Categories
Advanced and Experimental Project 1.1-Previs Uncategorised

week 5 character design and 3D storyboard

Shape of Choice

circle

Character proportions

1:3 (4 heads tall)

Anatomical Features

bean face

regular eyes

small nose

circle ears

scale

swear huge mask

small cloak

Character design-process

Make face and hair

I was thinking about using XGEN to create the hair. Still, after looking up a lot of references, I decided to go for the faceted hair, which will be very easy to modify if I develop the project further in the next term.

3D storyboard

Environmental design

Character Design-Reference Tutorial Video

I have not yet learnt Blender as software, so I have more references to his production ideas, and I find that Blender is superior in creating the pupils of the characters. My main character is a poker face. Most of his expressions will be focused on the eyes and two hands, so this tutorial was very helpful to me

(29) Blender Timelapse of a Flower Girl – YouTube

Categories
Collaborative Uncategorised

Week 4 :Modeling&Storyboard

Add detail to the 3d scenes

I discussed with Jieyi the windows layout, and we realized that there are some in the current design. I need to do a lot of details for some of the camera shots to the corners, so I need to set up the shots in advance, focusing on doing some of the table layouts

storyboard

This week I worked with Clio on the storyboards, I worked on the 3d scenes part, and she worked on the 2d storyboards. This discussion focused on how to incorporate 3d realistic scenes into the 2d footage, and this footage is essential for this animation. We devised two options during the week. The first was to design the ink to be incorporated into the 2D footage, and the second was to use AE to create the scanned footage. I considered using particles to animate the paper fluttering, but this method could take much rendering time, and I would need to take separate time to create the effects. After our discussion, the second method might be easier to implement. Clio is the student in charge of compositing, so I trust her judgement.

Categories
Collaborative Uncategorised

Week 3:Project Discussion

We had a few creative difficulties this week, as there were two scenes in the animation, and the 2d team needed a clearer idea of the style of the virtual scenes. As I was responsible for a very detailed part of the 3D animation and still had a lot of pre-work, I could only try to find time to help the 2d team with the sketches, and I didn’t have time to take full responsibility for the design part. I added a lot of new elements to the drawings given by the team, suggested design flaws and areas that needed improvement, and referenced the work of many sculpture artists and stage designers. So there is a lot of 2d set design in this blog

2D Virtual Classroom design draft


This is based on the creativity of Kiki and Yuting and Tingyi. I added a little detail and new ideas, and adjusted the position of floating paintings and gypsum, adding clocks that melts on the painting board, and so on.

Creative point(personal)


1: I added a flowing clock in the bottom right corner to echo the clocks in the actual scene and to emphasise the feeling of the virtual space
2: I added floating swatches in the air, but when it came to subsequent colouring, I found a more visually appealing way of presenting them. I replaced the swatches with screens on which various famous paintings would appear.
3: I created a floating palette in the centre of the palette, around which the gessoes critique the paintings
4: Adding the placement and layout of the frogs

Other ideas that we have been discussing this week concerning the characters, bingxue, YI and I were keen to find a character that could represent the students being scored in our animation. We also wanted to incorporate some funny y elements into the scenes, and I looked for many funny pictures that I would put in the photos and maybe not.

process recording

This design is based on Kiki and Tingyi’s creative drafts and basic models. I drew on some of David korins’ work in the design process, and I wanted to add some streamlined architecture and incorporate some high and low frames into it.


Issues identified in the group work

It took me a week to create the large frame of the room, as our real scene was an entire classroom, so the workload was enormous. Although I am very good at modelling and environment design, I realised that I would struggle if I was responsible for the first 30 seconds of scene animation and assets myself, so at the group meeting this week I brought up the fact that I needed an assistant to help me build the model as I also had to create decals and shots and lighting.

Asset

Modelling process

Categories
Advanced and Experimental Project 1.1-Previs Uncategorised

Week 4:Establishing Characters

Develop the first ideal

This week I have been working mainly on the 2d split-screen, as I really like to draw things as I go along, my initial idea was to create a butterfly(maybe another creature animal) flying around the character and leading the surface into the forest, this shot is very important to my story so I designed two versions of the draft split-screen

For this shot I wanted to do a leaf falling and the man holding his mask for a moment before starting to chase the little kobold, it might have been very cool to have a leaf as a segue

The second ideal

Process-Treehouse-Low Poly

Reference character video

Tales of Runeterra: Ionia | “The Lesson” – League of Legends – YouTube

Tales of Runeterra: Don’t Mess With Yordles | League of Legends: Wild Rift – YouTube

Categories
Advanced and Experimental Project 1.1-Previs Uncategorised

week 3:Telling stories through the camera

Project 1: Part of the storyboard

Creature design-2D Draft

Frog and Honey Badger

Birds and Snakes

Octopus and Sloth

Looking for 3D creature models Reference(!O.O!)

Details of the draft

Missing the design of the little boy Previous designs were rejected by me as the plot and scenes progressed

2D-Storyboard ideal 1

2D-Storyboard ideal 2

Categories
Advanced and Experimental Project 1.1-Previs Uncategorised

Week 2 :Establishing your world

Summary:

A melancholy little boy breaks into a forest. The little boy walks carefully in the forest, and suddenly he finds a strange octopus lying in a pond, just then a small flying insect that looks like a snake flies towards him and leads him deeper into the forest. However, the moment he gets close to the tree house, all kinds of strange little animals approach him, and he has the happiest time in the forest, but will eventually go back to the real world.

Keywords: 

Autism, Anxiety,Spiritual Worl, Fantasy Forest, Strange creatures

Genre:

The story takes place in a fantasy forest world with very fantasy mushrooms, tree houses, scenes and creatures animated

Goal:

As I get older, I miss more and more the various fantasy genre movies and anime I watched as a kid, but nowadays animation is given a lot of esoteric meaning by various industries and is also used in serious areas. I still want this film to be light-hearted, healing, and use lots of strange, cute creatures, play to animation’s unique strengths in creativity, and focus on exploring the emotional connection between animation and the audience.

This week I made a low poly model of scenes to help me understand the story further, as this is not a full animation. I can only do a little narrative, so I have to think about the balance of scenes, characters, and a short storyline. I refined the mini script for the story and started thinking about storyboarding.

shots

Shot 1 A lonely flower picked by a little boy

Shot 2 Octopus in a pond reaching out its tentacles to hook a lotus leaf

Shot 3 The octopus slowly climbing up the lotus leaf to sunbathe

Shot 4 The boy looks forward curiously

Shot 5 At this time a small flying insect came

Shot 6 The boy looks up and tries to touch the flying snake, but he gets away.

Shot 7 The little flying snake happily carries the boy forward

Shot 8 The boy stumbled and followed the snake

Shot 9 Seeing a tree house covered with mushrooms

Shot 10 Raising his foot, he sees a small carrot head

Shot 11 Turnip head quickly shrinks into a ball

Shot 12 The octopus and the little flying snake are looking at the little boy curiously

Shot 13 The boy subconsciously hears his mother’s voice

Shot 14 The boy subconsciously wants to leave

Shot 15 The head of the carrot stays and gives him a flower

Shot 16 The boy takes the flower and cuts to the lonely holding the flower

End

Start building the environmental scenario

Process-Screen recording

This modelling video is very long, so I’ve used variable speed, and it contains some of my ideas for the build, as well as structural errors I found in the design draft during the modelling, which I’ll be tweaking next week

Model display

When I was making this model I was thinking about how the background of this model should be designed, as it is a fantasy world and I would love to have him floating on water or hidden in a huge forest, George gave me some advice and next week I need to make the surrounding rocks and mountains and then decide on the location of the shot

idea 2

In this story I wanted to test the standing of the characters, as our requirement this term is to make previz shots, so I thought I should focus on designing the position of the characters and the background, but I have tried making scenes for two projects this week and the first one was perhaps more appealing. So I will be developing the first project in depth

Categories
Collaborative Uncategorised

Week 2:Design and Digital Processes

This week we started to choose a topic that interested us, and I chose the Subject: From an everyday object to a fantastical object. This was an excellent topic for some light-hearted and fun animated videos. I really enjoyed finding inspiration from reality and incorporating it into my work.

Subject: From an everyday object to a fantastical object

 Course: Radical Friendship, Gamified Collaboration, and DAOs

This week, we did lots of fun games, such as drawing a small animal on a piece of paper and then handing it to the next student to draw. I really enjoyed this little activity! I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately because I have to think of many designs this term. This fun activity also promotes motivation quickly.

Find a member


A fellow student who specialises in scripting and character design, and I want to make a film combining 2D and 3D animation. So we have been looking for suitable team members all week. Luckily, we found two 2D animation students who were also interested in the subject.

After deciding on the direction of the group’s project, we started working together to develop a plot and exciting ideas for the story and assigning work according to each person’s area of expertise. I, for example, am very good at building and animating 3D scenes, so my work will focus on the 3D part.

Group resource sharing

We created a google document to hold our inspiration for the project and put up a lot of references and interesting images, which was very helpful for the group to share inspiration.

Group work

This week we had our first meeting for the group collaboration, as I am very good at modelling, binding and rendering, so I should continue to be responsible for more of the 3D part. We exchanged a lot of ideas about characters, scripts and subplots for the animation in this meeting. Through this week’s discussion, our group roughly settled on a basic plot and character set for the script. A highly detailed 3D scene, and a 2D scene with a virtual twist, will be needed for the animation.

Animation style reference

https://www.behance.net/gallery/116575331/-MIRACLE-LOVE-CITYPOP-MV

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/383368987041889091/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/425590233550088773/
Categories
Collaborative Uncategorised

Week 1:Collaboration Unit

Introduction

This week we talked about Collaboration Unit; in the first session, I learned about the structure and objectives of the unit and the specific assignments and projects I would be working on throughout the semester. We were exposed to different disciplines and shared various exciting topics. We were also given bracelets in multiple colours and had some games to help each field meet new people and share different interesting ideas.

Miro Board-First question

Firstly, we learnt a lot about different professions, such as VR.VFX.2D animation in the group work unit this week. We shared our professional skills and creative ideas in other fields and met people from different professions through this course. And we set up a working group to help the group work together more effectively in our areas of expertise.

Miro Board-Second question

Firstly, the first requirement for a collaborative unit is to identify the main topic of our group work and then find various members who can help us. Secondly, once the subject and key members have been identified, we communicate and refine the details of the topic, with each member actively talking about their inspiration. Finally, the group will begin to allocate work, using the strengths and specialities of their professions to draw up a timetable for each stage and start the first steps of prep work.

Miro Board-Third question

In group work, the first step is to distinguish each person’s areas of expertise and interest in order to assign group work. In the second part of the preparation, communication and sharing of resources become very important, as well as the need for group members to give dialectical feedback on different ideas, for example, by analysing the idea’s feasibility. The third step is at the end of the project when we have to deliver our respective parts on time and be prepared to work out a second set of solutions and responses if someone cannot submit it on time.

Sharing our Ideas & Social Event

It was an excellent opportunity to meet many friends from game design, special effects, 2D animation and VR who had been in the class together last term.we discussed exciting topics and ideas and how 3d animation could work with various disciplines. Some people wanted to combine 3d with motion capture, and some people wanted to use 3d technology in 2D animation. We discussed the possibilities of implementing multiple projects together. We envisioned what the projects would look like when they were finished. I also found areas and topics that interested me, and I look forward to meeting interesting people again next week.

Formation of cooperation groups

1)Title: Twist and Shout

Description of idea:

The general wish of this animation is to blend in the idea of a metaverse (virtual space and identity) and a sense of belonging. Being judged by the same standards is a nightmare that everyone shares. By doing this animation, we can show our embrace of the pain and the wish to overcome it with a sense of humour.

My inspiration and motivation for making it

At the beginning, when deciding on the project’s direction, Clio and I discussed whether we wanted to do a project about art criticism. We are in an examination-based education system in China where you must constantly pass exams to get into a good university. Chinese drawing exams are very harsh, and the system does not consider a student’s creativity or thinking ability. It means that if we want to get high marks to get into university, we must draw precisely like the photo. A student’s whimsicality would be scored as a failing grade.

When I was an undergraduate student, I tried to discuss whether early art education in East Asian countries like China and Japan was suitable for children by making picture books. For example, as a child, I loved to draw, and I loved the moments of drawing all the beautiful colours on paper. But my mum thought I needed better art lessons, so my mum sent me to a painting tuition class, but during the course, I was trained to paint all kinds of bland bottles and plaster day after day. I fell into a long period of self-doubt, wondering if I really enjoyed the painting process, and to be honest, I still don’t have the answer. We are taught from an early age to get good grades, to listen to our parents and to get a good job, but the reasons why I was so determined to choose art in the first place seem to have been long forgotten.

  • Team Members:
Yiyu Wangy.wang03202218@arts.ac.ukRole:Realistic scenarios-3D Generalist
Yuting Yany.yan0320223@arts.ac.ukRole:Character animation
Tingyi Huangt.huang0420192@arts.ac.ukRole:Virtual scenes -3D Generalist
Jieyi Anj.an0320221@arts.ac.ukRole:Scene and character design
Fangyuan Shaof.shao0320221@arts.ac.ukRole:2d animation
Bingxue Xiangb.xiang0320221@arts.ac.ukRole:2d animation
Categories
design-for-animation-narrative-structures-and-film-language Uncategorised

Week 10:Report and Presentation

Receiving feedback on the Academic Language Support course

I am very grateful to Nigel Crossingham for helping me with my weekly academic language support sessions. I was unfamiliar with the UK essay system and verbal presentation as an overseas student. However, Nigel encouraged me every week and taught me step-by-step how to express my ideas more clearly. Also. I would get stuck on details when writing my dissertation, and Nigel helped me revisit the outline. Lastly, I would like to say! I enjoyed his course! As well as being very grateful for his help!

Conclusion

In the final week, Nigel introduced us to the theoretical framework of critical reporting and how to write a report. The feedback and help I received from my professor were something I cherished the most this semester. Whenever I thought about further developing my report, I always received some inspiration in class.

Report Presentation video

Categories
design-for-animation-narrative-structures-and-film-language Uncategorised

Week 9:Topic research and reading; Report development

This week I watched many videos about the direction of animation documentaries, the literature of some previous scholars and the views of authenticity in different periods. I started to help myself go through the outline and summarize the literature.

(Folman et al., Waltz with Bashir 2008)

(Flaherty, Nanook of the North (1922) 1922)

Different animation documentaries. I found that some directors in various animation documentaries prefer text to enhance the sense of reality in the documentary, some like to add authentic voices and interviews, and some use virtual reality technology. Try to increase the persuasiveness of the film.