Major Project [1]

4.2.2025 - 28.3.2025 (Week 1 - Week 8)
Elysa Wee Qi En / 0355060 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Major Project [1]

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig. 1. Module Information Booklet

Major Project [1]

Our major project has us students forming groups of 4 and coming up with a big-scale project that we will complete by the end of our third year, before graduation. It basically acts as a project for the sake of our portfolio, something to prepare us for and help us in the industry.

This first half of our major project is the 'planning' phase. In this semester, we focused on coming up with our main idea and expanding on it. This included figuring out stuff like the final output (animation, game etc.) and what the project specifications are. We also had to begin the testing phase, where we tested out programs to use, art styles and more. 

My group and I decided that we would be creating an animation as our final product. After brainstorming for our idea, we had to split ourselves into roles. There are 6 main roles and only 4 of us, so each of us took 2 roles:

Director: Akif 
Art Director(s): Ilhan, Zi Qi 
Project Manager: Elysa 
Animator(s): Akif, Zi Qi 
Compositor: Ilhan 
Editor: Elysa

As the project manager, I helped to create and manage most if not all of the slides and documentation we needed, like our presentation slides and project planning & management information. I also am in charge of ensuring the team is progressing according to deadlines and working together. As editor, I will also be expected to help out with compiling the animations and clips for the final product.

Task 1: Proposal Development

Fig. 2. Task 1 Instructions 

For our first task, we had to come up with a project proposal. This proposal had to include details like the our main idea, our problem statement, and our Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that would make our project stand out amongst other animations out there. We also needed to include project specifications like the type of animation and art style, a target duration, genre etc. Lastly, we needed to create a timeline detailing our tasks and when we complete/ aim to complete them.

Like I mentioned, we started by brainstorming for an idea. We were inspired by a romanticised tale about the history of Kellie's Castle, a historical monument and tourist attraction located around Perak, Malaysia. Historical monuments can carry many stories and memories in then, and this sort of tells us that preserving these monuments and the stories behind them can be meaningful. This is the problem statement we decided on, and we chose to create a fantasy story inspired by this tale. 

We created a Google Doc, where we did most of our brainstorming. We also created a Miro board, where we put most of our research. 

Fig. 3.1. Our story structure planning in our Google Doc (25/3/3035)

I was in charge of writing the script as well. We all thought about, planned and decided on the story arcs and plot points together, but then I put it into paragraphs so we could better understand the emotions of the characters. It would also be easier on my storyboard artists later on. 

Fig. 3.2. Scriptwriting in our Google Doc (25/3/3035)

This Google Doc and the stuff in our Miro board are included in Fig. 7 below, as our Task 2 submission. Until then, we input the requirements for Task 1 into Canva slides for our Task 1 submission:

FINAL Proposal Development Submission

Fig. 4. Final Proposal Development presentation slides [PDF] (25/2/2025)

Task 2: Design Proposition

Fig. 5. Task 2 Instructions

After presenting our proposal and receiving feedback, it was time to further solidify our story and being testing software, art styles, techniques etc. 

An a student in the Immersive Design specialisation, my team and I decided that I would be in charge of the audio aspect of the animation. I would be tasked with composing our own background music, so that it would better match the story and vibe of the animation. Furthermore, I would be tasked with creating and editing in any sound effects. 

Because of this, most of my research was centred around music and SFX. I found songs and music tracks to act as case studies and references, and also went onto a fantasy game (Genshin Impact) to record some of the sound effects from there as references. 

Fig. 6.1. Tutorials on how to write melodies/ music (19/3/2025)

Fig. 6.2. Music references (19/3/2025)

SFX references from Genshin Impact:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AcECKT54_g-dD_NhU3Kw-Rl4SqxosONQ?usp=sharing

After collecting my references, case studies and inspiration, I got to work in creating some simple melodies. My goal was to create a base for some possible main themes/ leitmotifs. 

Fig. 6.3. Using Musescore to write melodies (19/3/3035)

These are the melodies I came up with:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n08mpkEld7KsI8GFEq-Q1WqZfgqsIwHQ?usp=sharing

Test 1 and 3 are their own melodies. Test 2.1 is a short melody I wrote in a different key from Tests 1 & 3, so I roughly transposed it into the same key (E minor) as Test 2.2. Test 2.3 is a major (happy-sounding) version of 2.2.

After the music testing was done, I moved on to testing sound effects. 

I simply used whatever I had in my laptop at the time, basically, some Foley sounds I had recorded for a previous project. Other than that, I also created a tone in Adobe Audition to use as a low humming noise.

Here is the sound effect I made, emitted by the Blossom Bane flower:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12xSKF2Vo7AZQ_hMk-IabT8IZGJk_4OYF/view?usp=sharing

The low humming and jingling sounds are to give the impression of the Blossom Bane's magical nature, and the rustling sounds are meant to be the sounds of the flowers brushing against each other. However, the flowers are in an underground cave, so this decision may need to be reconsidered for the final version.

Other than that, I also helped my group by being in charge of the project planning documents. I created a Notion document where I prepared all the project planning information required for submission. 

Fig. 6.4. The Notion document (17-20/3/2025)

After all our individual tasks and testing etc. were done, we compiled everything into Canva slides to submit for Task 2:

FINAL Design Proposition Submission

Fig. 7. Final Design Proposition document [PDF] (25/3/3035)

Task 3: Concept Presentation

Fig. 8. Task 3 Instructions

For Task 3, we basically compiled almost everything we had done so far for Tasks 1 and 2 into Canva slides to present to our lecturers. We excluded some stuff that we had included in our proposal presentation from Task 1, such as the world description and story arcs. For our Task 3 presentation, we mostly focused on showcasing the testing we have done for the artstyle, rendering, backgrounds, music and SFX etc.

We also had to include the process of our tasks, such as the development of the characters' designs. 

Furthermore, I helped compile the storyboard scenes for Act 2 into an animatic. My groupmate, Zi Qi, was in charge of drawing the storyboard, and my other groupmate Akif compiled the scenes for Acts 1 and 3. He also put everything together in the end, along with some background music.

Fig. 9. Screenshots of Adobe After Effects during editing for the animatic (25/3/2025)

All of our progress and finals (for character designs) was put into Canva slides, along with our storyboard, animatic, script and more. This was our submission for Task 3:

FINAL Concept Presentation Submission

Fig. 10. Final Concept Presentation slides (25/3/2025)

FEEDBACK

Week 2
Specific Feedback:
- Create an arc or timeline for the story to be more compelling
- Get references to showcase our points for a clearer picture
- Could possibly have the disease (malaria) as a curse to save the people/ wife (?)
- Have to genuinely animate the story
- Do sketch thumbnails of different angles/ shots
- Create a theme to tie the story together since we don’t really have one(?)
- Start with a miro board
⁠- Start with the bigger picture, evaluate the big picture and make it a solid idea by building the idea/ pitch up with references
- Simple drawings/ sketches
- Character design => have a unique selling point for the character to stand out; possibly exaggerate the features
- Background checks => use the real life background as a base and then go stylise it for better unique selling point
- Clothing in 2D animation is simple for better animation
- Expand our ideas first then ground them by setting rules (characters, backgrounds, buildings, etc.)
- Sketches can be black and white at first, but the colour scheme/ theme should be solid first before proceeding
- Throw in any idea, be as loose as possible; when something sticks, DRIVE WITH IT AND NARROW IT DOWN!!!

Week 3
Specific Feedback:
- Story needs to be set
- Can figure out the in-between of the story later, but story arcs should be simple
- Have story arcs and a strong look and feel of the animation
- Need more references and a block-up
- Be sure of the flow
- Know the set, setting, stage, world etc.
- While developing all this, the story will naturally come in
- If characters are too refined right now, we're ignoring the bigger picture
    - Won't mix with the background
- Remember that people are only gonna see the final product
- Have a concept idea
- Simplify character designs
    - Patterns on clothing is difficult to animate well
- Need to decide how Kellie contracts the disease
    - Have an antagonist of sorts
    - To strengthen the bond between the characters
    - Can tie it up with folklore
    - Having an antagonist to defeat adds satisfaction
- Be loose with concepts right now, start loose then narrow down
- Narrow down the storyboard sections
    - Cultural references
    - Character anatomy
    - Rendering style
- Depend less on an IPad and draw on paper, relying too much on IPad leads to getting stuck
- Decide how the stylising process is gonna be
    - Height, chibi? body shape etc.
- He's not against our idea but we need to solidify the style
- Can stylise the castle
    - Maybe it's tall and lanky with tall doors and entrances
- Stylised terrain?
    - Decide if they need to be done in 2D or 3D
    - Can be mixed - 3D with texture
- Study your referenced art style
- Do testing --> block-ups
- What shape represents Kellie's castle?
- Story doesn't have to be linear, can start near the ending then cut to the beginning
- Keep it solid and under 2 minutes
- Settle character designs
    - Can even have a 3D character 
- Major project is where you push your limits
    - Explore further
    - Don't be too settled on what you learn in class

Week 4
Specific Feedback: 
- Set the story in Perak?? Can have the cultural setup be in Perak (a suggestion???)
- Inciting incident should start around Act 1, their encounter??
- Go and search as there may be a software that allows you to animate 3D backgrounds and 2D characters like we want
- Can try to create 3D models of the characters instead, 2D backgrounds and 3D animation?
- Time is the time for us to explore
- We can still discuss and tweak the story or style
- MUST test
    - Even if the tests fail, it's okay
    - Test simple actions with two tones, three tones etc.
- MUST have proof of concept
- The reason Twilight Of The Gods use solid tones is because it's 2D animation
    - Patterns and stuff are hard to animate
- Check if TOTG is hand-drawn or what
- Watch Klaus to study it too (personal note: watch the Tangled series too??)
- Son of Zeus also 
- If we wanna match TOTG we have to set it as our standard, it's our Major Project after all 
    - When we start working we don't have as much freedom to experiment and try these things, so we should use this opportunity 
- If we know how to solve the problem, that is where the quality is
    - If we discover or find something new, we are more than welcome to do it
    - They want to see students go above
- Setup the curse in Act 1, if not then it's too sudden in Act 2
- Inciting incident should start the story, with the "Until one day," prompt
- Amplify the ending of the story more
- Change the proportion of the story
- When watching Act 1 the audience should get the gist of the ending
- Middle part is building up the story

Week 5
Specific Feedback:
- Revised Act 1 and the inciting incident to parallel the ending, that's good
- Have to have sketches
- Tests should be done simultaneously with the reference-finding
- Need to figure out how to position the story based on visual presentation
- HAVE to start buying into the concept of how to make this happen
- This will further elevate our imagination even further
- We can't showcase the product by just showing the script
- Start small, just to test the technical aspects
- Identify what kind of tools we want to use
- Do a simple composition to test how the layers are gonna work
- FIRST, get something rough and do a pre-visualisation
- Draw simple drawings, put them together and see how the flow is 
    - Is it just gonna end up as boring side scrolling, is it gonna be dramatic all the way through etc.
- Think of it like a movie or theatre play
    - You buy the concept of the movie when you watch it
- Don't just go on assumptions that you can do it 
    - If you just watch YouTube vids for example, when you try it you might get stuck
- Our SOLE TARGET should be technical testing
- Pick a part to focus on
- Push your limits
- In the industry, you start sketching early
- We can pick a style, but we can't match it perfectly as our style will be different
- When comparing artists' work, you're looking at the finishing touch and trying to match the competency level
- Each individual will have their own touch, so what is ours (the unique selling point in a way)
- For example, for Kellie's Castle do multiple iterations
- Don't worry about how pretty it is right now
- Have to allocate time to test, if we can't do it in chunks of 4 hours then do it in chunks of half an hour
- Do simple testing, can just be to figure out how to use the programs we want to do what we want 
    - How the layers work, cloth/ hair simulation etc.
- Put yourself in the characters' shoes
- Basically do tests and show him
- The sound will change and be altered because we haven't compiled everything
    - But if we have the concept, the characters, how it all works, then we'll feel it moving forward
- Can have a rough one to start but we can tweak it
- Every day show your progress to each other, tell each other what your plan is for the day in the morning and then in the night, update on any progress and issues and help each other out
- Work like a job, for 4/ 8 hours and then after hours is personal time
- Use your strengths from your specialisations
- Ilhan should be doing the character designs and then the animation students can advise from an animation standpoint 
    - For example, Ilhan make a design then Akif turn it into 3D 
    - Learn from each other, and help out each other

Week 6
Specific Feedback:
- We have to test the technical stuff to know what difficulties we have to face
- We have to do small multiple tests to gauge how the animation may go 
    - Test to see if we're able to load the backgrounds, character, etc.
    - Render = 1) poly 2) shader
- We have to identify where our camera placement
- We have to start with storyboard and animatics
    - Can do thumbnails then storyboard
    - Doesn't have to be really good, just need to showcase the story
    - When doing the 3D animation, we only have to make a singular background. Using different compositions, we can get different shots using the same background
    - We have to figure out the frame rate as well
- We need to find a solution that solves what we're looking for
    - Plan out shots accordingly (dynamic and still) 
    - Identify what needs to be done in order for Major Project 2 to go smoothly, the technicality needs to be done well in order to solve the problem that will be present
    - We need to be more proactive rather than complacent
    - We need to see where needs to be polished
- Everything doesn't need to be perfect or polished
    - Find which items, backgrounds or character needs to be polished or not based on the camera placement
    - Start off with low poly rather than high poly, figure out the motion and
- GO CRAZY WITH TESTING PLSSSS
- Identify what your base colour is, what shaders we need to use, which parts need the rendering
- We should have to prep ourselves for Major Project 2 
    - Take at least an hour of your day to break down and test out
    - We can copy what we learn, but we have to use what we've learnt to apply to the tests
    - We need to provide facts and logic to what we do so we can showcase results
- Do project-based research
    - Find research that helps us further the testing
    - Study the features of the characters during that era
- Start off with messy sketches/ blocking, then you can fine tune it
    - Have to do multiple iterations of character 
    - Do it fast so we can get a lot in a little amount of time
- He wants to see results be the END OF THIS WEEK
- DO ANYTHING WE CAN SO WE CAN SHOW RESULTS!!

Week 7
Specific Feedback:
- Don't use Vroid for the final models, or else it's just like a template
- Don't forget to look at simulations for hair, clothes etc.
- Start sculpting the character design
- Characters have to be appealing
- Create and refine your own distinct style
- Can consider bringing it to Unreal
- Properly plan out work and prepare overtime for MP2
- Do more animation tests
- Plan what needs to be low or high-resolution

REFLECTIONS

Experience
This module was honestly quite difficult to get through. I believe this is mostly because coming up with an idea all on our own with barely any limits as to what we could do proved to be challenging. This wasn't like a normal assignment where we had a rough guideline on what our idea should be rooted in; for this major project, we had to come up with the project output, specifications, art style and everything on our own. 

Thankfully this was a group project, so work could be divided among four people. I definitely don't think I could've done all this alone with my limited knowledge and experience. Instead, this module gives me the room and inspiration to learn and experiment with new skills and programs, which I am grateful for and a little excited about. 

It was quite difficult to manage all this work in this short amount of time, especially when the standards set are so high. But while making the animatic, I realised that I am quite excited to bring our story to life, so I think we're headed in the right direction. I hope that we will be able to work hard and produce a final animation that is impactful and of high quality. Not just for the sake of our jobs, but just to complete this story and make this a reality.

Observations
Sometimes, teammates aren't going to do as much work as we'd like them to. I try to be understanding and kind to them no matter what, but I also know that it is important to be assertive when it matters in order to ensure all the work gets done and on time. As the project manager, that should be my job, so I hope to improve in this area in the future. 

Findings
I have learnt that I need to learn more skills in design. As an Immersive Design student, some of my knowledge is not exactly useful in this module. I can help in areas like audio or visuals due to prior experience, but I want to learn more skills like 3D modelling in order to benefit my team. I hope that during the rest of my time in this school, I'll be able to continue to learn new skills and software, whether it be in class or in my own time.