Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Research into Flash Movies

I'm back again with some more work for my animation assignment. This weeks work is research into different Flash Games, more specifically, web related ones.


Foamy the Squirrel

The animation in the series looks "fixed" in a sense because the majority of the motions are all Keyframe set (e.g. when the timeline moves from one Keyframe to another, the same or similar graphics are changed to make it look like it's moving, getting bigger, etc.) with a small degree of motion tweens. The graphics used for the animationsFoamy the Squirrel (also known as Neurotically Yours) is an animated Flash webtoon comedy series that depicts a foul-mouthed squirrel named Foamy, who constantly displays his hatred for almost everything, often ranting, aimed on society in general. Another main character in the series is Germaine, Foamys' "owner" as it would seem. Her persona within the series is often depicted as a stereotypical goth who likes poetry. Like her "raging, logical, pet squirrel," she also has distaste for society, mainly because she has constant conflicts with them, arguing she is nothing more than a sex object.


Bonus Stage
The animation in this series looks like it uses motion tweens for body movement and then changes graphics upon different variation of movements through Keyframes, such as when the characters are standing still, their arms are not shown until one of them raises and arm and changes hand postures.Bonus Stage is an animated Flash action/adventure/comedy (mainly comedy) webtoon series that focuses attention on the randomness, sarcasm, and parody moments of life. The series itself often uses computer game references. The series depicts three main characters; Joel Dawson, who is a spontaneous and sparky individual with a lot of intelligence (although none is used) and is always keen for adventure. Phil Argus, a goodie 2 shoes teen that always opposes Joel's need for adventure. And Ellie Strife, who is a charismatic teen girl.


Leo & Satan
The type of animation used in the series has a very strong usage of motion tweens, as shown on the characters’ movement, with small degree of Keyframes used for the lip-syncing and other various usages, such as movements that use different graphics. For example, when Satan grabs a garbage bin and jumps through the window on the episode “Trash Hazard.”Leo & Satan is a Flash webtoon comedy series that focuses on a mixture on childish behaviour and adult humour with minimal content. The two main characters in the series are Satan, who appears as somewhat of a complete idiot but is also easily angered by the slightest problems and could bring total annihilation if he chooses. And Leo a young boy and Satan’s chosen companion, who is very regularly frightened by his “sudden-angry-demonic anger” and also gets into trouble because of his idiocy.


Happy Tree Friends

Happy Tree Friends is a Flash webtoon series that is focused on gore humour. The series features numerous characters that resemble field creatures and animals, such as squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, beavers and a moose! When an episode is first watched, the person watching it may first think of it as a typical kid’s programme, up until where the characters start getting their skin ripped off, crushed by heavy objects and their blood and guts are smeared over the pavement.
The style of animation used in this series looks very well done, as though it was made with another animation program. It uses the bone tool and motion tweens very well and realistically, as well as the choice of graphics used on the Keyframe changes.

Anyway, that is my research on Flash Movies. Until next time...