FILM STUDIES & CINEMATOGRAPHY // Final Project

July 10, 2022

FILM STUDIES & CINEMATOGRAPHY // Final Project

Week 7 - Week 15 (10/05/2022 - 10/07/2022)

Fann Man Ling - 0344623 (BDCM)

Film Studies & Cinematography // Mr. Martin

Final Project

INSTRUCTION

Module Information Booklet

FINAL PROJECT: 20s Short Animation Trailer

The final assignment was a shared project with the Animation Fundamental module, creating a 20-second-long short animation trailer. We were told to design 5 animatic scenes from our story script that could demonstrate good cinematography.

WEEK 9 - 11 // 24.05.2022 - 07.06.2022

ANIMATIC

Before working on the actual animation, I began to develop the animatics for the five shots I had selected.

Attempt 1

Here is the animatic that was produced using my initial rough-draft storyboard.

Fig 1.1: Animatic_Attempt 1

Feedback:

Mr. Martin advised redesigning the first scene, as well as widening the second scene and lowering the camera angle for the last scene. Close-up shots were suggested to be shortened because the duration of our final animation is constrained to highlight the great cinematography. Additionally, he also mentioned that there's not much cinematography showcased in the animatic, more camera movements should be included in the scenes.

Attempt 2

After receiving the feedback, I redesigned the storyboard and its animatic.

Fig 1.2: Animatic_Attempt 2

Feedback:

Mr. Martin recommended I play with and apply different camera movements such as top view, parallax, and push-in & push-out. Also, the third scene (cooking) was suggested to see from the character's back.

Attempt 3

After all the opinions, I got to the conclusion that a varied camera movement is essential to presenting decent cinematography. I was so preoccupied with the idea of showing a close-up look and the beauty of food.

Fig 1.3: Animatic_Attempt 3

Feedback:

Mr. Martin pointed out that the animatic may be changed to an evening setting rather than having to match the setting of night. He made various suggestions for me, including drawing the last scenes from a low viewpoint (with 3-point perspective). Additionally, the fourth scene can demonstrate a camera pan from top to bottom while food is being placed, followed by a fish eye perspective effect from a low viewpoint.

Final Attempt

In response to the comments, I revised the storyboard and its animatic.

Fig 1.4: Animatic_Final Attempt

WEEK 12 // 07.06.2022

PROGRESS

Scene 1: Intro

Scene 1 is the still scene that acts as an introduction to the kopitiam. I sketched the scenes using Photoshop.

Fig 2.1: Scene 1 draft sketch

Here's the result when the colouring was done.

Fig 2.2: Scene 1 draft

I tried to make it yellow since I wanted the vibes to resemble vintage.

Fig 2.3: Final_Scene 1

Scene 2 : Walk Cycle

In Scene 2, the characters entered the store. After creating the background in Photoshop, I exported the shadows (foreground) and background as separate PNG files, which were then loaded into Animate.

Fig 3.1: Scene 2_Attempt 1

I refined the shadows as I felt they appeared to clash with the background and disrupted the harmony of the scene.

Fig 3.2: Scene 2_Final Background design

I did the rough sketch in Animate before I animate them.

Fig 3.3 Animation draft sketch_Scene 2

The characters were animated one by one. During working on it, I realized that I made a mistake in drafting the facial expression for each keyframe which make the action looks unnature. Hence, I redid the expressions in the actual animation.

Fig 3.4: Animation draft

Fig 3.5: Scene 2 Animation

Scene 3

Here's the background design for scene 3.

Fig 4.1: Scene 3_Background design

This scene highlighted the staging of the uncle making coffee.

Fig 4.2: Animation draft_Scene 3

This scene featured several animation principles. For example, anticipation was used when he lowered his head to pull the coffee and then raised it afterward. Additionally, an arc was used in the pulling motion for the cup and mug.

Fig 4.3: Scene 3 Animation

Scene 4a

This scene is simpler than the rest as I just need to do a few keyframes for the hitting table motion and repeat them. Anticipation can be observed when she raised her hand before hitting the table with the chopsticks.

Fig 5.1: Animation Draft_S4a

Fig 5.2: Scene 4a Animation

Scene 4b

I first created the scenes in Animate, then I used Photoshop to draw and colour the assets. After finishing the assets, I exported them (hand and dish) as a PNG sequence into Animate.

Fig 6.1: Animation draft_Scene 4b

And added the smoke in straight-ahead manner in Photoshop.

Fig 6.2: Scene 4b Animation

Scene 4c

This scene used a fish-eye perspective to portray the perspective from the angle of the food. Face expression of Miffy was focused in the first draft.