Reflective statement final

 Throughout this Major project, I have gone through a period of growth both practically and conceptually. From the work I produced on my Minor project, the logical choice was to build on those foundations to cement an animated short (UCA description- “Your final films should be fully textured with a level of animation used throughout, whether that is through characters or environment assets you decided on through the minor project. Post-processing effects and lighting should also be used to fully realise your final films.”). 

To recap, my Minor project was A STORY about a stubborn 7-year-old Boy refusing to willingly move into a new family home. However, when they arrived he befriended a Female neighbour of the same age. 

I had completed the concept art, script, storyboard, animatic, and basic story character animation (UCA description- “Why ‘Animated Short’. This is simply a way of saying ‘include time-based’ work. The amount of animation in is dictated by the type of film that you are trying to make. For example, a ‘full story / character animation’ would typically involve a high degree of character driven performance-based animation.”).

Additionally, I did rough modelling, basic rigging, base colour texturing and the previz in my Minor project. Continuing from the Minor meant I could solely improve the 3D aspect of my project, which believe I have achieved, as I was made aware of improvements through Tutor feedback, Substance Painter class tutorials, Youtube for Autodesk Maya and After Effects. Substance Painter’s range of textures allowed me to improve my rendering skills, and therefore I adjusted my lights to extract the most out of selected textures, where I was aiming for A detailed unrealistic, CHARACTER DESIGN SHORT (UCA description- “ A character design short may use animation to illustrate personality, animate a 3D character for a turnaround, or to prove a 3D character rig works” ) That were cartoon style characters.

Time management has been a continual issue with other projects, however as a result of this project, I have been on point with setting realistic goals and meeting those expectations that are set. Regular posts on the blogger, of creations and texts that have been creed, peer and tutor feedback were invaluable for completing the project.

In past projects, rendering was a struggle, with more time and practice, there is a noticeable difference in the finalised animation.

Reflecting on the overall animation. It is exactly how I envisaged it. Reflecting back on past projects, my thought process was, “if only I had more time”. This was not the case with this project. Instead, I look at it saying, I have made the previz more developed by reworking the lines performed by the characters, choosing more central and more readable camera movement and character animations. I also worked on making the colours not too bright and toning down my tones as a response to my Minor project feedback. I get the exact same story from the previz but told better because the run time was spread out to 5 minutes, not crammed in to 2 minutes, though still being a short a fast speed will lose impact because before the audience can understand what happened he next scene will be playing, and if it was broadcasted they would not have the chance to pause and ask questions. The easing of moments in my story allows the images and scenes can be understood better.

The addition of the lips on the characters really stands out and adds to the emotions that the characters display, and the textures really stand out, adding more story to the quality materials (such as the shiny new blue car. This can suggest to the audience the family is not financially struggling).

Though my voices were the catalyst of inspiration in the previz, I am glad I went with a professional voice-over person, they made the characters ‘clearly’ sound different, and the voices helped with clarifying the narrative. The music is very helpful in generating atmosphere, most notably when The Little Girl is introduced, the music is happy and stays on that path, while in contrast, the music is aggressive when the Boy is focused on before their encounter. I am proud of my journey and grateful for the information and experiences I have had.

Going forward, I hope to gain more experience and practice within animation and my competence continues to evolve.