Samuel Johnson created sprites and backgrounds for a video game called "The Commuter" using Photoshop. They created character sprites like Mario and backgrounds at a small pixel size of 120x80 pixels. They then animated the sprites by moving them frame by frame in Photoshop timelines and exported each timeline as an MP4. Finally, they added sound effects and music in Premiere to string the videos together into a 1:30 minute animation.

1. Production Reflection
Samuel Johnson

2. The Commuter

3. Process Sprites
For my video game I began by creating the separate moving assets in photoshop,
such as the main character sprites of Joe, along with the famous models of Link,
Mario and Red, as to give viewers that first hint of nostalgia during the opening
segment of the production. On top of that I created the bus, as also seen from the
beginning of the video, using a template of an existing product, whilst also giving it
a unique colour correction to fit the theme of my work. All of this was achieved
using the pencil tool in block mode, enabling me to colour in each pixel
individually, in turn keeping the pieces neat and consistent throughout.
Furthermore, I felt obliged to add that the route which one
has to follow to reach this stage consists of, reducing the
image size to a miniscule frame, which in turn allows users
to see each pixel in far finer detail. With the specific
specifications for the dimensions being 120 pixels by 80
pixels, giving the user 9,600 pixels overall to work with.
From this available work space, I believe I managed to
create well developed assets, containing a fairly broad
array of detail, despite the obvious scarcity of size in which
to edit in. With each sprite being adequate enough in both
detail and size that external viewers can define the
elements of each asset with relative ease, meaning they
could tell what each model was representing, e.g. that the
large, disparately shaded brown piece found at the end of
the animation, was in fact a bear.

4. Process
Backgrounds
The next phase in this process was to create my backgrounds for each stage of the animation, giving my
sprites surroundings in which to move around in and similar to the previous process, this step was done
through very similar means. I started by reducing the image size to a very small scale, 120 pixels by 80
pixels to be exact, giving me a sufficient supply of pixels to work with and allowing me to create a fairly
detailed display for each setting. The four settings seen above make up the grand total of backgrounds I
created for this project and each one is completely unique, with all of them being drawn out solely using
the tools available on photoshop, which kept the animation distanced from any existing products, as I
wanted too keep it as solitary as possible. The only element which was at all plagiarised, was the bus stop
seen in the first frame which I traced to the best of my ability from an existing product, I say ‘trace’
because I didn’t exactly copy it. I traced it, gave it a splash of colour and added a few odd features here
and there, as to differentiate it from the first edition piece and push it to the point of uniqueness, due to
the huge contrast between itself and the original.

5. Process Animation
The animation process was likely the most arduous and repetitive process to be completed as
it consisted of hundreds of frames, over the course of multiple photoshop timelines. This
process was the final stage for each of my photoshop documents once I had created all of my
moving assets, as well as the backgrounds. At the beginning of this phase, I opened up a
timeline at the bottom of the frame and much like a stop-frame animation, I moved separate
assets mere pixels at a time, giving the illusion of clear and coordinated motion, rather than
clunky teleportation from one location to the next, of which can be seen in conjunction with
the displayed frames at the bottom of the photoshop document. Along with this, I gave each
frame specific display times depending on the length of time I wanted each image to be
shown. In this case a majority of frames were given no delay time at all, meaning the timeline
would flow fluidly from left to right, as to give the appearance of natural movement. On top
of this, I made sure to link each timeline using manual transition effects, of which were made
using the same method to create the rest of the animation. I gradually moved boarders or
shapes over the entirety of the canvas over the course of multiple frames, giving the seamless
illusion of moving from one timeline to the next.

6. Process Exportation
The process of exportation was carried out once I completed all of my
photoshop timelines and had my entire storyline splayed out on 4 separate
documents. From there, the method of exporting each timeline follows the
same means. I had to enlarge the image size from ‘120 by 80’ to ‘1080 by 720’,
as the image size is initially so small that if exported as is, the rendered video
appears in an equally small frame resulting in a horribly blurred image. Once
the image was enlarged, I selected file along the top of the photoshop
document and chose export and then render video, allowing me to tweak
certain settings such as the frame rate and format. I kept most settings as they
were presented to me, apart from the frame rate which was recommended to
be changed to 25 fps and of course the title which I changed from ‘untitled’ to
‘The Commuter’ (the name of my game).

7. Process Exportation
After I had decided upon all of these options, I rendered each of the timelines
out in full, leaving me with 4 mp4s of which I implemented into a new Adobe
premier file I also named ‘The Commuter’. These video files were then ordered
in unison from start to finish, giving me around a 1:30 of footage. I didn’t
tamper with any portions of the mp4 with the use of effects, but merely
trimmed them using the razor tool as to keep the flow of the video smoother
during the transition between one section and another. I believe this stage
didn’t prove much of a challenge, seeing as all of my animation and effect work
was sorted beforehand on photoshop, leaving me with very little to do when
stringing each video sector together.

8. Process Sound
Once I rendered the video in full using Adobe premier to string all of the timelines
together, I needed to add the crucial mix of sound effects and music to bring the animation
to its final perfected rendition and what I imagined during the planning process. To do this,
I used a mixture of pre-made content and newly made sound effects, constructed using
the easy to handle tools on beep box. Firstly, I gathered the pre-existing content off of
YouTube including sound effects such as the bear roar, man screaming and bus engine, as
well as the ’little bitty pretty one’ sound track to play throughout the entirety of the
animation. As to transfer the sound files over to adobe premier, I had to copy the YouTube
links individually for each effect onto a YouTube mp3 converter, which would in turn allow
me to drag and drop the converted track into my premier timeline and edit it from there.

9. Process Sound
Now when It came to adding my self-made effects, the process was far more simple. When
I finished creating a tune or effect, I merely had to download the track off of the beep box
website, in turn saving me the hassle of transferring it over to a dodgy external website like
an mp3 converter. From there, once again all I had to do was transfer the download into
my premier timeline, which gave me the tools to cut and match the tracks to the visuals on
show. With my newly implemented sound effects, I went on to cut and modify each one
separately, as to fit the theme of the animation and sync them in time with certain actions
on display. Whilst using dials to change certain volume frequencies on a multitude of
sound bites, as to give particular effects centre stage depending on their importance
towards the visuals at that moment. For example, by the end of the timeline I purposely
altered the frequencies of both the screaming man and groaning bear which take over the
entire production, as I believe it adds an unexpected yet utterly comedic context to a quite
brutal ending.