MAJOR PROJECT

 

Week 1 - Week 14

Farissa Eryna Binti Shahar Sham

0336814

Major Project

INSTRUCTIONS

Week 1 - 30/08/22

For our first class, we were given a brief by Mr Asrizal about the tasks and things that are expected to be done throughout these 14 weeks of Major Project. These are 3 themes/pathways to be chosen from:

1. Dissertation Topic - To expand from our dissertation topic and create a project based on it.
2. United Nations Sustainable Goals (UN SDG) - To achieve a UN SDG with our project.
3. Client - To find a client and utilize our skillset to solve their problem.

We were then tasked to create a proposal:

1. Pathway option
2. Problem Statement
3. Target Audience (their accessibility to certain mediums)
4. Proposed Solution
5. Why this Solution? (Evidence & Research)
6. References

Below are some of the important things we should keep in mind for our project:

• Do not make this feel like an assignment.
• Do not think too much about the execution method in the first few weeks.
• Do not make it feel too superficial and surface. Have some depth.

Reflection

I was feeling excited but nervous too at the same time to begin my major project. The first challenge is to choose the theme/pathway as that will determine the whole direction of the project. As an animation student, from the beginning, I always had a strong idea of making my project more impactful and unique. However, it is quite difficult because we rely heavily on displaying our work on a screen. The question I kept asking myself was, how? 

Week 2 - 07/09/22

Below is my initial proposal consisting of 3 different ideas:

After the proposal. These are the feedbacks I received:

Feedback: 

1. As an animation student, for major project standard, all of us need to think of something other than just creating another animated video because that will just be like another assignment. 

2. The first two ideas are just an animated video therefore the last idea would be the best. 

Week 3 & 4 - 13/09/22

In this two weeks, I did some research on projection mapping as well as climate change (how to preserve our earth and prevent climate change) to prepare the script for the hybrid animated motion graphic video. The storyline of the project was also completed. 

Below are my updated slides:

Week 3 Feedback: 

There was not much feedback given on the new updates from Mr Asrizal. I was told that I will be assigned to a lecturer soon to supervise my project. I have confirmed my topic for the Major Project. 

Reflection:

It was quite a challenge to confirm the steps and ways to preserve the earth because there were MANY ways. I had to list down and do some research on each steps to choose which one would be the best method as well as the most impactful to be included in the video. I narrowed it down to 4 steps as if it was more, the duration of the video would be too long as well. I had to keep in mind that the visuals of the video has to be interesting as well therefore choosing which steps took me quite some time. For the storyline, I did a good amount of research by watching motion graphics about climate change and tried to observe the transition styles as well as the story they are conveying. One of the most difficult part was also trying to confirm on the art direction, tone and colour palette of the video. 

In week 4, I had a consultation with Mr Kannan. I showed him and presented to him my idea for this project. 

Week 4 Feedback: 

1. I can continue with this idea.
2. Try to project the video onto specific objects such as trees or the planet. It will be very cool.
3. Use a projection mapping software like Resolume.
4. The direction I am trying to go for is fine. 
5. Make a style frame
6. Try to look at my senior's work for inspiration.
7. Make a timeline if not it will be impossible to stay on track
8. Start on the storyboard
9. Find background music as soon as possible

Reflection:

I felt quite ready and confident to begin my project after confirming with Mr Kannan. I started to do more research on projection mapping for references. I began working on the style frames as well as the storyboard. 

Week 5 - 27/09/22

During this week I worked on my storyboard and script so I could focus and complete the style frames by next week. At the same time, I was looking for the right background music for the project. 

Below is the script of the video:

Storyboard:

After showing Mr Kannan the script and storyboard, these are the feedbacks I got:

Feedback:

Mr Kannan did not comment much on the script and the storyboard but he said I can continue with the project. I need to complete the style frames soon and finalize on the background music.

Reflection:

I was facing some difficulties with the storyboard because I was not really sure whether the 3D animated scenes are finalized. I might change them in the future. I realized that I need to get the style frames done as soon as possible so I can start on the animating process. 

Week 6 - 04/10/22

In this week, I completed the style frames and confirmed on the background music. 

Below is my style frames:

Feedback:

Mr Kannan said it looks good and don't forget to add some 3D animated scenes as well. 

Reflection:

I was a little bit nervous on animating the 3D scenes because I had to choose which scenes look best in 3D animation. I also had to keep in mind when I am animating it I could project onto 3D objects. I started to feel a little bit more pressured at this point as I knew that I had to finish on animating it as soon as possible so I could experiment on the projection mapping. 

Week 7 - 11/10/22

In this week, I completed my animatic. I also began on animating my scenes at the same time. 

Below is my animatic:

Feedback:

1. Reduce the gradient for the car scene.
2. Try to make more scenes in 3D animation
3. Begin animating as soon as possible due to time 
4. No issue with the background music

Reflection:

I was relieved the background music was okay and I could proceed with it. I was also happy there was not any major changes that needed to be done to the illustrations. I need to wisely choose which scenes should be animated in 3D.

Week 8 & 9- 18/10/22

In these two weeks, I mainly focused on animating the scenes. I began with the 2D animation first using After Effects. 

Below are the 2D animation scenes:

Reusable grocery bags

Spend wisely

Give life to old items

Protect Biodiversity

For this scene, I wanted to make sure it was only in a circular shape so I could have a projection that projected a circular visual onto a 3D sphere. 

Reduce emissions

For the airplane, my idea was to animate it in with camera tracking included so it follows the smoke.

Wildfire

Sea Level

After Effects Animation Process:

Animation Process - Scene 11 (Spend Wisely)

For each scene, I had to make sure the transition would be nice and smooth so it would appear much more unique when projected onto objects. 

After animating a few scenes, I realized I needed to add new scenes that states the ways/steps to preserve Earth. My idea was to only involve typography with a gradient background that is a little bit glowy and dreamy to match the whole tone of the animation.

Ways to preserve the Earth scene

Animation Process: Texts transitions

In week 9, I focused on the 3D animation scenes only. I animated them using Cinema 4D.

Below are the scenes I animated in Cinema 4D. 

3D animation scene - Come Together

3D animation scene - Ice caps

3D animation scene - Public Transport

Reflection:

I get worried at times whenever I animate the 3D scenes as I am worried it would not go well when combined with the 2D animated scenes.

 

Week 10 - 01/11/22

In this week, I showed my progress so far to Mr Kannan. 

Final animation:

Feedback:

1. Change the title to all capital letter so it would be more impactful rather than lowercase letters.
2. Change the text transition in one of the scenes.

Reflection:

I was relieved I did not have to make major changes to the animation. I realized I need to start working on my projection mapping.

Week 11 - 08/02/22

I showed Mr Kannan my progress for the projection mapping.

Below is my first draft along with the 2 different setups for the projection mapping:

Setup 01

Setup 02

Feedback:

There wasn't much that needed to be changed. Mr Kannan said I could project a looping video onto one of the screens. I can add particles onto some of the scenes. I can also make the boxes bigger. 

Reflection:

I was not really satisfied with my objects setup. I wanted to still try out something else. I needed to make my objects much bigger. It was not impactful enough. 

Week 12-14 

Week 12:

I completed all the masking for the individual boxes for my projection mapping. 

Main screen masking

Long box masking

I finalized my projection mapping setup.

Below is the finalized setup:

Feedback:

Mr Kannan said it looks good. He asked whether I was going to close the gap in the middle because it is cutting off the text.

Reflection:

Trying to come up with creative and cool visual effects for the projection was getting tougher and tougher. But i really enjoyed this part of the project despite it being my first time doing projection mapping. 

Below is the finalized projection mapping masking along with visual effects:

Week 15 - 9-11th December 2022

In these 3 days, it was our final year showcase exhibition titled "Ctrl-T".

 

Below are some images from the exhibition:

Not Inevitable: Booth Display (Contact Card, Hybrid Animation Book, Another Display)

Not Inevitable: Last day of exhibition

Not Inevitable: Wall display

Not Inevitable: Visitor taking a picture with the projection mapping

Not Inevitable: Audience sitting down to watch the projection

Not Inevitable: Audience watching the projection

Not Inevitable: Booth display (Close-up)

Reflection

If I could describe the whole entire 15 weeks of Major Project in 4 words it would be; fun, exhausting, challenging and meaningful. It has been a very memorable period of my time where I have dedicated 99% of my time for 2-3 months to this project. At first, I could definitely say I was VERY worried on whether my idea for the project would be good enough and not forgetting how I was stressing out over doing projection mapping for the very first time in my life all by myself. After completing the projection mapping, I realized I could have asked for more guidance from Mr Kannan rather than learning to do everything by myself and that is definitely something I need to work on in the future - Asking for help more often. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all the lecturers involved in this project namely Mr Kannan and Mr Asrizal. Both of them have played a huge role in my project. The guidance given by Mr Kannan will always be immensely valuable and appreciated. During the exhibition, no words can describe how happy I was with the visitors/audiences' reaction to my projection. Learned so much as well from speaking to the people involved in the projection mapping industry. I can finally say I have found what I truly love doing and what I would love to dive in deeper as my future career. I am blessed to have such supportive members that helped me with my projection setup for the exhibition. All of this has truly been a really cool journey for me and hope to create bigger projects after this!