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Forefront Post 10 |Stay (2022)

'Stay' is a five-minute animated film, hand-embroidered, depicting the relationship between a daughter and her absentee father. It won the highly acclaimed McLaren Award and the overall award at the 2022 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and in the same year won the NAHEMI Student Film Award for Best National Student Film.

The author's use of the needle in the production process, combined with Photoshop, is what makes me love animation so much for the endless possibilities offered by this multimedia medium. While the subject matter and materials used in this work are not exactly original, the decision-making that went into skillfully blending them and presenting them on screen gives this short film a unique perspective. Through the use of semi-transparent sulphate paper and needle and thread, she creates a combination of blurred lines and translucent effects, a treatment that matches her understanding of her father's vivid childhood memories.

She has made an extra effort in both her ideas and her method of creation. I particularly like her idea of playing with ropes as a means of expression, as playing with ropes is a Chinese popular children's game. She used the effect of a mobile phone vibrating for a twist and repeated this expression several times throughout the work, thus catching the viewer's attention. I appreciate this creative technique and have also taken similar expressions in my work. Fish is an important element in my animation design, so I have also used this element many times in my artwork as a sign of a relationship between fish and women as a metaphor.

reference

Munday, R. (no date) Stay - a hand embroidered animated short film by Yu Sun, Short of the Week. Available at: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2023/08/07/stay/ (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

Yu Sun uses needle and thread to animate the story of a young girl and her absent father (no date) Itsnicethat.com. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/yu-sun-stay-project-animation-201022 (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

Graduation film- stay (no date) Yu Sun. Available at: https://www.yusunnnnnn.com/ongoing-project (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

Short of the Week (2023) Stay | A hand-embroidered short film about absent parents. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SXZJs26UKY (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

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Forefront Post 9 |THE RAT 2022

Weseefilm presents 'the rat', a brutal domestic violence scene animated from a drunken man's subjective point of view. The director of "the rat", Yuanqing Cai, and the producer, Tuan Muzi, led the production team together. This is also an animation using tvpaint, and the director is very skilled with this software and has sent out a lot of good tutorials on Bilibili.

There are two design elements that I especially appreciate about this animation. Firstly, the use of the rat metaphor to portray the powerlessness of the abused. The rat symbolises hiding, weakness and insignificance, and is a perfect example of a metaphor for the wife and children, the two members of the family who are in a vulnerable position. Although the rat is not a positive image, it is a projection of his family in the eyes of the drunken man, an object to be fought against and driven away. It also fits the environmental characteristics of the poor and backward urban-rural area, a design image that is very apt.

Secondly, the use of tumbling and gravity effects in space to show the vertigo of the drunken man, and the feeling of drunkenness and confusion through the distorted world in the man's eyes, complemented the plot, and the instability of this image felt fresh and vivid. There is also the image of the man vomiting out the fish, which is so realistic that it is as if you are experiencing the sensation of vomiting yourself. These subtle and vivid expressions highlight the director's deep understanding of drunkenness. In addition, story development from the perspective of a domestic abuser is not common in anime, which usually focuses on the victim's point of view, but this innovative perspective injected strong drama into the work.

The main influence this work exerted on me was how the backgrounds were drawn. Its detailed lines and simple colours present a complete animated background effect. In addition, it draws dilapidated home environments, broken walls, etc. in a vivid way, and this style has also been used in my own animation background creation. Although this background is drawn in a simple way, the effect is remarkable and makes the picture more vivid.

Reference

Box, A. F. (2023) THE RAT 癔症| family violence | Animated Short Film | BestAnimation |. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqKkiT5a3bI (Accessed: August 29, 2023).

哔哩哔哩番剧 (no date) 胶囊计划2022.

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Major Project #Post 23 |Decision and Development

In music production, we went through a process of three important adjustments. In the beginning, we spent a lot of time selecting regional music in order to conceptualise the appropriate music. Southern China covers a wide range of regions, including Sichuan, Minnan, Chaozhou, Jiangnan, etc., and there are significant differences in the musical styles of each region. For example, the music of Chaozhou is known as "two fighting geese" and contains a rich system of popular music such as the famous Chaozhou gongs and drums. However, considering that the scene design in my animation is based on the Huizhou architecture, which is mainly located in Anhui, Hunan, Hubei and part of Jiangsu. Therefore, the choice of music, although more mature and rich in Chaozhou music and easy to find references, was rejected in the second attempt of the version in favour of a style closer to the music of Jiangnan.

The second version of the music

The second version of the music effect for the marketplace section was closer to a wedding music vibe, which did not match the initial musical tone and therefore did not have the desired effect. During the adjustments, we also found that the attempt to move the horror atmosphere to the part inside the man's house around 1:40 was unsuccessful, as the lack of a clear turnaround scene resulted in the emotional change being too subtle.

After discussion, we decided to keep the timing of the first version's twist in the third production, i.e. changing the musical atmosphere at 48 seconds, and at the same time adding a sacred musical element at 1:45, i.e. strengthening the musical atmosphere with a sense of sanctity in the idol section. In addition, we considered deliberately designing a silent musical gap before the final part of the door opening to create a contrast and contrast with the content of the HIGHLIGHT later on, so as to further enhance the expression of emotion.

Reference

Two fighting geese - 双咬鹅（潮乐） (2012).

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Forefront Post 8 |Raya and the Last Dragon

Raya and the Last Dragon is a Southeast Asian culture-inspired fantasy adventure animation commercial film produced and published by Walt Disney Animation. Its commercial success is not only a multicultural fusion but also a successful example of cultural export. The film not only successfully explores Southeast Asian culture but also draws on the region's diversified cultural elements to create a fictional and rich world. Watching the film, I was acutely aware of the amount of thought and research the animators put into building this Southeast Asian fantasy world, especially in the initial conceptual design of the world.

The film clearly shows all aspects of Southeast Asian culture, from clothing to traditional customs, from architectural styles to background elements, all cohesively richly researched and deeply learned. This fictional world is full of details, and every detail is infused with Southeast Asian cultural characteristics, enabling viewers from different cultural backgrounds to experience this intense cultural visual feast.

It is obvious from the excellent work that, whether it is a game or an animation, every successful design requires a lot of dedication from the designer, including field trips and in-depth study. This is also the reason why I spent a lot of time on pre-design when I started animation because I also strongly agree with this point of view. Although my MAJOR STUDY was a very short time, which made me afraid to spend too much time on design. But as luck would have it, the geographic location of my story is in the south of China, and I am a native of this region. I also love travelling and spending a lot of time in the countryside, so my knowledge of traditional architecture and other cultural elements is deeply rooted in my memory. This makes my designs relatively simple, and I don't need to spend a lot of time re-learning and re-interpreting them, as they are all familiar to me. I simply build on these foundations.

Raya and the Last Dragon's approach and concept of cultural output deeply attracted me. It not only presents the audience with rich cultural elements but also inspires me to incorporate familiar cultural backgrounds into my animation, injecting more emotion and uniqueness into my work. By studying the creative ideas of this film, I believe my animation works can better communicate the cultural connotations and resonate with the audience, creating works with more depth and diversity.

Reference

Burt, K. (2021) Raya and the Last Dragon’s many cultural influences make for a distinct world, Den of Geek. Available at: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/raya-and-the-last-dragons-many-cultural-influences-make-for-a-distinct-world/ (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

Koeppel, K. (2021) Southeast Asian cultural representation in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney News. Available at: https://news.disney.com/southeast-asian-culture-in-raya-and-the-last-dragon (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

Studios, W. D. A. (2020) Raya and the Last Dragon | official teaser trailer. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BPMTr-NS9s (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

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Forefront Post 7 |The Windshield Wiper 2022

The Windshield Wiper is a very personal and particular vision of Love and relationships. Presented by Pastel and crafted by the talented Alberto Mielgo, this work showcases his distinct vision as a writer, director, and designer. Produced by Pinkman. tv and Leo Sanchez Studio, it stands as a testament to Mielgo's matured creative direction

Alberto Mielgo is a very mature director who has worked on many notable productions including Harry Potter, Love and Death Robot and Spider-Man. This work was before 2023's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but it can be seen in this trailer that this short film influenced much of his subsequent work in superhero films. Over time, he has developed a unique personal style that has been used successfully.

The film is a multi-dimensional digital animation that reflects Mielgo's creativity to go beyond the limitations of a single production tool. The film uses a combination of painted backgrounds and a harmonious mix of 2D and 3D elements to achieve a visual synergy between the modern and the retro. Notably, Mielgo employs certain shots that mimic live-action cinematography techniques, capturing the natural way in which a scene shakes and moves.

In contrast to creators who aim for surrealistic narratives and novel cinematic languages, Mirgo prefers the design of real scenes. This tendency may be attributed to his early experience in filmmaking. However, he boldly uses unconventional camera angles to effectively convey the emotional flow of his narrative. In addition, this work abandons a linear narrative approach in favour of a multifaceted narrative that writes multiple perspectives together. Rather than a single, overarching plot thread, it resembles an essay exploring perspectives, similar to an academic exploration of the multi-faceted nature of love.

Mielgo is an established director, full of experience and insights to offer. Whether it's production techniques, visual language or multi-dimensional storytelling, his work provides invaluable learning opportunities. I recognise my limitations as a writer and producer of experimental animation, and I greatly appreciate Mielgo's exceptional visual expression and storytelling. While my current project tends towards narrative-driven content, I've had challenges with script development and transitioning to polished storyboards. As a result, I am more able to learn and appreciate more from this film.

Reference

EverythingiMovie (2022) The windshield wiper [FULL VIDEO] Alberto Mielgo. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW-0nMPksfg (Accessed: August 29, 2023).

the windshield wiper’ reveals the many sides of modern love (no date) Animation World Network. Available at: https://www.awn.com/animationworld/windshield-wiper-reveals-many-sides-modern-love (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

Motamayor, R. (2022) How animated short ‘the windshield wiper’ influenced ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ IndieWire. Available at: https://www.indiewire.com/awards/industry/the-windshield-wiper-animated-short-alberto-mielgo-interview-1234693351/ (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

Mielgo, A. (2021) The Windshield Wiper / TRAILER 2021. Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/568179562 (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

The windshield wiper - NEW — + (no date) +. Available at: http://www.albertomielgo.com/the-windshield-wiper-1 (Accessed: August 16, 2023).

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Forefront Post 6|Ghost Dogs 2021

Ghost Dogs is a short animated movie created by Joe Cappa. The film follows a pack of ghost dogs roaming a house with only a new rescue puppy and a robot vacuum cleaner for the company. The movie's tone blends elements of satire, dark comedy and horror to create a uniquely spooky atmosphere with the dogs' first point of view and vintage MTV animation style.

The character designs in the movie are exceptionally interesting, blending dog and human traits as they crawl on their hands and knees in a behavioural pattern more similar to a dog. The strong contrast and sense of contradiction between the puppies and the horror atmosphere pushes the visuals over the top. In particular, the storyboard of the movie covers some less realistic visual effects, and although these scenes are difficult to realize in 3D, they are perfectly rendered in 2D. This type of animation is also a fantastic visual perspective that many independent animators are looking for. You can tell that the animator put a lot of thought into the initial conception and planning of the animated film and that he was committed to developing some interesting shots with a touch of grey humour.

As a powerful horror and spooky movie, I can learn a lot here, especially in terms of its camera language and visual style. In particular, the looping and changing of the endless doors at the back is wonderful and full of wonders. This kind of progression in the horror atmosphere provides an excellent model for me to learn from when making my short films. The sound is not to be overlooked either, as it cleverly creates a deliberate silence before the highlight to immerse the viewer in the experience, which in turn creates an even stronger impact when the highlights arrive. This was the idea behind the creation of a specific silent section when I was discussing music production with a friend.

Reference

Short of the Week (2022) Ghost dogs | trippy award-winning Sundance animated horror Short film. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKWAZtSDQk (Accessed: August 29, 2023).

Bowers, J. (2022) Staff Pick Premiere: “Ghost dogs” by Joe Cappa | vimeo. Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/blog/post/ghost-dogs-by-joe-cappa/ (Accessed: August 15, 2023).

Cappa, J. (2022) Ghost Dogs. Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/710964142 (Accessed: August 15, 2023).

Munday, R. (no date) Ghost Dogs - an animated horror short by Joe Cappa, Short of the Week. Available at: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2022/05/26/ghost-dogs/ (Accessed: August 15, 2023).

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Major Project #Post 17| Development

This part of the scene about the fish is part of the final ending of my animation, and I did some proper reference searching to be able to vividly represent the state of the fish. I needed to draw the state of the fish as a feeling of desperation waiting for death, so I emphasized the breathing action of the fish's mouth. This movement reminded me of the girl's helpless cries for help, so I also enhanced the fish's eyes as it gazes fearfully at the knife.

By adding these details, I hope to express more deeply the emotions of helplessness and fear that the fish is in.

I then set up the fish for the process of being cut open. However, within the opened-up interior, I chose to draw human bones and internal organs, and I also drew a beating heart. This was all to more clearly imply that the image represented by the fish was the girl who was previously shrouded in darkness.

Next, as I worked on the line drawing, I planned to draw the scene in two parts. One part will be to draw the beating of the internal organs, and the other part will be to draw the fish's body being sliced open. When exporting, I will use a PNG sequence so that it will be easier to composite in After Effects later.

reference

Isle of Dogs (2018) - “sushi scene” [1080] (2018).

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Forefront Post 5 | Blades of the Guardians 2023

"Blades of the Guardians" is an animated adaptation of Xu Xianzhe's comic with the same title, released in June 2023. Set in the Sui Dynasty, this animation takes us on a journey through ancient China. Although I haven't read the comic, what captivated me was its stylized animated opening sequence. This animation has had a significant impact on my major study work.

Before learning about animation, I was more inclined to watch sequel-based animations and paid less attention to artistic short films. Consequently, when creating my own animation, I found myself limited by the influence of the TV animations I had previously watched. Particularly, in my storyboarding process, I got trapped in the rules and conventions of serialized TV animations. Perhaps, my knowledge is mostly derived from TV animations contributed to this limitation. However, "Blades of the Guardians" broke free from the stereotypes of commercial sequels. It exudes a strong artistic and storytelling essence.

In specific, I was fascinated by the twisted and eerie eye movements at 49 seconds and the red eyes at 56 seconds. I intend to learn and incorporate these strange and weird elements into the device depicting fish and roe in my own animation.

Moreover, by studying the opening sequence of this animation, I found inspiration to experiment with peculiar perspectives in my animation's beginning and ending parts. This development is proving to be a valuable asset to my work.

reference

Anime, 天天动漫daily (2023) 🪔《镖人》片头曝光，朱笔红墨，写尽人心莫测 |镖人 blades of the guardians |Chinese animation | donghua. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdS32FpluyU (Accessed: August 29, 2023).

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Major Project #Post 16| Development

rough animation

Walking shots have always occupied an important place in my animations, and the looping of the walking animation became a central part of the whole production. In order to ensure the accuracy and coherence of the walking animation, I have adopted some effective methods to optimise the production process.

Firstly, I kept a walking cycle icon next to me as a reference throughout the production. This walking cycle icon reminds me of the details of the walking movement in each frame, such as the rise and fall of the steps, the swing of the body, the position of the feet, etc. By using this reference, I can draw the walking animation more accurately and avoid unnatural and incorrect expressions.

In addition to this, in order to animate faster and better, I try to avoid feet when designing shots. This reduces a lot of drawing steps and thinking time and allows me to focus more on other animation elements, such as the character's expression and posture. This strategy improves the efficiency of animation production while ensuring the overall quality and smoothness of the animation.

I also use colours to differentiate between left and right feet when drawing, which allows me to draw a lot of animations without it becoming confusing and causing mistakes like the same foot travelling both times.

Although walking animation plays an important part in my work, with these optimisations I was able to handle the walking loops and other shots more efficiently, making the animation process more organised.

reference

KLAUS | walk cycle mash-up (2020).

Animating walks: Japanese vs western walk cycles (2021).

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Major Project # Post 12| Experiment

typography

I am deeply in love and inspired by the seal design at the end of this animation. It adds a unique Chinese element to the whole work and makes me think of adding a seal to my animation as well. By adding such details, I believe my animation will be more colourful and bring a unique cultural experience to the audience.

I'm going to add this stamp to the opening title section, so I've done some design work on my fonts. Fonts are an important part of the design so they can add a unique style and character to my animation. Designing the font is a crucial step that will set the tone for the opening of the animation and give the viewer a sense of what to expect from the story.

At first, I designed a Chinese title, but after thinking about the title of the animation, I decided to design it as an English title to better appeal to the audience who is biased towards native English speakers and make it easier for them to understand the theme and content of the story. I think choosing the right language for the target audience can increase the viewability and communication effect of the animation.

reference

SmileyFaceOrg (2022) Opera (CalArts Short Film 2022). Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqswn3UBJvs (Accessed: August 29, 2023).

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Forefront Post 4|SWALLOWTAIL CalArts 2023

This personal animated movie is truly a marvellous piece of work, though only 1.5 minutes long, it manages to tell a complete story about a tailor helping a bride in an arranged marriage, a theme that has a deep background and meaning in traditional Chinese culture. The short film does a fantastic job of conveying the emotion and depth of the story. I particularly appreciated the colour palette, line art and storyline, which enhanced the emotional expression of the piece and created an atmosphere for the viewer in keeping with the subject, making it a piece of great integrity. Its overall emotion and atmosphere are unforgettable, and its mood board gave me a lot to learn from.

This story is set in the difficult living environment of China, so the colour palette of green and yellow was chosen, a colour choice that very aptly presents the traditional Chinese atmosphere. This colour scheme also reminds me of another suspenseful drama puzzle game, Three Volt, which also uses green as its main colour scheme, and its visual style is also very suitable to be used in my animation. In fact, I've tried to apply this green tone to my animation to better express the story's emotion and create a specific atmosphere. This light and colourful colour palette is suitable for the pleasant and relaxing atmosphere that I want to convey in the market scene in front of my animation.

I plan to use lighter and brighter colours in the first half of the animation to create a pleasant and lively atmosphere. This colour choice will also echo the emotional needs of my market scene in my animation and provide a pleasant visual experience for the viewer. However, in the second half of the animation, I will draw on the darker tones from the game to create a more eerie, tense atmosphere.

This work is not only a short film but also an inspiration for me to explore more possibilities about colour and emotional expression in my animation production.

reference

Shi, J. (2023) SWALLOWTAIL | Animated Short | CalArts 2023. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7PxP-Q0TE (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

Games, G. (2023) Sanfu release date announcement trailer. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJA80mjM-H8 (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

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Forefront Post 3 SPIDERMAN - ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (2023)

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is a 2023 American computer-animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man. The movie became an extremely successful commercial film due to its witty and entertaining animation style, a complete storyline, and expertly animated subplots.

This animation has generated widespread attention and attracted many animation enthusiasts and practitioners for research and study. It has been hailed as a highly commendable 2.5D commercial film, utilizing a stylized fusion of 3D characters with 2D elements. While watching this movie, it reminded me of the TV animation series "Arcane," both of which employed a similar 2.5D style, blending 3D characters seamlessly with 2D elements. Such a style has achieved tremendous success in commercial animation, not only bringing novelty to the audience but also enhancing the storytelling.

Moreover, the animation retains some shooting conventions of traditional animated films. For instance, before drawing the animation, the actors are approached to perform the movements and expressions of the animated characters, followed by selecting suitable shots and angles. This habit simplifies and focuses on the post-production animation process.

I have also applied this production method in the creation of my own animation. As my animation includes many scenes of communication between girls, to ensure accuracy and smoothness in the visuals, I capture some similar camera angles as references before drawing the draft. This approach allows me to concentrate on drawing the animation with more precision, ultimately enhancing the expression and quality of my work.

Drawing inspiration from the experiences and methods of these successful commercial animations, I believe my animation works will be loved and recognized by a wider audience. Continuously learning and adopting new techniques during the creative process will lead my works to progress and innovate, providing viewers with a more captivating and distinctive visual experience.

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Forefront Post 2 |Playground2023

Playground is a trailer for a horror mini-series project created by Rodrigo Sousa. All of the animations in this production was created through tvpaint, the backgrounds were done in Photoshop, and the post-production was done with the help of After Effects and Premiere software. This is not the first time I have noticed a case of animation created entirely in tvpaint, which shows that tvpaint is a popular animation software with strong creative potential, which opens more possibilities for me to create in the future.

Compared to horror animation films with dark scenes, "Playground" presents a different visual effect. The high contrast and highly saturated colours make it unique, and the mysterious monster design is even more interesting. In my early design phase, this work provided me with a wealth of inspiration, which can be seen in my visual research. I was deeply attracted by its excellent light and shadow effects and unique monster designs. At the same time, I was also very impressed by the fact that Rodrigo Sosa had completed such a huge creative project in just six months of his free time, which is a commendable feat.

The horrific masked face in the 11 seconds of the work provided me with ideas for the character design of the male stall owner in my creation. The monster's face resembles a transformable mask, which also influenced my idea of the villagers' characters. I planned for them to switch between a pleasant smile and an angry expression, and designed this transformation for them. This clever change of expression added a more vivid and compelling element to my work.

reference

James, T. W. (2023) Adult animation revolution: Rodrigo Sousa’s ‘Playground,’ COMICON. Available at: https://www.comicon.com/2023/04/14/adult-animation-revolution-rodrigo-sousas-playground/ (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

Sousa, R. (2023) PLAYGROUND- trailer. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8U22dvli4w (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

Sousa, R. (2023a) PLAYGROUND- making-of. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2sDHiS3XE0 (Accessed: August 18, 2023).

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Major Project # Post 11| Experiment and Decision

I recently dedicated all my time this week to developing rough animations. While brainstorming ways to improve my animation production, I found an informative video on YouTube. While brainstorming ways to improve my animation production, I found an informative video on YouTube. The video presented some intriguing ideas. For instance, First of all, a high frame rate doesn't necessarily mean that the animation is better, in fact, some low frame rates can be more readable. In fact, some low frame rates can be more readable. Therefore, the number of frames per image should only be comfortable for the eye. This viewpoint gave me a whole new perspective on animation, and I was so interested that I decided to try applying this new thinking in my projects. This will bring more exciting results to my work, and at the same time allow me to move further along the path of animation creation.

This is the beginning part of my animation. When I set out to draw the draft, I gave due consideration to the effect I wanted to show of a fish belly being cut open by a knife. To achieve a more realistic effect, I decided to make speed changes. In the faster part, I occupied each drawing with two frames so that I could show rapid movement and tension. However, I also realised that there were certain episodes where the pace of the action needed to be slowed down to better show detail and emotion. In these moments, I would have each image take up about five frames, which would slow down the pace of the animation and allow the viewer to better experience the process of the fish's belly being sliced open by the knife, as well as increase the emotional resonance for the viewer.

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Major Project # Post 2| Development and Reflection

character design 2

Over the last few days I've been thinking about how to make my characters more simple and spooky. I was lucky enough to find a great tutorial on character design.

I started to change my thinking about the language of shapes and began to conceptualise my character design in circles to reconceptualise it. Because both girls are friendly and soft. So I started to re-structure my characters in circles and to make them more rounded.

After I communicated with Katy, I agreed with her that my design still have a lot of details. I will continue to simplify my character design afterwards.

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Forefront post 1

Nata Metlukh This simple gif uses some interesting sound effects to simulate the sound of objects. This was a novel experience for me, for example, the sound of boiling water in the boiling lines echoing the shaking edges is a very vivid and imaginative way to express this.

In Smear, he experimented with unique sounds to simulate the sound of kneading a face, maybe dough or a sandbag or something. This experimentation gave me a lot of new ideas for post-production sound effects.

What I like most here is the experimentation with different sound effects like walking or character movement, which is not the same as a simple sound simulation. He tried a lot of other sound effects and got exciting results.

I searched the internet for something that would help me understand how to better use and create sound effects to help me with my major study of animation. I found some helpful videos and books and Designing Sound for Animation was a great help as it explains the use of sound in animation in a multifaceted and logical way. It gave me a complete understanding of the importance of sound in animation.

 Robin does an excellent job of explaining how to simulate the movement of objects from left to right in the pan pot on the previous mixer) lowering and raising the left and right speakers can affect the shifting of object positions very well. (Beauchamp, 2013)

Volume, panning, delay and reverb can also be used to create foreground, mid-ground and background for the sound. It is even possible to choose what the audience hears and the angle from which they hear it. And use some off-field sounds that are not shown in the animation to illustrate the surroundings, an approach that can save significant animation costs.

reference list Beauchamp, R. (2013). Designing Sound for Animation (2nd ed.). Focal Press.

Metlukh, N. (2023, March 21). GIFs (season 4): Animation Glossary. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/810032732

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Major Project Planning #10|Experiment

outdoor environment concept art

Because my whole story idea is based on the traditional Chinese countryside, I wanted to try to use some ancient Chinese architectural styles in it. Luckily because I come from a southern city in China and my mother is from an ethnic minority village. The ancient buildings there are very well preserved and I grew up playing in them, and I know the forms of these buildings very well.

I chose Hui-style architecture as my architectural prototype because it is indeed very widely used than the more famous Su-style gardens, which come from Anhui province, but it is distributed in many provinces such as Jiangsu， Jiangxi， Hunan， and Hubei.

Because I have always conceived of the overall style as like ink painting close, such as the following animation:

So the final look of my sketch