This week, I learned about experimental animation by watching reference videos. Through the class, I was able to reconfirm what kinds of works I am interested in. In particular, I realized that I am often drawn to animations that are innovative and have educational elements.
Furthermore, the spherical animation we watched in class was simple, yet the delicate movements of the spheres and the color combinations made it a work that does not bore the viewer. In addition, there was an introduction to my favorite creators, Pixar and Hayao Miyazaki, and I was especially happy to learn a lot from this part of the class.
For this project, I created two main scene background image boards to clearly imagine the atmosphere, space, and visual style of the animation. These image boards serve as a reference for the overall world, including color, lighting, and composition, helping to move forward to the production process.
The first scene is set in front of the cave, and it combines a Japanese traditional shrine with natural elements. In this scene, the man-made shrine and the surrounding forest and rocks coexist naturally, creating a calm, mysterious, and harmonious atmosphere. The composition and colors were carefully chosen so that viewers can feel that “something special lies ahead,” making it a fitting introduction to the story.
The second scene takes place inside the cave, with a large tree positioned at the center. This tree acts as a focal point, drawing the viewer’s attention and representing a mysterious element hidden within the cave. The interior is little with soft blue lighting, creating a fairy-like, magical atmosphere while giving a sense of coolness and beauty. By adjusting the light intensity and reflections, I emphasized the depth and the fantastical feeling of the space.
By contrasting these two scenes, I aimed to show the difference between the outside and inside of the cave, and between reality and fantasy, guiding the viewer gradually into a mysterious and magical world.
In front of the cave with Japanese traditional shrine gate (Torii)
Inside of the cave and big tree located in the center of the cave
In this project, I created the juice box acting in the following the plan and storyboard. This image is a plan for figure out the time and space each movement of juice box. Also, I focused on the story, which is fascinated with viewer. But looking back the submitted the animation, it was boring and not well to convey my story to viewers. After the class, I asked the teacher “why the animation is not funny so much”. And then, during the conversation, I realised that the reaction and variations in tempo have a strong relationship to express the emotion and attract with viewers into my animation. So next time, I will be eager to explore the reaction and tempo more carefully, also, I would like to create the more fascinated one.
<Plan for Time & Space>
<Storyboard>
Blocking
This is the blocking for my juice box animation. The story begins with a juice box dropping onto a hill. Then, one of the juice boxes wakes up and realizes that another one can’t move. He tries to climb the hill again, but it’s difficult for him. Finally, he decides to use a unique method — flying by using the straw.
<Submitted the first version as a juice box acting animation>
This is a plan for my ball and tail animation. In particular, I drew images to show the timing, spacing, and movement. During this task, I focused on understanding how the tail should move. Looking back, I thought the ball and tail looked similar to a squirrel. This animal is characterized by light weight and quick movement, so I tried to incorporate those features into my motion.
However, through my teacher’s feedback, I realized that the tail movement looked a bit unnatural compared to a real animal. In particular, the motion lacked the flexibility and suppleness, which made it seem less realistic.
Furthermore, after watching the tips video on Discord, I realized that I need to use the Graph Editor more effectively. I also believe that even if I think my motion looks good, it might not good work from other perspectives. Therefore, I will consider objective feedback regularly.
<Plan for Time & Space & Movement>
<The first version Ball & Tail motion>
<Fixed Ball & Tail Motion>
This week, I tried to create poses using a complex body model. As a result, I struggled to adjust each bone and understand the functions properly. Recently, I have been thinking a lot about body expression, because these characters don’t have facial features, so it’s essential to show emotion only through body gestures.
In addition to this, I learned about IK and FK bones. However, I still can’t use them appropriately, so I would like to continue learning through self-study.
When creating a pose, first keep in mind the Golden Poses. It’s especially important to check whether the silhouette properly conveys the situation and emotion. Also, rather than simply creating a realistic pose, keeping in mind C- and S-shapes will make the pose more appealing and dynamic.
It’s also essential to consider the center of gravity. The center of gravity is a key element in creating realism, and in my case, when a pose looks somewhat unnatural, it’s often because I’ve neglected to pay attention to the center of gravity.
This week, I learned about story structure and film theory. Among them, I really interested in the content was the bar graph showing the rise and fall of a story from beginning to end. According to this graph, the story’s peak of excitement reached just before the end, O thought it looks like climbing up and down a mountain. Thanks to this graph, I could figure out it and visually graph helped me deepen my recognition.
Also, I surprised that the starting and ending heights are the same. I had always assumed that a story begins the most quiet and gradually builds up towards the ending. but in fact is a bit of different.
Additionally, I understood that, as shown in this diagram, the three elements are interrelated.
I got the idea for my work from three elements: a traditional Japanese shrine, a cave, and a big tree. Each of them has a special meaning for me. The shrine represents the connection between people and nature. The cave shows the power of time and the beauty that comes from many small coincidences. The big tree symbolizes life, growth, and strength.
By combining these elements, I wanted to create a beautiful and peaceful scene that draws the viewer into the world of the animation. My goal is to make people feel calm and inspired, as if they are standing inside a quiet place in nature.
Japanese Shrine
I decided to add the combination a Japanese traditional culture into this work, like Shrine. Because I thought that the staff allows the viewer immerse the wonderful atmosphere. In particular, I was inspired from the – Fushimi Inari Taisha. This is because that I felt the wonderful atmosphere when I visited there. A shrine is a place where Japanese people worship Kami, the gods from ancient times.
Cave
I have been to the various types of cave in Japan. And I thought that the cave enable visitor to attract with beautiful scenery. Also, based on these images, it is possible to high-light the one spot due to lighting and dark space. Furthermore, a cave is formed over a long time period of time though countless natural coincidences. I found that this process closely related to my work, as both reflect how chance encounters can create unexpected and meaningful forms.
Big Tree
The big tree is inspired from Castle in the Sky made by Ghibli which is my favorite animation company. The big tree is strongly related with Japanese culture. For instance, since a long time ago, people pray to like this big tree because people believed god dwell in the big tree and watch over. Based on this fact, I thought it can express the wonderful atmosphere to utilize these elements.
Based on this mind map, I decided to create an animation with a non-human main character and to keep the story simple. This is because I want to focus more on environment creation and on learning the knowledge and skills of Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), rather than spending too much time on a complex storyline.
In this project, my main goal is to create an immersive and realistic environment using UE5. By keeping the character and story simple, I can put more attention into the visual atmosphere, background design, and world building, so that the audience can enjoy the space itself.
For the environment design, I plan to combine three main elements. These are a Japanese traditional shrine, a mysterious giant tree, and a cave with a magical and mysterious atmosphere. By combining these elements into one environment, I aim to create a world that feels both realistic and fantasy like, provide a strong impression on the viewer.
This is a Golden Pose for week 2 assignment. This pose character has a big body compared to first one. So I thought it is difficult to make a pose clearly, especially, this character has a big body, and small legs. So I needed to fix the reference pose into this character pose. For that, I did the analysis to draw the C or S shape carefully by using a piece of Pixar Animation Incredible.
This is a sketch plan for Juice box animation. Especially, I wrote two graphs here like Full of Juice box and Empty Juice box. In terms of this sketch plan, I focused on the timing and space to express each material and weigh. Also, through this plan, I realised that heavy version is more smaller space each frame than light version. Furthermore, movement is also different between heavy one and light one. For example, heavy one is just bounce small only once. On the other hand, light one is three times bounce and movement is also big.
First making falling a juice box from a table in perspective viewFirst making falling a juice box from a table in side view
Light Juice box
Heavy Juice box
Juice Box Animation
In this project, I created the juice box acting in the following the plan and storyboard. This image is a plan for figure out the time and space each movement of juice box. Also, I focused on the story, which is fascinated with viewer. But looking back the submitted the animation, it was boring and not well to convey my story to viewers. After the class, I asked the teacher “why the animation is not funny so much”. And then, during the conversation, I realised that the reaction and variations in tempo have a strong relationship to express the emotion and attract with viewers into my animation. So next time, I will be eager to explore the reaction and tempo more carefully, also, I would like to create the more fascinated one.
<Plan for Time & Space>
<Storyboard>
Blocking
This is the blocking for my juice box animation. The story begins with a juice box dropping onto a hill. Then, one of the juice boxes wakes up and realizes that another one can’t move. He tries to climb the hill again, but it’s difficult for him. Finally, he decides to use a unique method — flying by using the straw.
<Submitted the first version as a juice box acting animation>
Final Version
Kiwi Animation – Brief Description and Impressions
The kiwi animation features a small, cute bird as the main character. The animation focuses on the bird’s simple movements, such as walking, pecking the ground, and fluttering its tiny wings. The motions are exaggerated just enough to make the character look lively and expressive, while still keeping a natural and believable feel.
Watching this animation, I was impressed by how much personality the animators were able to give to such a simple character. I learned how small details, like the timing of a step or a slight tilt of the head, can make a big difference in making an animated character feel alive and charming. It also reminded me that even simple creatures can tell a story effectively through careful observation and timing.
There is no class this day because the teacher cannot arrive to LCC with transportation problem. So, in this week, I focus on other subject, especially, I would like to visit the LCC library to get a new information like Maya character animation, how to struct the storyboard, etc.
I plan to create a work using Unreal Engine 5 that focuses on realistic environments and a simple narrative structure.
Basically, I will make a model assets by myself in Blender and then set them up in UE5. In order to concentrate on acquiring fundamental knowledge of UE5, I intend to keep the animation itself relatively simple rather than overly complex.
Based on the foundational skills I have acquired in this course, I would like to challenge myself with more complex and expressive animation projects in the future.
The main character will be a small creature or a non-human being. In addition, I would like to combine an animation motion that I studied using Maya in the 3D Computer Animation Fundamental course.
Animation Production Timeline Planning
Step 1: Planning & Research
Thinking story ideas and deciding on the concept
Creating a mind map
Researching reference works (backgrounds, worldbuilding, visual tone)
Making a simple story structure
Reviewing Unreal Engine 5 and previous student projects
Goal & Purpose: Establish a clear direction before starting production.
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Step 2: Pre-production
Character design (rough sketches)
Background and worldbuilding concept sketches
Creating a storyboard
Searching required assets
Goal & Purpose: Clearly define what will be created and how far the project will go.
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Step 3: Modeling (Blender)
Character modeling
Modeling props and architectural elements
Adjusting scale for Unreal Engine 5
Goal & Purpose: Prepare all models and try to export the data from Blender into UE5.
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Step 4: Texturing & Materials
Creating textures in Substance 3D Painter
Adjusting base colors and surface details
Exporting textures for UE5 (Base Color, Normal, Roughness, ORM, etc.)
Goal & Purpose: To make material and texture.
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Step 5: UE5 Setup & World Building
Importing models and assets into UE5
Using assets from Bridge and Fab
Blocking out the environment and camera positions
Testing lighting setups
Building the main scene
Goal & Purpose: Create a world where the final result can be clearly visualized.
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Step 6: Animation & Camera
Creating character animations in Maya or Blender
Importing animations into UE5
Refining camera movements
Adding simple motions and visual direction
Goal & Purpose: Creating motion by using Maya or Blender.
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Step 7: Polish & Rendering
Final lighting adjustments
Refining camera composition
Rendering using Movie Render Queue
Final checks and submission
Goal & Purpose: Polish the project to as a final project.
