Week 14 required a shift from high-level theoretical concepts to practical, operational planning. My independent task this week was to design a detailed screen analysis coding sheet for my proposal. A common critique from university assessors is that qualitative research can easily descend into subjective bias. To protect my thesis from this vulnerability, I spent […]
Scene Production This week, we started producing individual shots for the film. Since our story follows the post-apocalyptic journey of a young girl and a honey badger, many different environments are needed to create a sense of exploration. I was responsible for the environmental shots. As I had little experience using AI in production, I […]
This week’s lecture focused on creature animation and the importance of observation before starting production. One of the most valuable lessons for me was understanding that animation should begin with research and reference gathering rather than immediately opening Maya. The lecture highlighted the importance of studying movement, locomotion, anatomy, and behaviour before creating animation. This […]
During Week 13, I focused my independent learning on justifying the selection of my primary data sources. In a postgraduate thesis proposal, one cannot simply select case studies based on personal enjoyment; the selection must be defended through a clear, academically sound selection matrix. I spent this week critically evaluating why The Incredibles (2004) and […]
Character Development and Visual Direction This week, we focused on establishing the main characters and defining the visual style of the project. After discussing the narrative direction, we decided that the story would centre on two characters: a young girl and a honey badger. Rather than relying entirely on AI, we began by sketching the […]
Workshop: Breathing Animation After the teacher’s explanation, I understood the main movement logic for creating a breathing animation. The head should follow the chest, and the chest should follow the COG movement. After that, smaller details can be added, such as the shoulders moving up and backward, the hands moving slightly upward, and the accessories […]
This week was entirely dedicated to resolving a major methodological dilemma within my proposal. In my independent study, I had to critically evaluate whether my investigation into animation cinematography required a qualitative or a quantitative methodological paradigm. Initially, I entertained the ambitious idea of conducting empirical quantitative research, such as distribution surveys or eye-tracking experiments […]
Project Direction Development During the first week, our group had several discussions with our tutor and my teammate Bingru. After a strong and detailed discussion, we decided to change the main focus of our project. Instead of creating a complex story, we will focus more on exploring AI and how it can be used in […]
Facial Anim_Lip Sync In this lesson, I learned that lip sync is not only about matching the mouth to the audio. It is a step-by-step process: jaw opening, phonemes, and then polish. First, I focus on the jaw. I need to find the accents in the sentence and open the jaw at the right time. […]
Entering Week 11 marks a significant transition in my academic journey. Having successfully completed my Literature Review, my objective this week shifted from evaluating existing scholarship to formulating my own independent Thesis Proposal. My primary challenge was avoiding a common postgraduate pitfall: treating the proposal as a mere repetition of previous summaries. Through rigorous self-reflection, […]