tool.  Not knowing the name of what I was looking for, it took me time to find a video that could help.  I discovered that I needed to select the Toggle Mask and Shape Path Visibility button to activate the tool I needed.

Meet the characters:

In addition to the animations performed in the video above, I did spend some time experimenting with creating the following effects.  In the first video, I layer the troll on top of another image of the entire troll doll body , lowered the opacity and added a rotation on the x axis.  This gives a slight trippy feeling to the troll doll which I enjoy.  

In the second video, I am experimenting with the puppet pin tool.  It took a bit to find the right location to place the pins as not to pull the body too far away from the limbs and eyes.  The pins are placed on the png image while the legs, arms and eyes are all on another layer as shapes.  If there is a way to manipulate the shapes in tandem with the body using the puppet tool, that would open up more possibilities as well as time animating. 

After chatting with Pedro regarding this project, Todd and I decided to narrow the scope of this iteration down to one maybe two scenes.  We are going to focus on the first scene where we meet the main character, Walkman, in a club.  Walkman is being celebrated for their fame and popularity until CD Player busts into the scene.  CD Player is the new and improved format for music which draws the attention of all in the crowd leaving Walkman deflated and heading out the door. 

We feel that this will be enough to fulfill the ask of this class while being able to focus on learning After Effects.  Now that we are this far, I look forward to putting it all together in the scene.