Speck of Time - The Process

Speck of Time - The Process

Doan Hoang Phi Long - s3759891

Nguyen Phan Hoang Vy - s3754114

Acknowledgement

We’re truly grateful for the guidance of our lecturers, especially our lovely supervisor Rebecca Lu and our amazing lecturer Abbas Mteirek, throughout this course. We’ve been through some ups and downs throughout the whole project, and it would not have been successfully completed without the assistance and unwavering support from them with both their patience, encouragement, and vast pool of knowledge through all the feedback sessions, from research to design.

We also want to give our gratitude towards our peers for supporting us throughout the whole journey and helping us through some of our sticky points with their diverse insights.

Design

Teamwork

Co-working platforms

Miro

From brainstorming, sharing screen captures & iterations to collecting moodboard, Miro is the platform we chose for tracking those activities for the entire working process.

Softwares in use

Notion

Notion is in used for writing ideas, planning, documenting research, collecting useful links, etc and anything that is word-related.

Google Drive

We used Long’s PC as a host computer to sync and store every file on Drive. Vy can download, edit and re-upload for any changes and it can be directly synced to Long’s computer

• Blender: 3D Modelling, Animation, Material, Lighting & Rendering

• Procreate: Sketching & 2D Drawings

• Adobe After Effects: 2D Motion and Footage Editing

• Adobe Premiere Pro: Sound Editing

• Adobe Photoshop: Graphic Design

Color Code

To maximize the reading the reading experience in this process document, we use color code to indicate type of works in each page. Following list is the explanation for each color in use.

Research IdeationProduction

DESIGN STATEMENT

Existential concerns are inevitable as we are moving to exist in this puzzling and hectic world. Some experience them as wandering thoughts passing through their mind. Some, on the other hand, dwell on them more than others. That is when “concern” escalates into a “crisis”, which is identified by intense reflection and anxiety about the meaning of life.

“Who am I?”, “What’s the point of my existence?” or “What do I contribute to the world?”, these questions surpass the meaning of themselves to become problems that need to be resolved. As the thoughts go on, people going through an existential crisis will likely experience a great deal of anxiety. However, existential concerns are a normal part of the human condition. While they can be upsetting, they can also be soothing, as long as you manage to turn negative thoughts into positivity.

With inspiration from Stoicism and Jungian philosophy, “Speck of Time”, addresses these existential questions as the shadow of one’s self, which is not to be run away from but to be comprehended as an ineluctable factor in our lives and not necessarily needed to be resolved.

“Speck of Time”, therefore, explores the acceptance journey of one’s self about life to appreciate the present moment by embracing their shadow self.

Preparation

Before the semester started, both of us had some discussion on the possibilities of our projects and what we should do. Since then, we already saw that there were similarities on our interests and our skillsets. Therefore, we already quite foresaw the possibility of us working as a team in the future.

Since then, when we met back together in class, we decided to just merge our ideas and form our team. The initial interest that we shared were about the psychological areas and the life and death situation.

When it comes to the situation of the project, which was pre-discussed before the course, we agreed that we all dwell on the question about life & death of a human being & their existential reasons. This emerged in our mind because we all suffered from the loss of our beloved ones and start questioning what if we couldn’t accomplish our plan or find our passion and mission in life before we die. Furthermore, as a senior students, when we are coming the the ending stage of university life and starting a new chapter, the urge to answer this confusion is gradually arising.

Initial

At the first stage, we explored rough ideas about life and death situation with many quick notes and random keywords that just poped out in our minds. This method helped us to collect ideas as fast as possible which can expand the project possibility without any initial restriction or evaluation.

Notes by Authors

1

Initial Research - Topic Mapping

Topic Mapping

After having in mind roughly the general topic of Life & Death, we began to map out everything we had in mind that correlate to the big ideas. Doing this gives us more possibilities on how we could develop our project more effectively.

02 - Design Proposal

Fig.2. Topic Mapping by Authors

Fig.5. Irvine WB (2019), The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to becoming tougher, calmer and more resilient [book cover], W. W. Norton & Company.

The project topic escalated as we continue brainstorming, we found out an interesting research field that could be the potential direction, Stoicism. In a nutshell, according to the Stoics, the purpose of life is to live consistently in agreement and harmony with the essence of the cosmos and willingly accept things outside of our control (Robertson 2018:32).

Based on the research, we built a short animation for Quick n’ Dirty Project, named Speck of Time. The story is about an imaginable world where people can delay their death, but after any delay, there are always consequences affecting the character’s body. This evokes an open question about the perspective that if we had a chance to live again every time we are about to die, would we treasure every moment we’re living in the presence.

Week 1

Initial Research

Chapter. 01 - Initial Stage

Fig.3. Robertson D (2018), Stoicism and The Art of Happiness [book cover], John Murray Learning

Fig.4. Irvine WB (2009), A Guide to The Good life: the ancient art of stoic joy [book cover], Oxford University Press.

Stoicism

What is Stoicism?

Started from a philosophical school founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium around 301 BC, Stoicism withstood its position for almost 500 years, and has gained its revival in recognition over the past few decades (Robertson 2018). Briefly, the Stoics believe that the goal of life is “to live consistently in harmony and agreement with the Nature of the universe, and to excel with regard to our own essential nature as rational and social beings” (Robertson 2018:15). In other words, Stoicism aims at transformation of our character rather than the external world. This essence is the fundamental factor why people who are unsatisfied with life and seeking both mindfulness and a sense of purpose are often drawn to Stoicism (Robertson 2018). By pushing the mind into our internal self, we can obtain self-knowledge as well as the ability to differentiate between what is under our control and what is not. Robertson (2018:42) stated that ‘to contemplate and understand our own existence is an ongoing effort, according to the Stoics, requiring a form of ‘mindfulness’.

The external world and ourselves

Living in accordance with Nature can start with separating our perspectives of the world into a threefold division: Self, World, and Mankind (Robertson 2018).

1. Self: Being harmonious with our own integral nature, with ourselves as rational beings, which requires perfecting reason and virtue and fulfilling our nature (ibid).

2. World: Being harmonious with Nature as a whole, which means accepting our destiny to the degree that it’s beyond our control, and being willingly open to anything happening rather than grumbling and struggling fruitlessly against the events (ibid).

3. Mankind: Being socially harmonious and sympathetic with other people and perceiving all rational beings as our kin (ibid).

These three dimensions of life start with the internal world that lies within ourselves. So if we can control how we perceive and comprehend any events happening around us, we can take a step further by letting the events happen as they do and our life will go smoothly.

Quick n Dirty Project

Situation

Dwell on the question about life & death of a human being & their existential reason.

Relieve anxiety and overthinking syndrome of being lost and misliving.

Approach

Introduce viewers to Stoicism - a philosophy designed to make us more resilient, happier, more virtuous and more wise–and as a result, better people.

ln short, we should periodically interrupt our enjoyment of what life has to offer to spend time contemplating the loss of whatever it is we are enjoying.

Moodboard

Character Design

First off, we all have in mind the same idea of having our main character be some bizarre-looking creature that does not need to look human-like. Therefore, it can have remarkable features such as elongated arms, necks, or legs. Here are some inspirations found that is considered the closest to our ideas.

Fig.6. Moodboard by Authors

Moodboard

Environment Design

For the visuals, we collected some inspirations of how we wanted the whole project to feel. As can be seen, the mood of the film could be described as dreamy, colorful, and a little bit psychedelic.

Quick n Dirty Project - Moodboard

01 - Initial Stage

Fig.7. Moodboard by Authors

Quick n Dirty Project - Character Design

Character Design - First Iteration

For the character, as preparation for our first presentation to our tutor, we quickly sketched out some ideas for the main character. The essential factors are: non-human looking, funky, and slightly peculiar.

Fig.8. Initial character sketches

- Initial

Week 2

The character modelling process started with separated body parts, then they were all merged together for remeshing. The cheeks were altered to make it look less rounded.

Quick n Dirty Project - Character Design

Chapter. 01 - Initial Stage

Fig.9. Character modelling

As we go on with the project, as it progresses, the movie’s tone would be a little bit different as it becomes darker. Therefore, this one looks too cute and childish; it might not be as effective in terms of conveying the main message. Consequently, another iteration should be made.

Week 2

Quick n Dirty Project - Character Design Chapter. 01 - Initial Stage

Fig.10. Character modelling with material

Fig.11. Character modelling with material

Props Design

Quick n Dirty Project - Props Design

Chapter. 01 - Initial Stage

Fig.12. TV modelling

Fig.13. TV modelling with material

3D Typography Design

Since we were required to have a design outcome to describe our intention for the project, we quickly designed a typographic logo as well as brought it into Blender to use as our 3D design element for a more cohesive quickand-dirty outcome.

n

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Fig.14. 2D Typoragphy in Illustrator

Fig.15. 3D Typography in Blender

Based on the research, we built a short animation for Quick n’ Dirty Project, named Speck of Time. The story is about an imaginable world where people can delay their death, but after any delay, there are always consequences affecting the character’s body. This evokes an open question about the perspective that if we had a chance to live again every time we are about to die, would we treasure every moment we’re living in the presence.

Fig.17. Quick and Dirty Project stillframe

Link

Quick n Dirty Project - The Film

01 - Initial Stage

Fig.18. Quick and Dirty Project stillframes

Fig.19. Quick and Dirty Project stillframes Fig.20. Quick and Dirty Project stillframes Fig.21. Quick and Dirty Project stillframes Fig.22. Quick and Dirty Project stillframes

Why is this Project important? Lecturer feedback

To us

Suffering from the loss of our beloved ones.

Pondering our mission and responsibility in our lives.

Beginning to think more about how to live our daily lives in the better ways.

To other people

Pandemic era.

For people to live a calmer life without worrying too much, also for them to do things before it’s too late.

After presenting the slides and a short 30-second animated outcome for Abbas, our tutor, we received some valuable feedback. Firstly, we were told both the topic and how we tackled it, overall, are interesting. As we already started doing and exploring the technical and visual aspects of the project, it is evident that a strong storyline based on the Stoic philosophy is expected to be shown to our tutor.

Why not choose this story to develop further?

The story seems quite fine at first, but after looking back, we decide to choose not to follow this direction since the idea of delaying death might be a little bit abstract and hard to understand for some people. Dying and the act of accepting the fact that we might die someday is a sensitive topic and might be difficult to fathom. Therefore, it’s best to keep this as an option and develop more on other available directions that still relate back to our chosen topic.

We don’t need to have the story soon but rather slowly and carefully, using elements from the philosophy to build a steady base for the story; from then on, have a detailed narrative later. One final helpful feedback is looking more into our target audience since different generations have different ways of thinking and viewing the same topic. It is necessary to define and analyze our audience’s needs first for a successful outcome that corresponds well with the targeted viewers.

n Dirty Project

01 - Initial Stage

Research: Expanded 01

Acceptance

In Stoicism

Marcus explicitly describes this first method, saying: ‘remind yourself that it is not the future nor the past, which weighs upon you, but always the present and this present will seem smaller to you if you circumscribe it by defining and isolating it’ (Aurelius 2003, cited in Robertson 2018).

When we follow the flow of the cosmos, our focus can shift to the present moment rather than worrying about the future or the past, which is out of our control. From then, we can take things step-by-step and be able to overcome barriers that might seem insurmountable (Robertson 2018:107). The second advantage of settling one’s concentration in the present moment is the capacity to ‘intensify the experience of self-awareness’ (ibid). Otherwise, our thoughts tend to be vainly carried away to the future or the past, which can be a deprivation of any suffering. The Stoics admit that the ‘here and now’ is the only moment that the good exists since that is where our ‘voluntary actions’ originate. By confining our concern in our own source, the present, we can stop wandering our thoughts in a roundabout way or external values and redirect our minds to seeking happiness right inside ourselves.

In the 20th century

Steering away from Stoicism, an ancient philosophy, the research was pushed further to some modern psychological studies about acceptance. A crucial component of any self-management, interpersonal effectiveness, or emotional control program, according to Linehan (1994, cited in Williams and Lynn 2010), is the moment-by-moment acceptance of oneself and others. Furthermore, the benefits of acceptance also include a wider scope of possible experiences, growth in compassion, reduction in blaming others and decline in distressing negative emotions (Williams and Lynn 2010:19).

& the paradox of change

Sometimes people believe acceptance to be antithetical to change (Williams and Lynn 2010:25). However, acceptance is not tantamount to resignation to the status quo, and efforts to change the status quo are often highly desirable (ibid).

There are at least two ways in which acceptance and change can co-exist. First, acceptance can happen at any point during the transition process if it involves admitting the unvarnished facts of a circumstance rather than being passive or resigned (ibid). According to Ellis and Robb (1994 cited in Williams and Lynn 2010:25), when someone decides to change in response to a particular set of situations, they must first accept the antecedent situations as they are, then accept the changing process itself, and ultimately accept the outcomes of the change attempt. Second, acceptance can stimulate transformation. Hayes (1993:20, cited in Williams and Lynn 2010:25), claimed that “when one gives up on trying to be different, one becomes … immediately different in a very profound way”. Additionally,“the more people accept themselves in their full complexity, the more they change” (Greenberg 1994:55, cited in Williams and Lynn 2010:25).

Existential Crisis

History

The term “existential crisis” derives from existentialism philosophy, which focuses on the meaning and purpose of existence from both an overall and individual perspective (Burnham and Papandreopoulos 2019).

Anxiety is also viewed differently by existentialists than by psychiatrists and psychologists (ibid). Rather than seeing anxiety as a problem that must be addressed, they see it as an unavoidable aspect of our lives that everyone will experience, as well as something constructive that may teach us valuable life lessons (ibid). They regard

death, freedom, loneliness, and meaninglessness as the ultimate concerns of life (ibid). These worries are said to induce anxiety and angst since we can never be certain that our choices are correct, and once a decision is taken, the alternative must be rejected (ibid).

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher who lived in the 1800s and is regarded as the father of existentialism (Gardiner 1969). He argued that rather than getting meaning from society or religion, individuals should create their own (ibid). Moreover, he was also intrigued by human feelings, notably the uneasiness that comes with making decisions and establishing one’s own purpose and value in life. Kierkegaard (1844:188) states ‘Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way, has learned the ultimate… Anxiety is freedom’s possibility, and only such anxiety is through faith absolutely educative, because it consumes all finite ends and discovers all their deceptiveness.’

Overview

In short, existential crises are instances when a person is confusingly and anxiously trying to resolve and find the answer to the question, “Who am I?” and “What can I contribute to the world?” (Andrews 2016).

Existential thoughts are closely associated with the meaning and purpose of life and death (ibid). They can be both positive and negative (ibid). People may comprehend these thoughts in a negative way because they highlight life’s vulnerability (ibid).

Many people experience existential concerns at some point in their lives (ibid). Some, however, dwell on them more than others (ibid). Some people may even go through an existential crisis, a period of intense reflection and anxiety about the meaning of life (ibid).

Erikson (1970) also originated the concept of existential crisis, which he referred to as an ‘identity crisis’, a period of intense self-analysis and exploration of various points of view. Existential concerns are a normal part of the human condition. While they can be upsetting, they can also be soothing. Going through an existential crisis is a normal part of life; it means you’re accomplishing an important life task to prevent negative consequences (Jacobsen 2006).

An existential crisis is a repercussion of larger social issues that people have internalized (Jameson and Hardt 2000). To avoid negative personal and societal outcomes, individuals should resolve each version of their existential crisis as it arises (ibid). Personal negative outcomes include existential depression, anxiety, and poor relationships; societal negative outcomes include a high divorce rate and a number of depressed retirees who do not contribute much to society (ibid).

Storyline #2

For the second ideation of the narrative, we decided to shift from the act of being of afraid of our own deaths to the loss of the main character’s beloved one. At this stage, we thought it would be easier to relate to a wider amount of viewers since it’s more obvious to imagine and suffer through the loss of others than contemplating our owns’. We can also imply the five stages of grieve as part of how people can deal with this situation.

Lecturer feedback

As expected, after proposing a completely different approach to the story, we received quite an awakening feedback from Abbas. In short, we already know about the stages of grief, yet there’s no point in just introducing the steps and not disclosing precisely how to solve the problem. It is surely a touchy topic; hence we must think more carefully about the story and how to develop it. Therefore, it is evident that we should make another alteration to the story to bring more refreshing ideas for the viewers.

Fig.23. Storyline #2 script on Miro

Why not choose this story to develop further?

As much as this one holds more potentials than the first one, there are still many reasons that this could not be our final direction. By changing to the loss of others, this kind of strips away from our first intention. Though it has deeper meanings than the first one, this one still does not really solve the original problem as much as we thought it would, other than just describing the stages and telling people to accept, which might seem controversial and hard to execute. If we cannot do it efficiently, this could easily become shallow with no realistic outcomes.

Presentation

Draft Project Mapping

To avoid making more ideas that do not correspond to our intention of the project, we mapped out some essential factors that we want the outcome to resemble. Doing this helps us to know what we should focus on and what not to do.

Project Mapping

To have a clearer idea of what we are going to do, we began mapping out all of the related factors in our project; from the problem statement to the design solution, which leads to the experience with detailed outcomes and potential impacts, etc.

Character Design2nd Iteration

The character’s eyes were changed from 3D mesh to 2D texture. We made this choice because of the time amount was not sufficient to produce great facial expression rigging, while this project requires an adequate numbers of emotions.

Fig.26. Character design - Quick and Dirty Project version Fig.27. Character design - Assignment 1 version

Scenarios

By provoking experiential perspectives on the mental and emotional aspects of a person through their process of dealing with an existential crisis, viewers might find themselves through the character and relate to the story, as well as be introduced to Stoicism.

Viewers then can realize that rather than dwelling too much on the past or the future or the things already gone, they need to constantly remind themselves to find peace in the present moment.

Chapter. 02 - Design Proposal

Fig.28. Key Image - Project Scenarios

Personal Scale

As we are undergraduate design students who keep pondering our mission and responsibility in our lives, we begin to think more and more about how to live our lives in the best way possible.

By being introduced to the idea of acceptance, we can choose to accept whatever dawns upon us and reflect on what we’re having at the moment.

Doing this, therefore, is an excellent opportunity for us to show more gratitude towards our lives.

Fig.29. Key Image - Personal Scale

Societal Scale

On a bigger scale, when you start to respect and treasure the moment you live, you can start treating your relationships with others in a much better way. Not only can it gain you better connections, but also help reduce anxiety about dwelling too much on the past or future by valuing the time spent with others. With that, the whole point is for people to live a calmer life without worrying too much and for them to do things before it’s too late.

Chapter. 02 - Design

Fig.30. Key Image - Societal Scale

Project Statement

In the context of dealing with existential questions, how might an animated short film be designed to help people who went, are going, or about to go through that experience in order to achieve a better understanding of acceptance and reflective contemplation.

Fig.32. TV model render

Panel feedback

In the presentation, we haven’t been able to cover the narrative fully yet. Therefore, we were first asked to develop the storyline to strengthen our statement. Our supervisor also told us to replace the word ‘crisis’ with something less serious. Hence we decided to change the term to ‘existential questions.’ Finally, we were advised to be fully engaged in the narrative development for the film, rather than adding another outcome, interactive website, which is too different in terms of skill set types.

Idea Evaluation Concept Finalization

Coming to the final version of the overall concept for the narrative of the project, after zooming in and out from the project map, we decided to see it from a wider perspective. Rather than focusing on whether a person should be afraid of losing themselves to death or losing their beloved ones, the project could dig into a more general yet relatable topic about how one could deal with their existential thoughts and questions.

By choosing and going with this term, the project can be more relevant to a wider range of viewers since everyone can encounter these thoughts one day or another. This could also work better since the concept now is broad enough for everyone, no longer relating to their deaths or their beloved ones dying. This makes it easier for people to imagine themselves as the main character of the movie since Speck has no distinct history or background, which is exactly what we aim for.

Existential thoughts and questions are a compelling topic that appeals to us from the beginning, yet at first, it was just a minor segment in our big topic that didn’t have enough spotlight since we focused too much on Stoicism at the time. However, after we keep on looking back and forth and expanding our project,

it dawns on us that shifting the project’s focus on the existential topic might be the best direction. By doing this, we can steer away from using Stoicism as the main factor, which can be risky and controversial. Instead, as it becomes more generalized, we can relate more to different approaches, such as using both Stoicism and Jungian philosophy. This, therefore, can make our project hold deeper meaning and touch more on various matters.

In the design proposal, we aimed our primary target audience is the young generation who overthink and be obsessed with losing themselves and their loved ones. However, after refining the concept for the film, we considered changing this target group to people who overthink their existential identity to the extent that they forget to enjoy the moment they are living in. This modification redirected our mind to a wider range of audience, which is more general and relatable to everyone, especially people at the age of 20, who are pondering deeply about their future. Re-targeting the main audience played an essential part in the narrative formation for our final animation outcome.

Project Evaluation Summary

1. Life & Death

2. Losing yourself, being scared of Death

3. Losing loved ones, afraid of the loss of relationships

4. Existential crisis, applying Stoicism as the base for the solution

5. Existential anxiety, yet removing Stoicism as the important element but more as inspirations, as well as taking other references from the Jungian philosophy

Storyline #3 Why choose this storyline?

With the above-mentioned idea that we informed our supervisor, along with carefully watching some more case studies, we decided to finalize our plot at this iteration.

The story then will begin with Speck, our main character, doing his daily activities as it repeats. The loop stops when his mind begins drifting off with existential thoughts while doing some normal activity. As the thoughts build up, this is when Speck will fall into his mental space. After experiencing things in the mental space, a normal external factor from reality will drag him back into life. Speck’s mindset will then be changed.

This storyline is chosen to be the final one due to many convincing reasons. By introducing the main character’s daily life, it is easier to build up the narrative as the viewers would get to know a bit about our character’s situation and his easy-to-depict problem. Since the events all happen while he was doing his daily activities, it would have a natural feeling and pacing throughout the whole film, which can make it more accessible and easier to understand as existential thoughts can occur to anyone without any warning in advance. Though the viewers are introduced to the main character, we plan to give enough details about his background - no more or less - hence the viewers can relate themselves to the main character. As a result, the whole story could hold greater impact and less controversial discussions of issues.

First meeting with our Supervisor

After being announced that Becky would be our supervisor and listening to lecturers’ feedback for our first presentation, we decided to ask for our first meeting with the supervisor ourselves. This is when we began to think more carefully about the narrative for the film. We talked about our spontaneous idea of letting the character go through his daily life first and later fall into his mental space while doing some activity, which was fortunately approved by our supervisor and became an official opening to our short film. Additionally, Becky also advised us to watch some more movies as case studies since we mentioned the movie ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ to be one of our main inspirations.

From this stage on, luckily, we then had in mind a clearer vision for the project.

Feedback - First meeting with our Supervisor

02 - Design Proposal

Fig.33. Meeting screenshot

Research: Expanded 02

Jungian Philosophy - The Shadow

Carl Jung (1938:131), a famous Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology, once said, “Unfortunately, there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants himself to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” Taking inspiration from the brilliant man and his model of the psyche, the project’s concept and narrative are also influenced by Jung’s belief in the presence of a shadow self within every human being.

The term “shadow” was coined by Jung to describe those aspects of our personalities that we choose to reject and suppress. We all have parts of ourselves that we dislike or we believe society might not like, hence we push those parts down into our unconscious psyches (Jung 1938). Therefore, Jung referred to our shadow self as a collection of repressed aspects of our identity (ibid). It is also referred to as the dark twin, alter ego, or the lower self (ibid). These terminologies effectively show the essential act of this psychology, which is meeting your undiscovered darker side, or metaphorically, approaching our demons.

The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the entire ego-personality, as nobody can become conscious of the shadow without significant moral effort (Jung 1979:22). Being conscious of it requires acknowledging the dark aspects of one’s personality as present and real (ibid). This act is an essential requirement for any type of self-knowledge, and it is consequently met with great resistance (ibid). Indeed, self-knowledge as a psychotherapy metric typically involves extensive, time-consuming effort (ibid).

Jung (1959:872) also wrote, “To confront a person with his shadow is to show him his own light. Once one has experienced a few times what it is like to stand judgingly between the opposites, one begins to understand what is meant by the self. Anyone who perceives his shadow and his light simultaneously sees himself from two sides and thus gets in the middle”.

Case Studies

Fig.34. Netflix (2020), The Midnight Gospel [animation], iDesign, accessed 1 July 2022, https://idesign.vn/art-and-ads/the-midnight-gospel-da-vu-tru-dien-ro-duochoat-hoa-hoa-tu-nhung-ban-podcast-hien-sinh-424186.html

The Midnight Gospel - Netflix Series

The Midnight Gospel brings a lively perspective of existential philosophy throughout the show with it vivid concept and animation, which creates an intense contrast between the narrative and the visual.

TYPEWRITERHEAD - Eric Glessman - Short Film

A man with a typewriter-head tries to get rid of his out-of-control thoughts. This film used action-based method and sound design to tell a story without any narrative voice.

Fig.35. Glessman E (2015), TYPEWRITERHEAD [video cover screenshot], Vimeo, accessed 1 July 2022, https://vimeo.com/131229751

Week

Case Studies

Research: Expanded 02 - Case Studies

Chapter. 02 - Design Proposal

Fig.36. Dvir Z (2020), Mercury’s Retrograde [video cover screenshot], Zohar Dvir website, accessed 2 July 2022, https://zohardvir.com/

Fig.37. Liu A (2021), 3:45 PM[video cover screenshot], Colossal website, accessed 2 July 2022, https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/02/alisha-liu-animation/

Mercury’s Retrograde - Zohar Dvir - Short Film

This film delves into a journey of a millennial who is on a path of self-discovery dictated by a magic 8-ball. Based on Jungian philosophy, Zohar Dvir focus on six main archetype in Carl Jung’s theory, which is “fundamental for a process of personal growth”. Mercury’s Retrograde inspired us to integrate some experimental and humorous shot in our film, which not only adds some thought-provoking action to the film but also breaks the linear narrative of the story line.

3:45 PM - Alisha Liu - Short Film

Two friends spending their Sunday afternoon in Central Park, while one breaks the calm with questions about the existential dread that she is pondering. The short film shifts from the mundane moment of daily life to expansive shot of star-studded galaxy. Though, she is reminded by her friend to get out of her own thoughts and just enjoy the afternoon moment.

Chapter. 02 - Design Proposal

Ideation

With the storyline already chosen, we began to have more brainstorming sessions to form our ideas into possible narratives.

Fig.38. Notes by Authors

Fig.39. Brainstorming notes

Fig.40. Storyboard sketches

Ideation

Fig.41. Storyboard sketch

02 - Design Proposal

Fig.42. Typography sketches

Narrative #1 - Storyboard

This is the initial rough version of the storyboard we had after finalizing our story ideas.

• The film begins with Speck going through his everyday activities, from morning to midnight, and repeats.

• After three rounds of showing his day, the cycle stops as Speck showers. This is when we encounter his existential thoughts and watch them build up to the point where Speck gets sucked into his mental space through the drain.

• Speck finds himself standing in front of a portal, leading to a new colorful and peculiar place which is his mental space.

• Speck goes through the door. Every object, looking both abstract and realistic, starts appearing. The mental space is filled with an abundance of surreal objects related to Speck’s thoughts.

• Speck starts noticing the shadows following him through the portal, he freaks out and tries his best to run away from it.

• After moments of running, Speck finds himself at the center of the mental space, facing an enormous tree with eyes on its trunk and branches.

• The tree then confronts him with questions and gives him some possible solutions.

• After listening to the tree, Speck finds himself now lying on its branches.

• He transfers back to reality after listening to the sound of nature.

• He continues his shower and the day goes on. However, this time, something inside him has changed.

Ideation - Narrative

Fig.43. Storyboard for Narrative #1

Why the narrative needs to be developed more?

As writing and coming up with a narrative is a distressing process for us as design students, the narrative can turn odd and unnatural if we miscalculate some choices. For this one, everything seems fine until the part where Speck faces the tree. Since we put all the responsibilities of awakening the main character on the tree with no specific reasons, this could become shallow and cliché if we cannot execute the scenes in the right way. Therefore, it also lacks some reasonable enlightenment moments, which might make the pacing of the whole movie a little bit off.

Supervisor feedback

After being announced that Becky would be our supervisor and listening to lecturers’ feedback for our first presentation, we decided to ask for our first meeting with the supervisor ourselves. This is when we began to think more carefully about the narrative for the film. We talked about our spontaneous idea of letting the character go through his daily life first and later fall into his mental space while doing some activity, which was fortunately approved by our supervisor and became an official opening to our short film. Additionally, Becky also advised us to watch some more movies as case studies since we mentioned the movie ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ to be one of our main inspirations.

From this stage on, luckily, we then had in mind a clearer vision for the project.

Character Design - Speck

Third Iteration

After deepening the background of the character in the narrative, we tried many sketch attempts to find which one can convey the story without verbal communication.

Fig.44. Character sketches, third iteration

Design

Chapter. 03 - Production

This one, hence, looks more neutral by applying the feedback from our peers and supervisor. By stripping off all the colors and characteristics, this one can stand for everyone without any specific gender or traits, making it more relatable. The character’s head is also shown as a constantly floating blob, representing his unstable mind and overthinking issues.

Fig.47. Final Character Design

Lecturer feedback

After having the first feedback session with our supervisor, we also had another session with Abbas, our tutor. By mentioning first that the narrative will be developed more, we received some feedback from Abbas about using symbols as a way to convey our story. To be more specific, we were told to look more into metaphors and meanings of the “tree of life” we were planning to use. This seemed to be quite a helpful idea since one object can have different meanings in different cultures or philosophies. Other than that, Abbas also told us to have some branding such as posters or social posts after we are done with the animation, which is obviously a must for our project.

Research: Expanded 03

The Tree Symbol

Tree and human beings have alike characteristics, ‘upright in the trunk, longarmed, slender-fingered, toeing the earth” (ARAS 2010:128). We aspire to how the tree fosters growth within itself, the reach and rootage, the durability and harmony between high and low or the way it adapts to seasons. From a tiny and bare seed, the tree demonstrates the emerging potential of oneself into existence (ibid). From any degradation, the tree is able to find nourishment, absorb its own deciduous rot and the earth’s fauna and flora decay (ARAS 2010:130). The tree is therefore a cosmos including “psychic spheres of refreshment, creativity, and initiation transcending space and time” (ibid).

The alchemists depicted the tree as the nature of intense inner life and evolution that follows its own rules and is able to reveal the “evergreen” within the individual (ibid). All expressive of spiritual enlightenment, such as “the tree bearing the sun, moon and stars as luminous gold and silver fruits or the tree filled with flowers or singing birds”, and the fusion of many distinctive forces of life (ibid). “At the top is the beautiful symmetry of the tree’s corona signifying the union of opposites“ (ibid). Such moments of integration followed by new cycles of desiccation and growth are the reality of the tree and of the psyche (ibid).

Fig.48. Artist unknown (c. 1470 C.E), Alchemy’s Philosophical Tree materializing in a glass retort [engraving], The Book of Symbol, TASCHEN.

Fig.49. Artist unknown (c. 18th century), Psychic life and its sacred symbols as a tree rooted in invisible realms extending beyond the boundaries of consciousness, inverted “Tree of Bliss” from a Turkish prayer book, The Book of Symbol, TASCHEN.

Ideation

Narrative 02 - Storyboard

This storyboard was developed from week 5 to week 8. But we decided to put the full narrative and storyboard here instead of dividing it into each week for easier and smoother navigation.

Cycles of Daily life

• The film begins with Speck going through his everyday activities, from morning to midnight, and repeats.

Shower Thoughts - The Portal

• After three rounds of showing his day, the cycle stops as Speck showers. This is when we encounter his existential thoughts and watch them build up to the point where Speck gets sucked into his mental space.

Fig.51. Storyboard for Narrative #2

Ideation - Narrative 02 - Final version

03 - Production

Mental Space - Conscious Land

• Waking up, Speck finds himself in a new peculiar and colorful place which is his mental space, where he first ponders upon the land of his conscious mind. In this space lies his acquainted thoughts, such as the computer work he is doing, the song playing in his head, the book he is reading, the lines of diary entries he wrote every day, etc.

Fig.52. Storyboard for Narrative #2

Mental Space - Subconscious Land

• Afterward, he runs through his subconscious land, where stores his memories, his reactions, and automatic actions. This is when he got chased by the shadows coming from himself.

Ideation - Narrative 02 - Final version

Chapter. 03 - Production

Mental Space - Unconscious Land

• After moments of panicking and running away from the shadows, Speck falls into his unconsciousness. Here lies nothing but darkness and his reflection.

Inter-connected Point - Interacting with the Shadow

• First, Speck is clearly afraid of his shadowed version of himself reflected on the ground. However, after acquainting himself with it, he tries to interact with it by touching its hand. As his hand meets the ground, a tree of shadows appears. On its branches are the shadowed variants of himself stuck inside the bubbles, all of which would explode once he starts acknowledging them.

Fig.53. Storyboard for Narrative #2

Fig.54. Storyboard for Narrative #2

The Return

• The explosion of bubbles happens, which then leads to the shadow variants flying down and beginning to merge into Speck. Eventually, the trunk of the tree appears with clock hands that start to tick, the screen then splits into two, showing a scene of his phone in the reality scene with the exact timing. After they both turned 9:31, that is when the return point happened, along with the notification sound from the phone, dragging Speck back into reality. He then goes on with his life with a new stable head, going back to sleep and starting his day, this time, an open end would happen as the clock bursts out with colors.

• Exit point: As Speck needs an exit out of his mental space, we think of letting it happen spontaneously, with the sound of the notification coming from reality. We can think of this as a case of daydreaming, where your mind would drift off unconsciously and slowly but can go straight back if an external factor happens that can affect your ongoing thoughts.

Fig.55. Storyboard for Narrative #2

Props Design #1

Modelling

Starting off with the project first and foremost is the modeling stage. By now, we already have our character, and to match him to the environment, it should have a simple and cartoonish style.

- Production

Fig.56. Clock modelling

This is when I begin to model stuff in the reality stage first, which consists mostly of his house and his neighborhood, and his office.

Props Design #1 - Modelling - Vy

Chapter. 03 - Production

Fig.57. Sink modelling

Fig.58. Bed modelling

Fig.59. Nightstand and potted plants modelling

Fig.60. Bedroom setup

Fig.61. Window modelling

Fig.62. Toothpaste and toothbrush

Fig.63. Dranaige modelling

Fig.64. Sink, mirror, toothpaste and toothbrush setup

Fig.65. Shower modelling

Fig.66. Bathroom setup

Props Design

03 - Production

Fig.67. House modelling

Fig.68. Neighbourhood setup

Fig.69. Standing shower modelling

Fig.70. Work office setup

Material & Texture

As for the texture, we decided to use a claybased material for all objects in the reality stage as well as stripping off all of the colors as intended for Speck to be seen as going through a mundane life.

By creating this contrast, when it comes to the mental space, people could easily distinguish between the two. Additionally, we can have colors as an interesting notion for the whole movie as the ending when the colors burst out, would be a perfect open end.

Fig.71. Clock material

Chapter. 03 - Production

Props Design #1 - Material & Texture - Vy

Fig.72. Clay material node

3D Animation #1

Character Rigging

Method 01: Rigify & Manual animation

I used Rigify addon to create another rig for Speck. This rig helps with any manual animation, including stretching the character’s body.

Scene in use for this method:

Cycles of daily life, Shower Thoughts - The Portal, Mental Space - Unconscious, Interconnected Point - Interacting with the Shadow, The Return

Fig.73. Character rig

Fig.74. Character rig

Character Animation

Character’s body

Manual keyframe for animation is quite intimidating at first because I had to learn both the techniques and the animation principles in the short period of time, such as Blender animation tools or how to blend between one action and another.

- Production

Animation

Animation

Fig.75. Brushing animation

03 - Production

3D Animation #1 - Character Animation - Long

Fig.76. Working animation

Fig.78. Door opening animation

Fig.77. Showering animation

Fig.79. Entering the bedroom animation

2D Face

Face texture was mixed as Image Texture in Shader Editor and controlled by a Value node to switch between each face.

Fig.80. 2D Face material node setup

Fig.81. 2D Face material node setup

Props

Animation

- Production

Animation

- Props Animation - Long

Fig.82. Computer screen animation & node setup

Fig.83. Water made from metaball particles

Fig.84. Clock alarm animation

2D Animation #1

After finishing the 3D animation for the shower scene, I begin polishing the scene by sketching out the threads as well as the existential thoughts to build up the intensity of the scene. In this first attempt, I went freestyle and set the graphics layer by layer without any complex effects yet.

Fig.85. 2D Drawing animation sequences

2D Animation #2

After receiving feedback from our supervisor later, I did some adjustments to the texts, such as scaling and rotating them, as well as applying some displace animation for each one so they can seem to have movement and not look so stiff. I also redraw the threads, this time not in Procreate but straight in Illustrator so they can be exported to After Effects easier as vectors, hence I can do a quick animation so they can appear like hand-drawn lines.

Overall, this final version works better as the camera movement also got fixed, along with the 2D animation applied on top, altogether creating a perfect build-up for the whole movie.

Fig.86. 2D Drawing animation sequences

Stillframe

Fig.87. Stillframe - Clock

Fig.88. Stillframe - Brushing teeth

Fig.90. Stillframe - Sleeping

Fig.89. Stillframe - Door opening

Fig.91. Stillframe - Showering

Scenes

Fig.92. Stillframe - Working

- Reality Scenes

Fig.93. Stillframe - Existential thoughts appear while showering

Fig.95. Stillframe - Existential thoughts appear while showering

Fig.94. Stillframe - Existential thoughts appear while showering

Fig.96. Stillframe - Existential thoughts appear while showering

Feedback

Supervisor feedback

After finishing and now polishing some scenes in the reality stage, we already had in hand a number of updates to show our supervisor, which consists of the narrative update, our up-to-date modelling process and some animation tests. We also talked about how we were planning to use time as the thought-provoking factor in the mental space; where at first, as the character was running through the space, time will run hectically with clock hands spinning crazily to represent moments when you are deep within your existential thoughts, time means nothing. Subsequently, when his mind becomes more stable, time will return to normal. We also told Becky that as we developed the narrative, we still have some concerns. To be more precise, we were still unsure about the last but most important part of the narrative which is how the main character would be enlightened and dragged back into reality. At this point, we had a general story up until the part where Speck meets his shadow and interacts with it, and would be transferred back by some means.

As soon as we finished updating, our supervisor then gave us some of her valuable insights as usual. She told us to look up some surrealist metaphors and symbolism to back up our ideation for the mental space. As for the concept of time she agreed that it was an amusing idea and advised us to use bendy clock arrows to match with the visuals we were planning to use. One more useful insight from Becky is to mirror the two worlds in some way, each can have different visualizations but still connect somehow so viewers can spot out some of the easter eggs. For a more cinematic experience, we can use sound play, have subtle sound effects here and there to spice up the whole mood of the overall animation. Lastly, as an option to our concern about an exit point for Speck, Becky suggested we can use something subtle from reality to affect our character and drag him back, that is when our two realities merge. Overall, it was considered an incredibly precious session for us to continue polishing our narrative as well as developing the visuals for the mental space scenes.

-> Taking our supervisor’s feedback into account, we had some more brainstorm sessions for the narrative, more precisely the exit point for our main character. As Speck needs an exit out of his mental space, we thought of letting it happen spontaneously, with the sound of the notification coming from reality. We can think of this as a case of daydreaming, where your mind would drift off unconsciously and slowly but can go straight back if an external factor happens that can affect your ongoing thoughts. For the opposing visuals of the two realities, we decided to use two different kinds of shadings: a clay based, Cycles rendered for the reality scenes and toon shading, Eevee rendered for the mental space scenes. By doing this, the viewers can easily distinguish between the two realities.

Week 5 - 6

Chapter. 03 - ProductionFeedback - Supervisor

Fig.97. Stillframe - Exit Point

Fig.98. Character with clay material

Fig.99. Character with toon shader

Ideation

As we finished polishing the reality scenes, we began to think more deeply about the mental space and how to set it up. At first, we were unsure about how to arrange things on the ground as well as which objects would be in the mental space. This is when we need more research to back up our idea and concept of the space.Therefore, we digged deeper into Freud’s theory of different levels of consciousness, which was pretty valued knowledge for us to set up the space as well as decide on which objects would be in different scenes.

Research: Expanded 04

3 Levels of Consciousness

Moving on from Jung’s theory of the shadow archetype, as previously discussed, it is necessary to mention that Jung was originally a follower of Sigmund Freud. Accordingly, Jung’s theories might be considered as an expanded view of Freud’s, thus we must therefore mention Freud’s theory of the three levels of consciousness.

Sigmund Freud, the abovementioned famous psychotherapist, believed that behaviors and personality were derived from the persistent and unique interaction of opposing psychological forces operating at three distinct levels of awareness: the subconscious (preconscious), conscious, and unconscious (Boag 2017). He felt that each of these aspects of the mind has a significant impact on behavior (ibid).

To understand Freud’s theory, it is necessary first to grasp what he believed each aspect of personality contributed, how it functioned, and how these three elements interacted to contribute to the human experience. Each level of consciousness seems to have a great influence on how people act and thought.

Freud classified the mind into three levels, each with its own set of roles and functions (Boag 2017).

• Anything that could potentially be brought into the conscious mind is included in the preconscious. The preconscious is also where many memories are preserved for easy retrieval - in which we can pay conscious attention if we wished to. Freud further defined the

preconscious as thoughts that are unconscious at the time but are not repressed, making them available for recall and easily capable of becoming conscious (ibid).

• The conscious mind comprises all of our ideas, memories, feelings, and desires at any given time. This is the aspect of our mental processing that allows us to think and talk about it in a rational manner. This also includes our memories, which are not always conscious but can be easily retrieved and brought into awareness (ibid).

• The unconscious is made up of things that exist outside of conscious awareness, including numerous memories, thoughts, and urges that we are unaware of. Much of what is stored in the unconscious is thought to be unpleasant or paradoxical, such as “unacceptable” sexual impulses. Although these elements are stored outside of our awareness, they are thought to influence our behavior (ibid).

Expanded 04 - 3 Levels of Consciousness

Freud compared the three levels of consciousness to an iceberg (Boag 2017). The conscious mind is represented by the visible top of the iceberg above the water (ibid). The preconscious is the part of the iceberg that is submerged beneath the water but still visible (ibid). The unseen bulk of the iceberg beneath the waterline represents the unconscious (ibid).

Fig.100. Seong J (2020), Freud’s Three Levels of Mind, Verywell, accessed on 9 August 2022, https://www. verywellmind.com/the-conscious-and-unconscious-mind-2795946

Props Design #2

Modelling

For the modeling stage in these mental space scenes, I used different kinds of techniques for different objects, such as using curves to make roads, modeling and sculpting for the objects, etc.

Fig.101. Character in vortex

Fig.102. Vortex modelling

Chapter. 03 - Production

Props Design #2 - Modelling - Vy

Fig.103. Path modelling

Fig.104. Objects in Conscious land

Fig.106. Computer and keyboard

Fig.105. Music notes modelling

Fig.107. Clock hands

Fig.108. Initial scene layout for Conscious land

Fig.109. Initial scene layout for Conscious land

Fig.110. Initial scene layout for Conscious land

Mental Space Map

Fig.111. Initial Mental Space map

Fig.112. Initial scene layout for Subconscious land

Fig.113. Guitar

Fig.114. Book

Fig.115. Nightstand

Fig.116. Initial stillframe in Conscious land

Material & Texture

As already mentioned, to create contrast between the two realities, a totally different kind of shading should be used. In this stage, we decided that toon shading was the best option along with the stylized pattern with a colorful palette. After agreeing on the style, I begin experimenting with diverse color pairs and textures to create quite a number of iterations. Nevertheless, the result turned out to be quite favorable.

Chapter. 03 - ProductionProps Design #2 - Material & Texture - Vy

Fig.117. Toon shader node setup

Animation #2

Character Rigging

Method 02: Custom Rig and Mixamo animation

To speed up the animation process, I tried some workflows to find what fits with our schedule yet still produces a decent outcome.

For method 02, I made a custom rig inside Blender to generate a proper weight painting for the model, which prevents a model from weird stretch and errors while animating. Then I uploaded the fully rigged character on Mixamo to use some pre-made animation, mostly running action.

Because the character does not have a neck, and this might have some errors with the mesh when I used pre-made animation from Mixamo. The uploaded model, therefore, was only the body and the head was attached later on after I downloaded the animated mesh.

Scene in use for this method:

Mental Space - Conscious & Subconscious

Character Animation

I used NLA editor (Nonlinear Animation) to mix, match and blend between different actions downloaded from Mixamo. If there is any additional movement, I had to edited the keyframes before blending the actions.

Although I had to figure out two types of rigging and animation workflow for the character, but Mixamo helped me save time for many specific scenes that required a manual animation.

Animation

- Character Animation - Long

Fig.121. Running animation

Fig.122. Standing up animation

Fig.123. Running animation

Clock animation

For clack hands animation, I learnt to use Geometry Node to animate them procedurally, which is mathmatically calculated, by controlling only one Value for both clock hands. After setting up the node for one clock hand group, I copied this set to other groups and change the Value node, so they were all procedurally animated in different speed.

Chapter. 03 - Production

3D Animation #2 - Clock Animation - LongWeek 7 -

Fig.124. Geometry node setup for clock hand animation

Fig.125. Clock hand animation

2D Animation #3

Combining all methods of animation learned from the shower scene as well as experimenting with some more glitchy effects, I finished the 2D animation for the diary scene after quite a number of attempts. Luckily, it was satisfactory nonetheless and received no objections from both our lecturer and supervisor.

Fig.126. 2D Drawing animation sequences

Stillframe - Mental Space

Fig.127. Stillframe collection - Mental Space #1`

Fig.128. Stillframe collection - Mental Space #1`

Fig.129. Stillframe - Mental Space #1`

Fig.130. Stillframe collection - Mental Space #1`

Fig.131. Stillframe collection - Mental Space #1`

Lecturer feedback

Week 7

Though week 7 was supposed to be a self-study week, Abbas, our dear lecturer, still managed to hold an online meeting for us to update our process as well as give us our feedback. At this point, we had already completed all the modelling and animating for the reality scenes as well as compiled it into the videos as 3 loops with the following one faster than the previous, followed by the 2D animated shower scene. We also showed him our first trial of the vortex scene after Speck got sucked into the drain and a screengrab from our ongoing scene for the first level of the mental space – the conscious. As a result, Abbas gave us his opinions on how we should move the camera in the scene where Speck got sucked into the drainage along with him to get a nicer perspective and more immersive experience for the viewers. Additionally, for the vortex scene, he advised us to change the texture of the vortex to something more chaotic since this one looks a little bit too much like getting sucked inside some digital machines, which was not relevant to our current style.

Fig.133. Vortex scene animation - Old version

Update from feedback

The material was changed to be less organized and more organic

03 - ProductionFeedback

Lecturer

Fig.134. Vortex scene animation - New version

Supervisor feedback

Week 8

Up until the feedback session for our supervisor in week 8, we had two weeks to work on setting up and animating the mental space scenes. At this point, we showed Becky our updated video up until the end of the running scene in the unconscious stage, along with a screengrab of the whole mental stage consisting of 3 levels. We also explained our research update for Becky as a base for how we build and place different objects to correspond with different stages. At first glance, she was pretty fond of the idea as well as our visualization of it. Additionally, Becky gave us a suggestion to use the 3D view of the whole setup to build a theme park’s map-inspired poster explaining to the viewers our idea of the mental space. For the animation, she also advised us to rotate the text in the shower scene for easier readability, which was later fixed accordingly.

- Production

- Supervisor

Fig.135. Screenshots on Miro

Lecturer feedback

Week 8

At this stage, as we were working on the animation for the mental space scenes, the narrative still lacks one final climax on how Speck will react after facing the tree. Therefore, after some more brainstorming sessions, we decided to have the shadow variants of him, which are locked up on the tree, fall down and merge into Speck as a sign of him accepting his other side. We quickly told Abbas our idea and received a “yes” from him as he told us to keep on going. Other than that, he also gave some technical feedback on our animation, which was also fixed accordingly.

Fig.136. Speck after merging

Props Design

Fig.137. Tree of Shadow iterations

Supervisor feedback

Week 9

In this almost-final feedback session with our supervisor, we showed Becky our animation progress up until the interaction with the shadow scene; along with the setup for the tree scene. We also informed her about our intention of having the shadow variants stuck inside the bubbles merging into Speck as they fall. By looking at our model and material for the tree and its bubbles, Becky suggested we let the bubbles explode as the variants fall for a more cinematic experience. She also told us to change the shadow’s material in the running scene for it to have a more transparent effect as well as gave us some advice for sound design. In short, all these valued feedback were all taken into account.

Tree of Shadow iteration

Update from feedback

Fig.139. Shadow material - Old version

Fig.141. Tree of Shadow before bursting

Fig.140. Tree of Shadow iteration - New version

Fig.142. Tree of Shadow after bursting

3D Animation #3

Character Animation

Fig.143. Falling animation

Fig.144. Running upstairs and downstairs

Fig.145. Face switching animation

03 - Production

3D Animation #3 - Character Animation - LongWeek

Fig.146. Standing animation

Fig.148. Freaking out animation

Fig.147. Character’s head flying back and forth animation

Fig.149. Looking down animation

Matching the Shadow

When Speck interacting with the Shadow, I had to render two versions, one with white material and one with black material. Then the shadow on the ground would be overlaid on the white one in After Effects.

Fig.150. Character with its shadow

Fig.151. Character’s shadow version

Fig.152. Character before matching the shadow layer

Tree of Shadows

03 - Production

Animation #3 - Tree of Shadow - Long

Fig.153. Tree of Shadows before rising up

Fig.154. Bubbles bursting out

Fig.155. Bubbles bursting out

Fig.156. Bubbles bursting out

Stillframe - Mental Space

Fig.157. Stillframe collection - Mental Space #2

Mental

Fig.158. Stillframe - Character falling

03 - Production

- Mental Space

Fig.159. Stillframe - Character falling

03 - Production

- Mental Space #2

Fig.160. Stillframe - Character on the ground

Fig.161. Stillframe - Character standing

Fig.162. Stillframe - Character’s head getting bigger

Fig.163. Stillframe - Character looking at his shadow self

Chapter. 03 - ProductionStillframe - Mental Space #2

03 - Production

- Mental Space #2

Fig.164. Stillframe - Character looking at Tree of Shadows

- Mental Space

Fig.165. Stillframe - Bubbles on the Tree bursting out

Production

- Mental Space

Fig.166. Character after merging with its shadow versions

Fig.167. An exit point

Stillframe - Reality Scenes

Fig.168. Stillframe collection - Reality scenes #2

Video Editing

EXR Sequence

The 3D works were rendered in EXR format (DWAA compressed), which has smaller size than PNG format, so that we can save up a large amount of storage. After that, we used After Effects to render out these sequences as a video for each scene.

- Post - Production

Fig.169. Render sequences

Combining sequences

After rendering each footage from the render sequences, we combined them all in After Effects for color correction and some additional effects

04 - Post - Production

Editing

Fig.170. Render footage

Fig.171. Combine footage in After Effects

Sound Design

We tried to record our own sound with Zoom recorder borrowed from the AV Room. Additionally, we also used free-to-use sound and music on some online resources to enhance the sound design for our film.

Fig.172. Sound effects folder

Fig.173. Record sound with Zoom recorder

Sound DesignWeek

Ultimately, we used Premiere Pro to mix and match sound design for the film because it has better UI for sound editing than After Effects

Chapter. 04 - Post - Production

Fig.174. Sound design in Premiere Pro

Feedback

Lecturer feedback Supervisor feedback

As for week 9, we showed Abbas our up-to-date animation and the only feedback received was in the scene where Speck falls into the unconscious, we should move the camera along with him so it would feel more natural. Otherwise, everything else was good enough.

Week 10, before the holidays, is when we have had in hand our animation ready along with the demo version for the sound design. We received some useful feedback from Abbas about the consistency of the mood of the music we used. We should try not to overuse different music and if we do, try to pick songs that have the same feeling.

As the project was coming to an end, at this stage, we already finished the sound design with feedback from Abbas taken into account. We showed our supervisor our final version and, luckily, received a lovely approval from her. Additionally, we showed Becky our draft poster for the themepark-inspired one with concerns about choosing typefaces for the posters and branding. She then gave us advice on making the map look and feel more dystopian by stripping off the colors, as well as using handwritten typography like in our film for a more consistent visual style. This last session was considered a really enjoyable one to end our five-week journey with our wonderful supervisor.

Fig.175. Initial poster design

Poster Design

Fig.176. Map poster design

Poster Design

05 - Final Design

Fig.177. Poster Design 01

Fig.178. Poster Design 02

Fig.179. Poster Design 03

Thumbnail

Fig.180. Thumbnail 01

Fig.181. Thumbnail 02

Mockups

Fig.182. Poster Mockups

Fig.183. Poster Mockups

- Final DesignMockups

As a team

Wrapping up the project, this is considered one delightful project for both of us to wrap up our design journey here at RMIT. However the outcomes might turn out, we can proudly say that we have rummaged through all obstacles on the way. Furthermore, this was the first time in a while that we worked together in a team, which was such a valued opportunity to gain new insights and knowledge in the execution of the project from each other as well as from our lecturers.

Throughout the whole journey, from task assigning to idea development, gave us lots of chances to find out how to deliver our outcomes in the most efficient way possible, as well as make our teamwork a pleasant experience. With similar skill sets yet slightly different focuses, we had no difficulty in assigning our own tasks.

As Vy was the one who did the modeling and set up the scenes, Long was the one who carried out from then and did the animating. By doing this, we learned to be responsible for our assigned tasks so that the project timeline would be ensured. Additionally, when one finishes a scene and hands it to the other, both can continue working side-by-side; hence the process would be more efficient and less time-consuming.

Since the timing was quite tight, we decided to keep on developing and strengthening the narrative as well as doing our technical work. Therefore, it is evident that we had to have meetings every two days to keep up with each other’s processes and brainstorm new ideas. As a result, we learned a lot about time management as well as being responsible for the tasks assigned to us along with giving the other comments on their work. Since it is a group project, we then also become each other’s supervisors. This was a great experience considering times when one could be more critical thinking than the other, which helps drag the other back into reality when their idea might go too far from the original plan.

By working together, we gained not only technical skills but also communication skills for conveying our ideas to both each other and the lecturers. Overall, the result turned out to be an unexpectedly wonderful experience. To appreciate both of our effort for this project, we now plan to submit our outcome to short film festivals for students, as suggested by Hellmut. Whatever the result might turn out to be, we are still proud of ourselves for finishing the project well with no major problems, thanks to the help of our lecturers and supervisor.

Fig.185. Team photo

As individuals - Long’s

As individuals

Long’s reflection

The making process of this project was both experimental and enjoyable for me in general. Firstly, in a short amount of time, I had to force myself to learn character rigging and animation, which I also planned to do for a very long time, but I had not fully committed myself to it yet. Hence, the five-week of execution challenges me to achieve my initial goal, making the first step into the animation industry. Secondly, I learned to communicate my ideas clearly with my collaborator, Vy, to come up with the creative concept as well as narrative for the first short film in my design journey. Although there are some points that I and my teammate want to ameliorate in this film to make it stronger, I think, after all, the outcome is still satisfactory, well-communicated and visually captivated.

- Reflection

Overall, this is a momentous phase that shapes a direction for my future career path, to become a multidisciplinary designer to tell stories through visuals. Back then, I intended to pursue a career as a lookdev artist. However, at the moment, I do not want to constrain myself into one specific area of design, so alongside strengthening my skill in the look development field, I’m aiming to expand my skill set in motion and animation simultaneously to bring more valuable concepts and storytelling to reality.

As

As individuals

Vy’s reflection

The project, from the research to the ideation and production phase, despite facing minor obstacles here and there, still is valuable for a learner myself due to many reasons. First and foremost, considering this as our last design project here at our university, working together as a team with Long has gained me many useful insights not only from our process but also from him and his knowledge; as well as strengthening our communication skills. Since we came up with the idea of creating an experimental animated short film, it was a great opportunity for me to experience multimedia approaches to design our outcome. As Long was the main one doing the difficult animating process, my job was to prepare the 2D as well as 3D assets for us.

By doing this, I had a chance to practice a variety of skill sets during my last three months here as a finalyear design student; such as sketching, 2D animating using After Effects, 3D modeling, texturing, environment design, as well as some easy 3D animation.

After finishing the project, I feel quite satisfied with myself for what I have done and have learned to do. This also brings me some more options for myself as a future professional designer and the courage to step one foot into the design as well as animation industry.

For now, I can consider myself a multi-disciplinary designer for the variety of skills I learned during my years as an undergraduate. I want to work and explore the possible options for me with the considered multimedia skills with no constraints, from 2D graphic design to 3D, from still to motion, etc. I am and will continue to find what is most suitable for me and try not to be afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone. In short, this project is still one of the most invaluable opportunities for me up until now.

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Audio Credit

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