Digital Gif - Alien Box

I wanted to capture a sense of awkwardness in at least one of my gifs, and I think this is the one I succeeded on. I'm not used to creating image straight onto the computer, as I usually work on paper and then edit those drawings using the computer, but I tried out a Wacom tablet with these simplistic shapes to create something different to what I usually would produce.

Through this brief I've watched a lot of Adventure Time both as a form of research and also because its just great, and I've learned that simplistic methods of design and animation can be really effective if they have a solid message or story to tell. While I don't really have a big story to suggest with this gif, I set out to make two awkward characters awkwardly interacting, and I think this simple shape based design works to that end.

This gif really illuminated to me the painstaking consideration that has to be present when trying to make a fluid movement in animation, as an object can barely move between frames if you want to have a natural looking movement, instead of an animation that looks like a fast powerpoint presentation of still images. I enjoyed the process however, it is something I'm entirely unfamiliar with so it was interesting challenging myself and testing what I could do and how effectively I could approach this. Also it gave me an appreciation of the patience necessary to make a moving image you can be happy with, as its easy to rush it and not have an entirely functional outcome. I spent a few hours during my break and after work finishing this gif over the weekend and I'm happy with the outcome. 

If I had more time I would want to create something more advanced with more movement and interaction, but I think that now I have made something simple I'm in a much better position to experiment with that sort of animation in the future.