Category: 4.1 Project 1 (George – Previs)

In the 16th week, we started learning facial animation. Prior to this, I searched the web for a variety of audio clips suitable for animation, and eventually decided to use a line spoken by Jack in Pirates of the Caribbean: “Ladies, will you please shut it!”

I performed a second act to this audio clip and recorded an animation reference. I composited the audio with the reference I shot using Adobe Premiere Pro, and also drew a simple draft to more clearly visualize my character’s expressions and movements.

In week 15, I reached a major milestone when I finished building the whole scene and put on the material textures. At the start of the project, I made a conscious and strategic choice to use solid colours or textures with subtle gradients. My main reason for making this choice was that I wanted to give the scene a cartoony look that would make it look lively and interesting.

Time management was also a very important part of this decision. As a one-person job, this project needed careful planning and efficient work to be finished on time. Solid colours not only fit the style I was going for, but they also turned out to be one of the fastest ways to texture. This method helped me find a good balance between meeting the visual goals and staying on track with the project schedule.

In addition to the material textures, I took the scene to the next level by using lighting techniques to improve the overall atmosphere.

In the 15th week, I completed my body mechanics animation, including revisions to some keyframes of the action, adding more details such as overlapping and follow-through when the arm swings, as well as some necessary deformations of the face in exaggerated types of animations. These additions made the animation more lively. Moreover, I added color to the background.

In the initial animation design, the protagonist would see a person using the toilet next door when knocking down the wall. I made some modifications to this part of the design. When the protagonist knocks down the wall, he won’t see the person next to him, but he can see the toilet paper, toilet bowl, buttons, and then expresses surprise through his body language. This allows the audience to understand that there is someone using the toilet next door.

During the fourth week, I kept working on Scene 01 and making it better. During this week, I worked hard on making and finishing all the models needed for the scene. By making each model with care, I was able to give the environment more depth and detail.

Once the models were done, I put them in the scene in a way that looked good. This step was important to make sure that the arrangement made the landscape look more smooth and put together.

I also set up an opening camera to give my scene a point of reference. This camera setup was a big part of how the scene was seen through the lens.

By the 14th week, all the key frames for basic key actions have been determined. The task at hand is to set their curves as spines, and to add some auxiliary frames to make the character’s movement fluid and natural. On top of this, I’ve also added some key frames for arm swings. This makes the hand rotate based on a circle when waving down, rather than following a strange motion trajectory. Furthermore, I’ve added some buffer frames to make the animation rhythm more comfortable and natural.

In week three, I worked on making the scenes of the animation. The main part of the animation takes place in a graveyard, which gives it a lot of atmosphere. The animation is made up of two different scenes. The first is the evocatively made graveyard, where the visual elements and setting are more detailed to create the ethereal and sad mood that is important to the story.

The second scene, on the other hand, uses a simple style, with a solid colour as the background. This scene is full of fun and movement because it’s mostly about the little blue ghost flying through the sky on his ship. But this happy moment is cut short when he accidentally bumps into his father in the air. What happens next is a touching exchange in which the father gets in the way of the blue ghost’s journey and throws a pile of books at him. Since this scene is all about the characters and the ship, the background is kept simple so that they and the ship can take centre stage.

In the third week, I continued with the layout portion of the character animation, incorporating George’s feedback, and made adjustments to the positioning of the arms and creating a better body movement pattern. Additionally, I constructed a simple restroom model, gradually perfecting the entire scene and character movements.

During the week 12 of pre-production, I focused on two important tasks: finishing the storyboard and making a basic animatic for my story.

I went one step further than the storyboard by making an animatic. This simple but useful tool was made up of images from the storyboard that were timed to make a rough timeline of the animation. The animatic was a very important part of getting a feel for the story’s pace and flow.

In the second week, we started working on a crucial step in the animation process, creating the animation layout. This step helps to clearly visualize the animation framework, with a focus on the accuracy and aesthetics of the poses, as well as establishing the basic timing of the character animation. Building on this foundation, I improved the story based on George’s suggestions. The scene features an angry man in the restroom who suddenly stands up because of some issue, furiously pounding the wall. Unexpectedly, he hits the wall too hard, causing it to shatter. Next to him, there’s another man using the toilet, reading a newspaper, who looks bewildered as he gazes at the broken wall.

During the 11 week, I worked on finishing the script and making sure it was strong enough to be the story’s backbone.

Project 02 is a hauntingly beautiful one-minute animation that takes place in a graveyard bathed in dark blues and silvery moonlight.

The animation shows us two ghostly figures: a pink ghost and a blue ghost. The pink ghost sees the blue ghost hiding behind an old tree among the tombstones because it gives off a soft glow. He looks like he’s carrying something. She floats over to him and asks, with a mix of curiosity and kindness, if he wants to play with her in the shadows.

But the blue ghost is full of sadness. His sad voice tells the pink ghost that his biggest dream is to be a sailor and sail the open seas in search of adventure.