The main task this week is to complete the texture of character and scene model.
About Character Textures
I made three character models. The texture of the characters’ eyes is drawn using Photoshop, which gives them a more cartoonish style.
This is my main character. Her texture is mainly to draw the skin. I painted powder blusher on her face, which is more playful and cute.
This is a model of my protagonist as an ordinary person. I painted cherry patterns on her home dress and added retro elements. Socks are a common style among teenagers.
This model mainly draws the texture of the apron, and the overall color is light. This way, it can be in the same color scheme as other models, and I hope the style of this animation looks soft.
About Scene Textures
This is a scene in a restaurant where the protagonist and her mother will have a conversation. Here their emotions became stable, so I adopted a cool color scheme, with the color scheme for this scene in the upper left corner.
The color scheme for this city’s scene is red, yellow, black, and gray. This color reminds me of the city streets before dusk. It wasn’t completely dark, but the street lights gradually lit up, and the orange sunset illuminated the outline of the city.
This scene is the protagonist’s room, which is a basic combination of green, purple, and pink. Overall, it’s not very special. It’s just an ordinary person’s room, and the carpet print is designed to make the room look more like a girl’s bedroom.
The current stage is to complete the modeling work of the characters and scenes. The characters are restored according to my character design, and basically the same model has been made. The model of the scene is relatively effective to make, because the bedroom and restaurant are not complicated.
About character modeling
Hair and body are modelled in Zbrush
Make adjustments to the model’s wiring in Maya and model the dress and hat.
This week, I started designing characters and scenes. Firstly, I searched for a large number of reference images and selected some of my favorite.
Character Design
My protagonist is a teenage girl who has two different appearances. One is the appearance of an ordinary person at home, and the other is the appearance of a witch dressed up.
I want to design a girl with red hair. This is the reference image I found, but I hope she has short hair.
So I searched for some new reference images as a reference for short hair. This picture is the red short hair that best fits my imagination, and I use this hairstyle as a reference for the protagonist’s hairstyle.
The image reference of a witch
The above is a reference to the three views of characters. I plan to create a similar stylized character model.
The final design of my character model
Scene Design
The following is a reference for my scene. My scene is mainly divided into three parts: the girl’s bedroom, a restaurant where she has a conversation with her mother, and a garden scene.
This picture is an indoor reference image of a girl’s bedroom
I finished the basic framework of the script last week, but it still doesn’t flow well enough at the beginning of the story and where the conflict is. So I tweaked a few areas of the script.
To make the conflict between the daughter and the mother more apparent in the animated script, you can focus on emphasizing their differences, communication struggles, and emotional tension.
1. Body Language and Facial Expressions:
– Show the daughter’s body language becoming more closed off and defensive as the mother enters her room. She might tense up or avoid eye contact.
– Illustrate the mother’s concern through her facial expressions and gestures. She could furrow her brows or sigh softly.
2. Dialogue and Tone:
– Have the daughter’s initial response to her mother’s gesture of bringing hot milk be curt or dismissive. For example, she could say, “I don’t need it, Mom.”
– Make the mother’s instructions for an early night more insistent, reflecting her worry. She might say, “You need your rest, dear.”
3. Inner Thoughts and Narration:
– Consider adding inner monologue or narration for both the daughter and mother. This can provide insight into their conflicting thoughts and feelings. For instance, the daughter might think, “She just doesn’t understand,” while the mother might think, “I’m just trying to protect her.”
4. Flashbacks or Memories:
– Incorporate brief flashbacks or memories that highlight moments of tension or disagreement between the daughter and mother in the past. These snippets can help establish the underlying conflict.
5. Subtle Clashes in Values or Beliefs:
– Show subtle differences in the daughter and mother’s beliefs or values that contribute to their conflict. For example, the daughter might be more rebellious and independent-minded, while the mother is more protective and traditional.
6. Misunderstandings or Miscommunications:
– Have instances where the daughter and mother misinterpret each other’s actions or words. This can create frustration and further exacerbate the conflict.
7. Resolutions or Turning Points:
– Build towards a moment of realization or resolution. This could be a small gesture, a heartfelt confession, or a shared memory that brings them closer together.
Another thing I found unsatisfying was the beginning of the story, which was too abrupt, so that was adjusted as well.
Opening Scene
The night hung heavy with secrets, an unseen magic crackling in the air. In the heart of it all, a girl on the cusp of something extraordinary, her fifteenth year fading like a wisp of smoke. Little did she know, it was the eve of her transformation into something more than human.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in fiery hues, she sat in her room, words dancing before her like enchanted whispers. Then, a door creaked open, a glass of warmth placed on her desk. A tender plea from her mother to rest.
With the door’s soft click, the girl’s spirit sparked to life. A secret rendezvous with the night awaited, and a truth she dared not share.
The heart of this story is about a rebellious child’s thoughts and views on the world; everyone has had crazy experiences during adolescence, and in my story, the protagonist turns into a magical witch to symbolize her other state of mind.
Script
Scene 1: Bedroom
Foreground Introduction I still remember that special night, it’s an unspoken secret amongst the girls, today is the last day of my fifteenth year, and the first day I became a preppy witch.
One summer evening, the girl was in her room with a fan blowing, reading a book and taking notes.
The bedroom door was pushed open and the girl’s mom placed a glass of hot milk on the desk and instructed her to get an early night.
The girl nods softly at the sound of the door closing, then the girl gets up and plops down in the doorway of her room to listen for her mom’s footsteps.
The girl smiles badly and then makes a turn to the window, only to spin in place and snap her fingers as she transforms into a witch.
Scene 2 The sky outside the window
The witch excitedly rides her broomstick and draws circles in the sky, surrounded by firework effects pulled out by her magic broomstick.
Scene 3 Crossroads in a busy city
People look at the fireworks in the sky very surprised and reach out their hands to feel the beauty of the fireworks. There were also people taking pictures. The witch walks on the crowded street and passes through all kinds of people, the witch experiences a lot of happiness and new things she has never experienced in the night.
Scene 4 The windowsill at home
Close-up The witch’s feet land tentatively on the ground, she cats and pads her way step by step towards the bedroom, suddenly, she accidentally kicks over the small desk placed on the floor, and the milk tumbles to the ground, making a crisp ringing sound.
Scene 5 Living room
(the design of the living room can be as simple as possible, the picture only shows a dining table, surrounded by dark colors, you can vaguely see some of the arrangements, the daughter is sitting in front of the dining table, a beam of light shines down from above)
Daughter: Mom, listen to my explanation, it’s not what you think, I know my outfit is strange, but I didn’t do anything bad when I went out, I know it’s wrong of me to hide it from you, I just don’t want you to worry, and I have to go to set off fireworks to finish the social mission…
During this time the mom’s figure was busy with her back to her daughter until a cup of hot milk was placed in front of her.
The daughter looked at the present apprehensively, with the movements and eyes of a puppy that had done something wrong.
Mom looked at her daughter seriously said: mom tell you a secret oh, in fact, I was also once a witch!
Mom smiled, her expression was gentle, without the slightest reproach.
The daughter looks at her mom and her eyes gradually brighten up.
Scene 6 Outdoor sky and moon
Daughter and mom fly together in the night sky, straight at the moon, revealing the silhouettes of the two of them. The trailing smoke from the magic broomstick leaves a brilliant firework.
Design references about the main character
The main character in my mind should have red hair, so I looked for a few references of girls with red hair. These images are from two-dimensional artists on Artsation.
The image looks mischievous and makes me feel naughty, so I love the visual effect this image conveys.
The redheaded girl in this picture gave me a lot of imagination to inform and inspire the design of my main character.
The two pictures above can be seen as the source of my creative inspiration. I hope I can design a strange girl with short red hair who looks playful and cute and full of thoughts about life.
This image is a basic keycolor reference for a stylized animated short that I wanted to make, using childlike elements to reflect the troubles and pains of growing up.
This week’s course consisted of an introduction to the various parts of the topic. First of all, writing in academic language is required. Secondly, it is necessary to draw from reliable sources such as formal books, academic journals, and published academic essays.
Another important part is about the structure of the text. The structure of an essay is: Title: Subtitle, Acknowledgements, Abstract, Contents Page, Introduction, Main Body of Text, Appendices.
The most helpful content for me was the introduction to referencing. I formally understood the meaning of citation and referencing.
Citing – a means of referring, within your text, to the sources from which you have obtained information.
Reference – is the detailed description of the item from which you have obtained your information. Bibliography – is the list of sources you have used. The bibliography usually appears at the end of your work and is arranged alphabetically. As well as listing the references you refer to in your text, it may also include details of the material you have also read, which informed your opinion, but was not referred to directly.
Through this introduction I understand when a reference is needed and when it can be left out.
The second part is about the introduction of the article’s argument.
The key elements of an argument include the following: Statement of problem Literature review Precise focus of your research stated as a hypothesis, question, aim, or objective Method and methodology Results/evidence Discussion and conclusion (including implications for future research)
This week involves trying to choose a theme, which can also be called a research topic. The chosen theme must in some way relate to the fields of art, design and visual culture.
My tutor gave me good guidelines and explained how to choose the right topic correctly. The direction and extent of how to choose a theme is explained in detail. In addition, I need to have the following requirements for the theme.
I need to stay interested in this topic for more than a few months
The selection of this topic should be neither too broad nor very narrow.
I was able to find reliable data and materials to research my topic.
I choose topics that are intellectually challenging and also reflect criticality
To help me understand the meaning of the appropriate topic, the tutor listed broad and narrow topic selections respectively. Through the two examples of topics, I broadly understood the extent and importance of the topics.
There is an integral link between conceptual application and technological advancement in the innovation of film and in particular, animation, raising complex and challenging questions.
The limitless potentials of developing visual and film language fuelled by technological advancement has and continues to motivate independent and ground-breaking work. Personal Vision through independent film and animation remain central to the development of the medium.
Experimental film umbrellas a vast variety of concepts, models and approaches. The work may by nature hard to to categorise and define. It is therefore important to：
Find systems by which we can recognise qualities, aesthetics, abstract themes and concepts.
Analysis the influences of new technologies, society and culture on individual works or movements.
Determine the individual motivations and priorities of the artist/s
Establish the significance of work from a historical and contemporary context.
A link of implied narrative：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6vzDo6it9o
Experimental visual effects evolved from the combination of sound and image
This session introduces the basic structure of the paper, and discusses the content and format of each paragraph in detail.
About my FMP thesis：
As for my orientation after graduation, I prefer to work in the animation and film production department, focusing on visual effects and 3D animation. Since I saw the first animated film, I have been looking forward to participating in the production of an animated film in the future, so I chose major in 3D animation.
Because I hope that the work I am responsible for is more inclined to the combination of theory and practice, I need to improve my professional skills, such as software proficiency in the middle and later stages. At the same time, I also need to exercise my ability to cooperate. Animation production is a team project, which requires the whole team to have the same goal and coordinate and cooperate.
I will record my exercises through the content of my blog every week, and work in groups on the actual learning content to complete a meaningful animation project with my classmates.
Personally, my learning content is more practical and technical. The paper can help me record the content and problems in the process of practice, and discuss and reflect. To some extent, it can help me exercise my ability to solve problems, and also make my mind more peaceful.
At present, I hope to do a good job in my professional field. If I am skilled, I can cooperate with people in other fields and carry out some cross-border integration, which is a good development direction.
