Production Journal

My Stop-Motion Animation Production Journal

08/06/2020

I am now working on creating a full animatic which will be the pre-visualization of the film. This will allow me to see my film before production begins so I can make more informed decisions about the overall action, tone and flow of my story. This is a highly valuable resource to me and being able to show the film to an audience to gain feedback will also be an important aspect for the final result.

So at the beginning of June, I am now going to be using this month to create a solid story that will then inform the new animatic that will be more in depth than the previous which I then can use in production. I have created two mood boards that are just the very basic inspirations that I will be referencing and using to create my own character designs.

11/06/2020

In order to manage the production from beginning to end, I am going to be using the time given to me to focus on each aspect and process to get my film created. As of now, I am going to be writing my story in more detail. This will allow me to explore the possibilities of my characters, environment and the overall tone. To do this, I will be researching and reviewing various recourse materials such as books, videos and internet research into character/world building and what are the typical codes and conventions in creating a short story and how I could apply the theories to my own film

I know that my stop-motion animation will be a short film, therefore researching short stories will be an important part in helping to shape my film's narrative. The basic premises of my film is based around a fight sequence. Although that's the inciting part, my characters are what's going to give the story so much more than that.I need to know, understand, empathise and see my characters for who they truly are. I believe it's an important value to really explore the core roots to this film and to connect to the piece of moving image.

Alongside researching into story creation and characters I am going to be adding moodboards and character designs of my main characters. This is with the intention of creating solid characters to enrich the animatic. I am working on scheduling the character designs and story to be completed by August, so that the animatic will be ready for the end of October.

I have begun my research looking into how short stories are created, and the key factors that make up a short story. I can appreciate that short stories have been a vital part of how we communicate. We tell short stories on a daily basis to each other, wherever we are reflecting on the past, something we have seen or heard that day or a memory.

Just from looking at internet resources (book are hard to access due to current climate) I have found some key points to consider at approaching my story, in which I will write the questions and my answers to them.

https://jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-short-stories/

The threat to my main character is introduced fairly quickly. My main character is suddenly under threat and has to protect herself, or lose her life. Here I can really heighten the tension between the characters, as my protagonist is frightened, alone and under attack and has suddenly the antagonist changes appearance from a man to a Yokai/Demon. This I can use to my advantage and explore and dramatise the action using character, camera,lighting and sound design, (although, this is more production values rather than narrative, it's worth noting.) Considering these factors that my character is alone and suddenly attacked I can quickly establish the point of action within the story.
My main character is then faced with a serious threat to herself and her life, whilst realising she is facing something supernatural. Key points in the fight are going to highlight her downfalls and struggle as she fights the Yokai (antagonist). Considering that my main character's only defense will be a slight form of armour (chest piece, gauntlets, boots?) she will only have a shield to block the Yokais attacks, he himself wields a sword. The sudden surprise of attack will lead her to try to defend herself and falter due to the Yokai being superior in fighting to her. This will lead to my main character having to defend herself and quick thinking to survive.
Now that the point of tension has come to arise, my main character will be left with feeling as if there is nothing she can do but to succumb to the Yokai. I know that this will be an important part of the story to establish as the fight as lead up to the pivotal point in which my main character will
Although, just at the point of narrative tension in the story and it looks as though the Yokai has prevailed, my main character realises that she had been able to withstand and hold her own throughout the fight. Just as this moment is happening the shield and the necklace that was at the beginning in the hands of the deceased person that the protagonist was with, begin to glow. This will indicate the ‘power’ or ‘spirit’ that is inside both objects. This will give my main character the courage to rise up and finish the fight.

How to Structure Short Stories

Seven Rules for Writing Short Films

18/06/2020

https://www.raindance.org/7-rules-for-writing-short-films/

Having used the breakdown to write the structure of my story, I have been looking into writing short stories for film. While researching, I have come across RainDance who have created tips for short film writing.

The shorter time I can get across the information and the relevant points within my story my audience will be more engaged to follow and invest their time watching.
This is a key point for me, I am working through the basic tips and breakdowns or writing short stories/films. I will then write my story, create a script, which will inform the anmatic.
I need to make clear decisions in what I WANT and NEED to visually show the audience the story. Signposting narrative visually.
Single moments will help to focus on the intention and heighten the drama within the narrative. I need to place my protagonist into threatening positions in order to gain reactions which give momentum to the story.
Telling a story, shows the characters emotions, thoughts, fears and everything else in between.
Grab the reader's attention by inviting them into a world in which you have created.
Be yourself

16/07/2020

I have ordered hands, faces, and heads from AKRIA 101. While waiting for them to be delivered, yesterday I worked with VFX to create a simple shield and sword design to 3D print. I am going to see what they look like and how I can use this for my production. I will be looking into adding detail to both props. For now, I will paint both props and use them with my models for my test shooting.

This will also give me a chance to practice working with the props and character together and how I can achieve this.

20/02/2020

I have collaborated with a concept artist to create my first character iterations. I created a mood board to showcase what ‘style’ I would like her to have. Also being able to discuss my ideas so far about who this character is was even more important in creating her design.

First, using my mood board, 20 different character alterations were drawn by Alex. After they were drawn I then highlighted different aspects of each drawing and discussed what I thought would work best from each of the drawings.

Highlighting key points that I wanted to see in the final concept. Alex then went on to draw the first full initial concept drawing. After this, we then changed the coloring of her armor to give even more options. In doing so, I was able to create a different ‘feel’ of the character and who she is. For example, the purple/moav armour made me feel she had a history, a family, a place where she belonged and she was at peace with that. The red and grey armor made me feel that she is a tough character, a hard worker who may have had a disrupted past. Even though the armor doesn't change the colors create different emotions and visual response.

With the first full character concept created, I can use them to gather some feedback which will aid my research and understand if what I am trying to say about my character/s comes across to other peers. It will also be valuable to know their own thoughts about the characters, without any context.

24/07/2020

My models' faces,heads, and hands came today. I am very happy overall with each of the looks and designs of the face. It will give me a lot to work with and I can really create my own stylised characters from the base that UPON has provided me.

I am now going to be using the hand, and the props (once created) to contribute to my animation tests. I can use the hands to hold the props, and the heads to create realistic movement and reactions. Which in return will aid my initial research and test/ pre-production work. Once I have the characters together, (heads, hands and props) I will then create a fight sequence that I can show to others to get feedback. I can then use this to strengthen my film when it comes to actually shooting.

My sword has also been 3D printed, and the shield is currently being printed. I worked with a VFX which he designed a simple 2 handed sword. I wanted to keep it simple as I know that this is an initial test run, and it was important to get the sizing right before the finalised designs are created.

29/07/2020

My shield and sword have now been 3D printed! This is a huge step into getting started with my test animations. Having the props in the scene, I will be able to gain so much practice and experience needed to create the fight sequence.

I am so happy with how they have turned out. I am now going to paint the models (which I will document) and I will be 3D printing more of the same sword and shield design. I am going to be extending the sword handle and the steel itself, as it is a two handed sword and although I am happy with the size at which it currently is which is 7ichs. I want to see what it will be like at 8ichs, with the handle slightly longer also.

The next stages alongside the test shooting, will be to completely restart the animatic. I Took everything that I have learned and understood about story writing and applied it to this new animatic. Although there will be key elements that will remain the same, such as the manga style paneling and similar shot information such as the ‘standoff’ between the characters. I want to create a run through of my film in its entirety, so I know what I want to see visually and how one shot/scene will flow into the next.

I am aiming to have the animatic completed by the end of the year, so that I can start the year preparing for the shoot.

17/08/2020

I have been practicing with both of my puppets in my studio. I have been experimenting with hand movements and sword swinging, as these will be key elements used in my animation. By doing so, I am understanding more about movement and weight to armatures and how important this is in order to achieve believability and a life within the puppets.

I am counting to practice my animation in my studio and I will be posting my videos on my blog in order to document my progression.

Today I have been working with creating the key thumbnails for my story. I am working with a concept artist to achieve this. I have created a list citing all the shots I wish to see in the thumbnails and together we have created the first initial thumbnails.

Visually fleshing out the story, really allows me to understand the importance of timing and because my animation is telling a short story I need to be definitive with what I want my audience to see but most importantly WHY am I showing this shot, what important information am I giving them in order to connect to the characters and the action.

I really enjoy this aspect of film making. I feel it really drives my passion for story and working visually empowers my narrative. By bullet pointing down points of action of what I need to include in the story in order for it to progress, sketching these ideas out, and then transferring them and working with a concept artist. I am able to rearrange and fit together the story in a way in which I feel is more engaging and vital to the story. The anticipation before the flights happens is so important to get right. Therefore I am always thinking about the narrative, how to keep it interesting, am I getting the right amount of information across to the audience?

01/09/2020

Over the past few weeks I have been working through animation test sequences. Each time I have practiced I feel I have learned something new or more in depth, than the day before. For example, I have been practicing adding weight to my 3D printed sword and my character as he swings it. And by doing so, I have been testing how to achieve this through frame rate and puppet movement. Experimenting with these techniques to create a more informed idea in how to achieve this.

Right now, I have been testing this through frame rate while working in my studio, adding or taking away frames in order to create more realistic and fluid movement. I am editing the images together and working on timing elements, doing so allows me to have a better understanding of how to best approach editing and animation when I come to shoot my film.

My story is now more developed, which I am working with a concept artist to visualize and create a new refreshing animatic that I am using for my film shoot.

While creating my animation, and discussing it with trusted others, I have been also thinking about how to keep pushing this film and where I can adapt creating elements to create a stronger piece. The things I already know about my film for certain are as follows

Short film - No longer than 3 minutes.
Scene setting - woods.
Characters - Two main, one side.
Building tension before the fight begins.
Quick fight.
Yokai antagonist
Women from village nearby
Aftermath of fight - women was running into woods - looking for villagers
Woods - ‘Haunted’
Yokai roams woods
Women win by using jewelry/ shield defence - places jewel in middle of shield

Other elements of the film I am experimenting with is lighting. I want to experiment as much as I can with this to achieve differences in atmosphere and tone and find new ways of telling my story through this.

02/09/2020

Working today in the studio I am still practicing working with the armature/character swinging the sword. I am testing out different variations with camera angles, lighting and frame rate in order to determine the look,style and overall tone of this action.

I have edited together 3 short simple actions I created today by using the armature and the sword.

05/10/2020

Over the past month I have been working in my studio weekly in order to practice for my animation. I have been focusing on working with both puppets, performing attacking and blocking with the sword and shield props.

Although I am practicing the same action repeatedly, I am changing how I approach the animation. Either by shooting 24fps, body/prop movement, change of camera angle and position and finally trying to add character. At this particular point in pre-production, my characters have blank faces but I am able to manipulate the eyes in order for them to look and blink.

I have learnt so much in this past month of testing, I am enjoying the process of learning how to work with the characters to achieve a believable, enjoyable animation to watch.

Alongside animation tests, I am keeping myself informed with tips to achieving a stop motion piece and the ways in which you can do that. I have put to use tips that I have learned such as increasing and decreasing the action performed on a puppet, focusing on objects mass/weight and destination.

This also applies to when I am editing my tests together, I am understanding more about frame rate and how this applies to how the animation will flow. Also, with how much to move the puppet to achieve a smoother motion.

This month, while still practicing animating, I will be creating the clothes for the characters. I want to start with this process now as the final concept pieces are coming together. I know that this will also be a heavily involved process also, creating all the clothing and detailed pieces that belong to each character. So the sooner I start, the more time I will have to fix pieces of clothing or items that might not work/are tricky to produce.

The main protagonist's clothing has already gone through the process of character concept to final designs and now I am currently working with a concept artist to finalize the antagonist clothing/overall look.

So to summaries this month, I will be working on my animation tests and character final design concepts and clothing creating.

November will be about creating the characters key features such as the mask, hair, facial features, and getting the animatic together ready by the end of the year.

13/10/2020

I have downloaded the free trial of DragonFrame as I want to experiment and get used to how the software works before finally purchasing.

Today I have been in my studio, again practicing with both models. I am now starting to look at sequences together so that I can see if scenes are flowing and if they would work for the final production, which I plan on shooting at the beginning of February.

For today's tests, I started to test one of the opening sequences where the girl is kneeling down next to the dead body and she looks up to see Yokai standing there with his sword raised.

I really enjoyed creating the short sequence, being able to instantly watch back my footage and judge the movement and frames needed for the scene to run smoothly and realistically ables me to work more efficiently and the animation in turn looks compelling.

I will purchase Dragonframe, which I will use to shoot my tests and eventually my film. Once I have more cormorant and diverse tests I will add, share and ask for feedback through social media and peers and post my results on my blog.

Alongside my test animations, I will also be reading into stop-motion and character design/dress making. I have purchased materials that I will use to make trousers on both my characters.

28/10/2020

I have been busy in my studio, creating different test shoots. I am getting used to how the armatures move and learning how to work with them through each frame. Although I have been focusing on areas such as sword swinging and shield blocking, I thought that it may be best to approach this production and tests with a much more detailed and focus plan in order to achieve what I want to set out.

28/10/20

I have created a 2 week schedule that I am using in order to use my time effectively and visually see where I am at in terms of production. It is also useful for me to construct this schedule for 2 weeks at a time as it's a more manangle time frame to realistically work with.

For the next 2 weeks I will be working on the opening scene that I will be editing together to create a sequence to show others. I want to treat this time as shooting for real so that I can be as prepared as possible for the new year. This week I will be working with the girl

character and her expressions and movements, also changing the camera angles.

I am aiming to achieve a sequence that I can show others for feedback but also to give me a chance to see if my shots, animation, story,scene settings, timing, pacing all work before the actual production shooting. I will be creating a 2 week schedule that will take me up to the 6th December which I have set myself a deadline to have the practice shoot finshed by. Which then I will use the rest of December for story, animatic finalised and completed so that I can focus on finalising other aspects of the production that will need to be ready before the production such as character clothing and set/props.

On monday of next week I will be looking into creating the trousers for the main girl as I will be working in the studio with the Yokai character and his entrance that will form part of the opening sequence.

As for this week I have been working with the girl character and her performance. This 12 second sequence I have created, I shot on 27th. This will be my guiding point, I exported the frames from DragonFrame (which I have now purchased) and into Premiere Pro which I changed the background just to a simple black background. I will be drawing and experimenting with different designs, and while I am still in the early testing stages I thought that this will also be the best time to experiment with this too.

Tomorrow I will be again working with the girl character and capturing again the same sequence but with different angels that I can break up using my starting point animation (posted below).

This sequence I am happy with, although I need to make sure that I raise the hands higher when she lifts the lifeless hand off the floor so that the animation is more visible for the audience, I added some wind sounds just to accompany the visuals.

I have changed the aspect ratio in order to see the animation more clearly in this video.

10/11/2020

PICS OF CLOTHES

I have started to work on the trousers for my main antagonist. This is the first time that I am making clothes for puppets. I have been researching different artists and their work at producing clothes for puppets.

I have been able to follow and apply the techniques learnt to create the first pair of trousers. I am now going to be stitching the seams together and I am hoping to have the trousers completed by the end of the day (not including accessories)

Once I have the trousers finished, I will be assessing how they look, how my puppet moves in them and if there is anything that will need changing before I started to add the details.

Whilst working on the clothing, I am also researching into sword techniques that I can apply when shooting in my studio. I will be posting my findings and discussing what I found from my research.

I am also making another 2 week schedule, this is to aid me in my time management. I can clearly see what I need to do in order to complete my sequence, ready for December. Having the schedule also allows me to visually see my process and instead of it all being locked in my own head, I have something that I can refer to and document my process. Although, there may be times where things are not as straightforward, the schedule will be there to refer to.

I wanted to add this film to my blog as after watching this film, it is very inspiring. The protraly of this character, his emotions, his daily life and internal thoughts and feelings are clearly displayed, even though the character does not talk. This is an aspect that I will be studying, as my characters do not speak either so it's even more important to get the body language and emotion across, so that audiences can engage with my story and the characters.

I enjoyed how the story was able to show you so much, given such a short time. There is so much to cover, and through editing they were able to visually show the audience how many times the main character would do auditions and repeat the same cycles of life until he had enough. This is definitely one stop-motion film that inspires me to bring life to my characters and to be mindful that working with time,character and story, all need to flow in order to keep the story engaging.

From this point, in terms of production and getting everything ready for next year. I will be working with a storyboard artist to have an animatic ready, which I can show others for feedback. Also the other areas are;

Sword and shield - painted.
Reprint sword and shield - with the final adjustments.
Clothes.
3D printing set pisces - two different types of trees

These areas are on going, and I am hoping that each aspect will be ready by the end of January 2021 so that production can begin in February.

The trees I am looking into applying techniques used for Warhammer model painting. I am going to be keeping the trees white, with their highlights are going to be black to give off the ‘hand drawn, gothic’ look.

Here is the greyscale drawing of my main protagonist. I am collaborating with a digital artist to complete the main characters' looks and the animatic. For this process, I created a mood board of character clothing designs and styles that I then shared with the artist to create our final look.

During the process, I was able to give feedback and highlight specific points such as the textures of the clothing he is wearing to incorporate into the look. Taking the same approach as when we created the main character, we then changed the colors of clothing to see what colors work together and more importantly what the colors are saying about the character.

For now, this is what I am going to be working with as reference. When I have decided on the final colors to use, I will then take the final notes and color changes to the artist as he will then go back to original gray scale drawing and add the colors to the character.

16/11/2020

Today the first new animatic stills are being created. The first run of the animatic was to initially get my ideas down and to see if my concept is actually viable. After working with the animatic for a year now, the story has been developed and I want this new animatic to reflect that. Also, the animatic will be more in depth to represent a more finalised story. The shots will showcase, story, characters, timing and pacing in which I can use to work when I begin my production.

I have also made my first pair of puppet trousers. I really enjoyed this process, finding the material for his trousers at Norwich market. The material was originally a pillowcase which I got for £1.

This is my first trial of trousers, I want to see how it comes together when I make the chest piece. I am still at the same time looking at other material/clothes that I can use, change, adapt to use for both my characters.

I will be back in my studio tomorrow, working towards creating a few shots from the opening sequence.

4/12/2020

Over the past few weeks I have been busy working on my stop motions skills but also creating and gathering the right materials needed to create my characters costumes. I have been focusing my time more on creating the outfits for the past 2 weeks. Although I originally set my intention on creating a short stop motion sequence (ideally the opening of my film). I have found that due to another national lockdown, it was best to spend my time at home and create their clothing as this is one of the major factors that will hold me back from filming, and where I lack skills in crafting clothing/costume design.

This is my first time creating any type of costume/clothing, so I have been learning as I go!

I first put foam over the characters to give them more of a body, and created ‘trial clothing’ just to get an idea of how the materials would look like on the characters.

At first, I was happy just to see some clothing on the characters. I then focused on working on the main character's clothing, as her clothes require more crafting and material. I printed her character design that I could reference from and started to make her undergarment.

To create this, I purchased material for Anglia Square material shop, which consisted of faux leather, orange,blue and purple fabric.

To create my main characters undergarment I created three different pieces until I was finally happy with the shape. I created a stencil of her top by drawing around her and creating a shirt shape from that, then sewing the garment together.

After that, I then started on her chest wing piece, that sits over her neck and along her shoulders. I had to also trial this piece three different times in order to get the shape and texture right. This piece is created out of craft foam, thin aluminium wire and the same material as her top. This was quite a challenging piece to create, as I was testing out different ways in which to put the material on top of the foam piece.

First I used fabric glue, which unfortunately seeped through the material and ruined the look of the fabric. Next I created a new wing piece out of foam and used a hot glue. Again the material was then too loose over the top of the foam piece. Lastly I created a smaller shoulder piece, used thinner wire and used hot glue to wrap and seal the material underneath which ended up looking really clean and fitted perfectly to the foam.

I then moved on to creating her belt, which again I used craft foam and the faux leather. I then crafted smaller pieces of foam for her side panels that are hanging from her waist belt. The belt I created twice, one thicker than the other to test sizing and I went for the smaller design.

Once I was finished with that, I then created her van braces, which her sleeve will tuck into her cover most of her forearm. I have created the first van brace with foam and leather, measuring the foam against her arm, cutting the brace shape out, gluing it together with hot glue and wrapping the faux leather around it and sealing with hot glue. Initially I made four different braces for each arm. Testing the size, lengthen and thickness. I am now assessing what sizes to use and will post the final image underneath.

The next task is to create her trousers, which again, I have tested out twice. I have brought different material to use for her trousers as I believe the first set of material I used was too thick and I was having issues with working with that material.

So as of right now, I need to finish her chest piece, trousers,van braces and shoes. Once this is complete I have purchased an air brush, foam primer and fixer and airbrush colors that I will use for her side armour pieces, chest piece, and her skin tone.

I am now in the progress of splitting my time between making clothes and animating. I have to carry on animating to develop my skills, so I will be using the Yokai character to test on, while I am working on my main characters costume and design. And then swap the characters once she is finished, so that I get used to working with a character with clothing and if there are any issues with her clothing/props before I start filming.

Over the next few weeks I am aiming to produce stop motion footage of my character moving, getting up, swinging. Trying to animatie ‘life like’ movement so that I can incorporate this into my film.

So as of now, I feel that my production has come a long way, and I have learnt so much about creating, designing costumes. Now I have split my time wisely between animating and creating costumes so that I can finally arrive at a point in starting and focusing on animation.

I have ordered my set lights, I am now going back to the 3D artist I was working with before and creating 3D trees and smaller props that I can use on my set. A reprint of the sword and shield so I have a few for the production.

15/12/2020

Currently I am working with a storyboard artist to create the final animatic. Once the visuals are finished I will create and add my own sound to accompany the piece. Working on visualizing my stop-motion allows me to work with timing, pacing and story. From using my very first run through and then expanding on that has strengthened my story, characters and the how the story is going to play out.

I am also working with a 3D artist who is producing my set piece and props, this includes the shield, sword, and trees. We have been experimenting with sizes of the pieces and what will be the most effective method to approach creating the trees. My original idea was to use all my hand drawn trees to create the set, and while I did like this look the practicality of using the trees (they weren't very stable) and the scale, I needed the trees to be far bigger than both my characters so to create the illusion of a larger deeper forest. So with that, I decided to go with 3D printing the trees. This would allow me to create the scale for forest. Also the trees printed in such a beautiful and unique design and shape it really added character to them and made it feel like the forest was from a different world, which is what I wanted to achieve.

We are currently printing my first 3D trees. The scale of the trees will be at least 40cm, so we have settled on designing the trees with minimal branches and focused on the texture and the length of the trees. This will be my first trial of the trees, so I will post my results and findings once the trees have been printed. Once the design has been confirmed to work by printing and testing against the scale of my set and models, I will then be adding the detail of the bark in black, while the base of the trees to remain white to keep within the theme of ‘hand-drawn/comic book’ look. Again, I will post my results and findings once I have the trees printed.

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09/02/2021

It’s the New Year and it feels everything that I have been working on this past year is coming together.

3D TREES PRINTED
CLOTHES MADE
FACE DESIGNS ADDED
BODIES WRAPPED FOR CLOTHING
SET PAINTED
LIGHTS ORDERED

From my last blog post up until now both my main characters have their clothing and faces painted. Most of my time was taken up designing and making the costumes for the characters. I have never made clothes before and making them on a smaller scale was proving to be a challenge for me!

Working for the design created for my antagonist I went to Angila Fashion to buy different materials to work from. After choosing materials and creating templates for his trousers and top piece I started to sow to create the individual pieces.

I had four different attempts at making his trousers. First design was ok, but not neat, and in the end I did not like the martial I first used for his trousers. I created this by using a pillow case, which initially I liked the look of the material. However, it was really thick material and I found it would be harder to work with during the animation. Also, it was my first attempt, I did not want to just stop on my first try. So I changed the material and made three different pairs testing out the materials and length of the trousers.

I then wrapped martial over the puppet and created a small leather chest piece, wrapped in string to hold it together and it created a look that I am very happy with.

I am now focusing on making smaller details to add to his overall character and design. I am making a small ‘soul gem’ holder, which hangs off his belt. I am using small blue beads that capture the light and I am hoping to add some effects to this in post production. The last few details to add would be a sheath to hold his sword and some shoes.

As mentioned before with my main girl character, I have since then created a final chest piece and side armor pieces for her. I did, however, change her top design. I was finding it difficult to create a top with long sleeves. Each time I attempted, there was something not quite right with it. Either the arms were too short, or the shoulder pieces were too big, then it wouldn't sit right on her. I also wrapped the arms, but again I felt it looked too messy. So I felt it was best to buy a top for the size of my doll as this will allow me to move on with the production. I finished making her trousers and armor pieces and now the final piece I need to create for her is her shoes.

For both my main characters I am going to be making the shoes out of foam and wrapping material. Once I have created these pieces I will add them to the blog.

I have also painted the faces for my characters. For the girl character, I wanted her face to have a soft silver shimmer for her skin tone. I wanted to create this look because I am keeping within the theme of making my film overall look to feel ‘hand drawn’/ comic book feel, almost like greyscale drawing. I want to add to the idea the characters and their world are not the same as ‘our world’, they exist in a world slightly different to the one we know. For the Yokai face, I worked with my friend who is an artist. She specialises in free-hand detailed drawings and she has her own unique style. She has done many nature inspired drawings and I wanted to incorporate this on my Yokai inspired mask. In my story, the Yokai is a soul collector who dwells within the woods, so I wanted him to look like he belongs there and is a part of that wood. So we came up with this ‘earthy’ look, like moss or fungi growing across his face, his eyes are black as he has no soul of his own.I did not want to go with a cliché ‘scary’ face or too much like a traditional Yokai’ because it's not meant to be that, I'm just inspired by their ideals and looks.

I felt for a long time I was working on the design and costumes for the characters. I have learnt so much about details and making pieces of clothing and I appreciate the process of creating clothes and small details! Now I feel I am so ready to film and begin the animation! I’ve learnt that that's the way it feels with film, you are working on a project for a significant amount of time, and checking all these boxes along the way so that you can keep progressing and you are so focused on achieving the smaller goals, suddenly the end goal is there. It's a really good feeling, I felt the same when I first put together my character's clothes.

After creating the clothing, designing the face and then finally putting it all together I am happy to see it finally existing in the world! I am really grateful for getting to this point and being able to look at this character that came about from an idea and then it becoming something I could physically see and get to learn how to animate with! It was great to see it for the first time and I am super thankful for the people who helped me achieve creating this character!

Last week (02/02/2021) I drilled holes into my set and painted it white. Once I was happy with how the paint set, I then ground up some characole and brushed it into the set. This is too keep within the theme of ‘hand-drawn’ look and it gives the set texture. I am now just in the process of printing the last 10 pieces of the parts of the trees to create more height to the trees.

So from this point, I only have a few more details to add to really begin my filming process

Soul belt
Two pairs of shoes
A headband

While I am working on completing these last details, I have a friend who paints Warhammer 40K models, So he is painting my sword and shield, which I painted all black to base them.

24/02/2021

I have created the ‘soul belt’ and shoes for my Yokai character. I am now just practicing my animation skills with him. I have had to repair my main character's armour, so I am currently going between my studio to practice, and coming home to fix the model.

Once she is fixed, I can bring her to the studio and start to film the opening scene to my film.

She does however, need her armour chest piece attached to her and a headband created for her. When this is done, both my characters will be ready!

I am now just waiting for the last top pieces of the trees to be printed (so that I can film wide angle shots) which should be done over this weekend, ready for the beginning of next week when I can really begin filming!

My shield and sword are now painted, and I have been working with my Yokai character to swing the sword, so that it swoops across the scene! It's been really great to to start animating and each time I feel that I have learnt so much about animation and character, movement believability.

02/03/2021

Yesterday I was finishing off creating my girl character shoes and the dead person clothing. I now just need his head, and he will be finished. The last parts of the trees are printed, so I will get them tonight, to bring tomorrow and finalise the set. My sword is still being printed and will be painted and ready by next week.

If I am getting the trees today, and then fixing them down tomorrow, I then can begin to work on the opening of the animation While working in my studio, I’ve learned that it is a problem that the dead character is in the background of the whole film. I think this does not look good, and in order to overcome this and tie with the story, once the ‘orb’ (his soul) has floated above him, his body will slowly disappear which should reinforce the orb as his soul and that is what the character has become now. I have replaced it being a necklace of jewel as to add more relevance to all characters and I believe it's more fitting within the story. The girl wants to keep the ‘soul orb’ as is from someone who is important to her. And the Yokai wants the soul, as the forest is his, and he is a soul collector.

Again, I have been practicing with the sword and the Yokai, changing shot angles, character positions on set and the same with the trees and lighting.

I have also been rehearsing the fight sequence, blocking out shots. This has been really helpful for me to visually see what's going to happen, what it looks like and if it actually flows. I have also sent this references to my storyboard artist who also uses the short films as reference.

So, the rest of the week is getting everything finalised and practicing animation. Ready for the start of next week where I will begin shooting.

17/03/2021

I have begun shooting my animation. I am working on the opening scene as I have both characters ready now and it will ease me into the animation. This week I have been practicing with my girl character and getting her sad emotions across at the beginning of the film. I want to portray the right timing with her reactions and getting across what she is feeling. I have been reading stop-motion animation books to attain some great information such as recording yourself acting out a scene or certain aspects of a scene, and working with that to give more human emotion to your character.

I have been working with my friends to compose the fight sequence. I have put together an edit of what we have come up with, which then my storyboard artist works from and I can use these references during filming.

I have also changed my girls hair, I have added more in the front and at the sides. I used grey acrylic paint and a the rough side of a washing up sponge (fresh one) and dabbed it over her head. I feel that the final outcome really adds to her character and her believability and completes her look and by using the sponge it created a great look for the hair.

26/03/2021

As of the end of this week I have been able to work on the opening sequence to my film. I have now a full 13 seconds that I'm working from. I have rehearsed and recorded this scene many different times. As the tests went on, I started to feel more comfortable about working on the scene, understanding more as it went on exactly what I wanted to get across in this scene.

Today I have edited together my first attempt at editing my animation together and creating the first few seconds of the animation. In doing so, I have been able to see what it's going to look like and if the animation, timing, characters, emotion all work together.

I am really happy with the outcome so far, and I am really grateful to everyone that has helped me to reach this point. There are however things like, when she looks across the dead body her eyes remain still, I was having trouble making her eyes move realistically and ever so slightly while she looked at him. I wanted to achieve this to give a more human feel to her, but while attempting to amatie this, I found that I was having trouble making it appear that she is slowly just moving her eyes across from his eyes down to lips and then back up again.

Although this is something that I want to work on in the future, I am happy with the rest of the scene and the results so far. I am going to work from this animation and this week coming up I am going to work on the next sequence where the ‘orb’ (which is the dead body's spirit) starts to glow upon her face. I have purchased small balloon lights that will be small enough for her to reach out and hold in her hand. To achieve the

I have also purchased fishing wire that I am going to attach the orb to to make it float up towards her. I have not attempted this so far, so it may take me some time to figure out how best to make this work and look realistic. For now I will have a pole running across the top of my set, that I will attach the fishing wire to and use that to move the orb upwards.

06/04/2021

This week I have been testing out various ways to make the orb scene’ work. I purchased some purple cake lights and tried to work with them, but the light they emit was not strong enough to glow up on her face. I then purchased some bike lights, that I could turn on and off during the frames, which have worked at creating a glow upon her face. Talking with my VFX artist we have worked out a way that I could potentially use some VFX on this scene and how best to achieve it. So tomorrow I'm going to shoot a clean plate of the scene, then use a prop to hold the marble on to animate the girl reacting to the marble. She will reach out and grab it in her hands. The VFX element will be removing the prop that is holding up the marble and changing the marble's appearance.

With the help of my friends, we were able to go to my studio over the weekend and rearrange my green screen and make props either side of the set using cardboard and pins to keep the green screen up either side so that I now can film from more angles and my background will be consistent.

22/04/2021

I have broken my first scene down, along with noting the camera angles. Breaking the scene down into shot type and what action is happening within the shot has enabled me to keep organized when shooting.

As I have begun filming, I was shooting the same action in various angles to give myself more to work with. I found in doing so, it almost gave me too much choice and I was losing my pacing and timing with the scene. I was re-watching my edit together and deciding what shots lend best to the emotion and timing of the scene. I broke the sequence down and once I had worked through exactly what I wanted to see, how I wanted the scene to look and most importantly to me was the timing, the right atmosphere and emotion of the scene needed to get across.

The animatic has been extremely useful and helpful to me to understand my story visually. So while I am working on the animatic, I am also making a more refined shot list for each scene. I know that when the characters come to fight each other,the animatics, the live referencing of the fight that I filmed and my shot list are going to be super important elements that will aid my work to get the fight looking as best as I possibly can.

23/04/2021

I have been testing the ‘orb’ scene. This is where she notices that his soul is formed into the orb. Through the first few opening shots, you will get a sense of the orb forming as he slowly fades as his soul slowly leaves him. Then, the orb will glow, I will add its own unique sound to accompany the visual. I have been working with a VFX artist to remove the prop I was using for reference for to orb and we have now formed the orb. I have chosen this blue color for now, as it really stands out from the rest the aesthetic of the form, this will be slightly changed, changing how the orb pulses and moves.

13/05/2021

I have been working on the scene where the Yokai enters the scene. And now I am about to start the fight sequence. I’m really happy to be at this stage as I am excited to see my two characters interacting with each other on the screen! I must do matananice work on the puppets as I move on to this scene to both the puppets arms and clothing, and I know this is something that I will have to continue with throughout the production.

I am now shooting from behind the girl as she looks up, which this will revil the Yokai looking down at her, with his sword in hand, ready to attack. This will lead onto his swinging his sword at her, as she falls back. I know this is going to be the biggest challenge for me yet, getting the timing motion and look right for the action. Each time I come away from the production, I do feel like I have gained more insight into preparation for a new scene or understanding how the puppet moves, the importance of camera angles and pre production! I would not be this far into my production, or even have any of my film without the work behind the scenes to get to this point. The animatic has been helpful for me to pre-visualise my film before going into production, and although is not got every single frame that I need to make a stop-motion film. It is fluid enough for me to prepare what type of action im going to be filming next. Wherever that would be a sword swing, a look up, a reaction to an action. Its guided me to know what I want sequence by sequence.

I have also filmed the whole film including the fight sequence in real life, (with two friends during lockdown) this was immensely important to me. Once we had a solid fight sequence down, bringing it to life be preforming and acting out helped me to see if it was going to be fluid, believable and most importantly achievable. Without the real-life filming and animatic, I would be overwhelmed and slightly lost in my production, and time management.

Ending this week and moving into another I will be shooting the Yokai as he swings his sword across the screen, I want to add in post-production that when the sword swings it starts to split the image across – adding to the manga panel references that I want to put into my film.

14/05/2021

Every time I come to my studio, I review my footage from the previous day and match it against the anmatic and the film timeline I have created with the footage that I am happy with and have locked in and secured as actual footage for the film. This helps me to stay consistent and see if there are any minor changes that I would like to make before shooting for the day. For example, yesterday I reviewed footage from the previous day where I shot my girl character looking up and blinking to see the Yokai standing in front of her. I wanted to reshoot this, as I felt the lack of frames in this sequence was too low and jarring. So yesterday I reshot it, and today I will review and see what I think of it. I know that I have lots more frames and bigger challenges ahead, so for these smaller scenes and actions required in the scene, I usually shoot them early in the morning so that I have the rest of the day to focus on the next more action-packed scene.

Next week, I will then revisit the footage, asses what’s working and what isn’t and then tailor my week accordantly.

18/05/2021

Today I have finished shooting the Yokia entrance (the first shot in which he appear in) I have set the camera to low angle, and you can see the girl (who is unfocused) in the distance. I shot the Yokai standing there, looking down at the girl. This first shot you just see behind the Yokai and his legs. I want to build tension before reviling him. So that the shot is not static, I have moved around some of the set pieces such as the grass roots/flowers and moved his clothing through each of the frames. This will hopefully look like a large gust of wind that had blown as he enters the forest. I want his entrance to be a dramatic, so to add to the drama and the effect of him being a soul collector/Yokai spirt.

I am now currently working on the next part, which is the behind the shoulder shot of the girl as she looks up towards him, he will then reach for and draw his sword. Which will then lead to the full swing and first attack of the fight! This will also be the first manga/comic reference I will make in the edit, as the Yokai will swing his sword and split half the screen diagonally as he swings. I am really looking forward to start shooting the fight sequence as this is what the main plot of the story is about.

I know it is going to take more than one attempt to get the swing right, and I know it’s going to take me more than just a full day working on this motion. So, this may lead into next week, but I know it will be worth it in the long run.

24/05/2021

I have learnt that for future when storyboarding, do other shots tell what I want to say already? And that there maybe too many shots trying to say one thing? And to know that I do not have to show every little detail for the audience and viewer to understand what is going on. Less is more and I am learning this through stop-motion medium, this also applies to the edit.

Today. I am working on the Yokai swinging his sword at the girl. I am using reference from the fight sequence I shot with my friends and recording this particular part in slow motion so that I can see how the body moves and work out the timings of each little action so that I can translate this too my puppet. I am going to be reshooting this tomorrow, using what I learnt today. This shot has been difficult for me to get, there are lots of things to consider while shooting, such as arm movement, body movement, the twist as he brings his sword round to strike at the girl. While also making sure the sword looks like it has weight to it. I am using reference which are recordings shot in real time and slow motion to help me understand this. From animating today, I have noted that when I am shooting the next part (where the girl falls back from the sword and the gem falls out of her hand) the shadow of the Yokai and the sword need to be cast down on her as she falls back as the sword comes down. This will add more believability to the film and given sense of space and scale between the characters.

25/06/2021

I 'am animating the scene where the Yokai first strikes his sword across the scene and first introducing the ‘spilt screen’ affect. This has been a challenging motion to get right, there are lots of micro movements and arm/body positions happing in this motion, on top of adding weight to the sword. To aid me while shooting this scene, I have shot my own reference of my friend swinging a metal bat in slow motion and normal speed so that I can study and apply this to my puppet. The reference has been extremely useful for me to see how the body/arms move in this position. I am getting more comfortable with applying the motion to the puppet and understanding that small movements build the bigger picture.

I have given myself until this Friday to complete this. If by Friday I am not happy with the results I will move on and film the rest of the action sequence and come back to it in the three weeks I have given myself towards the end to prepare for any issues like this.

26/05/2021

My animatic has been completed, it has been 2 years in the making. From the very first animatic I made, which was just a small representation of the story that I wanted to create. The animatic has developed alongside my ideas and design and is reflected in the final animatic. I have been working with a storyboard artist to achieve this and together we have created a short film that is vital for my practice and to aid me to when making my stop-motion.

To be able to achieve the fight sequence (during national lockdown) myself and two friends put together this short fight sequence under my direction. Together we worked out what felt more natural as there are many different styles of fighting. I needed this to look like a fight, also a struggle for my girl character whilst also being realistic about the animation that I could achieve (as this is my first stop-motion). I knew that I wanted the Yokai to swing at the girl first and have my girl bash the Yokai away with her shield. Also, from creating the first animatic I new that I wanted the Yokai to strike first and that I wanted the girl to overcome him in the end. So we created what is now referenced in the animatic.

By creating my own fight sequence, it has strengthened my understanding of my own film narrative and what I want the film to say. I understand the characters strengthens and weakness and how they can preform and move. I feel more confident having the animatic knowing that I have pre-visualised my film and that its possible to make.

03/06/2021

I have been researching into potential music/sounds that I will need to help bring my story and its narrative to life. To help me identify this, I associated each of my characters and their personalities/emotions within the film to an instrument that I feel would be speak for them. For my main girl character, I see her voice as a violin especially in the beginning as she is sad and as the story progress and she herself is threaten, she becomes more stronger and gains more courage and I believe the violin can accompany and tell her story throughout the film.

For my Yokai character, I can imagine a cello that tells his story. It builds with him as we hear his footsteps walking around his forest before we see him, and then as he enters to the space in the forest where my girl character is the cello can come in to heighten his emotions and entrance to the film.

As for the general atmosphere of the forest and that itself is its own character I imagine hearing an oboe that tells the story of the woods that is guarded by a Yokai spirt. With these instruments combined I feel it will really help to capture and give an extra layer to the narrative and really bring my film to life. I am working within my schedule so that this part of the film making process is not overlooked, it is a really important aspect to my film as I am creating a film with no dialogue the sound is the voice that will flow and guide viewers about the narrative

04/06/2021

Today I attended a guest lecture Tim Ledbury who has a background in working in stop-motion animation films as the special effect’s supervisor. It was great to get his knowledge, understanding and prospective on using VFX in stop-motion animation and the limitless possibilities that can be achieved through VFX. From attending this lecture, I now have more of an understanding of the scope of VFX within film and how much they can add to your film, without taking anything away from the actual animation. I also realised the importance of planning your shots that you wish to use VFX on so that when it comes to post-production you are able to work within what you’ve shot as animation and use VFX to bring the shot together.

It was great to see how much some films/animation use VFX to enhance the world in which the characters live in, and that getting the animation the best it possibly can be without worrying about props/environment pieces that could get in the way while animating. This is something that I will be taking consideration in the next films that I make, although I do not want to rely on VFX to tell my story, it is a strong and possible tool to use to enhance my world building, instead of thinking every set piece has to be made and within the scene.

I also will be mindful when in the pre-production stage of creating my next films, if there is going to be any VFX used to note which scenes will be using it, how the VFX will be used within my film and what I might have to do or not do considering the use of VFX.

http://www.timledbury.com/

09/06/2021

Getting the sword swing action, the Yokai performs as his entrance into the film and essentially the beginning of the fight was a difficult shot for me to get. I had to consider many aspects that will make this motion impactful. I created a reference to work with and I started to work through the body positions and movements onto to the puppet. The head, torso, shoulders, legs and arms and the sword position where key points to reference. At first, I was struggling with getting the position of the sword correctly inline for the cut across the screen effect, and his arm positions after the sword has started to come down.

After many attempts, I feel that I am more comfortable with how it looks. To create this shot, I kept on flicking through the frames that I was creating and looking at each movement frame by frame making sure the eyes, head, arms and sword were as smooth and as inline as I possibly could get it. With this scene it took a lot of time and patience to carefully consider the movement and the believability of his entrance scene, and I feel once I have added in the effect of the screen splitting it will add to his dramatic entrance.

I have learnt where I was going wrong, I was starting the animation with the puppet in the best position, his legs where usually standing still and straight. Whereas putting one of his legs behind and slightly further away from his front leg with his weight balanced on both. Starting with the sword much further back really helped to create more emphasis on the swing and paying a lot of attention to his arms and their position especially as the sword comes down and they straighten out more.

I have started shooting the next scene that comes after the Yokai has swung at my main character. In the animatic after the screen splits, I wanted to show in the two different panels the girl falling back and in the other panel show the sword hitting the ground. After attempting the shots today and just editing them together, I did not feel that this shot translated well in each of the panels. Looking at the shots together I started to think that the panel that is showing the sword coming down is irrelevant, it does not show the viewer anything new, important or exciting.I still want the two-panel affect, so after reconsidering what the shot will be like I think it would be more impactful to film a close-up shot of her falling back and put this scene in the two panel affect. I will add pictures to show my meaning of the scene, but I feel it’s best to dramatize the scene even more by showing her falling back (potentially slow motion for the first few frames.) I will be working on this scene tomorrow.

14/06/2021

Today I am working on when the Yokai finally reviles his true form. He removes his ‘fake face’ and reviles his Yokai look from underneath, he then turns to look at Mono as she braces herself and picks up her shield. In order to achieve this, I have started the shot with just a simple blink as he raises his arm up and detaches his face, I then use a face replacement with his Yokai design on and change his eyes to black. I feel this scene will add to the tension that is building just before the fight sequence happens. This is also the first-time audiences will see his true face and I feel that this will create and add suspense to the turning point of the film as the fight is just about to happen. It will be unexpected and that is what I want to get across for Mono too, that she didn’t expect that and now she really has to defend herself and she now realises the true nature of this character.

I have shot this a few times and with each take it is getting better. I just want to make sure that it does not happen to fast as this will lose the dramatic effect and tension that this scene needs to have.

15/06/2021

This is my last day to get the Yokai revile scene and through repeating this scene many times I know where I need to slow down and speed up the animation to get a consistent flow and to dramatize the action as I have said before that I do not want this scene to be rushed.

So, I am now creating space and time for the scene to breath as he blinks, reaches his hand up towards his face and shuts his eyes. Then hold for half a second before he begins to pull his ‘fake face’ off and shows his true form underneath. In the post-production stage, I will be working with my VFX artist so that when he the Yokai pulls of his face the frames in between where you can see the inner workings of his puppet face. I want to cover this up with his Yokai face so that you do not see this in the final film.

I am going to continue working on this scene for today and tomorrow will be when Mono begins to pick her shield up and readies herself for the stand off they will have in the following scene.

23/06/2021

Moving on from the Yokai revile scene I am now shooting the part where he and Mono are facing one another from different ends of the woods. I am working on the shot where he throws away his fake face, to add dramatic impact to the scene and build some tension before they fight. She is in the background and blurred out to create depth of filed and give a scene of space between the characters. I am also having to animate her at the same time as the Yokai throwing his face away as she can not be standing still while this happens. So, while the Yokai is throwing his fake face, I have animated her looking towards the face as it falls from his hand at the same time raising her shield in front of herself to protect herself. As the yokai brings his arm back in by his side, she then looks towards his face. This will still need some work on, I am planning on using the rest of the day tomorrow to get this shot as then on Friday I can work on getting Mono’s stance shot as she prepares herself before the fight.

25/06/2021

I have finally finished working on the shot where the Yokai throws away his ‘fake face’ and I have added a scene that is not in the animatic where we see the mask on the floor, and it breaks into two. I feel this just adds more to the story and emphasizes that he was wearing a disguise in the first few scenes when he is introduced in the story. It has taken me a few days to get this shot, I am quite particular when it comes to reviewing my shots and seeing if the animation holds up with the rest that I have filmed. This is also the second shot that I have worked on where both of my characters are on screen together and although my girl character will be blurred out in this scene, I still needed her to move and react accordingly to what the Yokai was doing as to not have a dead/flat characters in the background.

Although this shot is quick there was still a lot of thought and planning that went into this in order to achieve it. I was working through understanding my characters movement and when the mask should leave his hand. While also thinking about and rehearsing when and what points should my girl character move and react and what would she do when she is standing there at the other end of the woods. I know that this is not my best animation, I know it is the best that I could produce given that I am learning how to animate with every shot that I am working on to get the film done.

As it stands, I now just have over a minute of animation completed and locked in, I am so happy to see it all coming together. Tomorrow I will be working with my VFX artist to complete and lock in the shots that will be in the film.

We are currently working on the scene where Mono reacts and catches the orb. The orb moves down towards her, as if asking to be caught by her which I believe adds character to the orb and we know that it wants it is the man’s soul who was dead at the beginning of the film. So, it makes sense that it still wants to be close to her. Once she catches the orb, I still want to see the light pouring out from her hands as it shines brighter the closer it is to her. So, we will need to add the light from the orb seeping through the cracks in her hand also reflecting onto her face.

We are also working on removing the edge and line that goes across some of my shots where you can see that it is a table that I am using to produce this animation. We started with blurring out the line and it now looks like the ground are merged and there is not this clear-cut line going across which I believe really adds to the believability of the woods and the environment that my characters are in.

29/06/2021

I am now working on the part of the film where my girl character readies herself for the fight. She will do a stance that shows she is ready for the fight as she cannot be scared anymore as she must focus. I hope that I can get the emotion across and show this, as for the most part of the film she has been sad or frightened. I have set up the shot and I am now working on the animation part; I have started with her looking at the orb in her hand and softly blinking and then she turns to focus on the Yokai.

I will then create my ‘Stand-off’ shot where I will film a medium shot of both characters and create the panel style in the edit. After this, it will be where the Yokai finally takes his first strike her, beginning the fight.

14/07/2021

I am now working with both characters as they begin to fight. I am using my references that I filmed with friends to create the animatic. I have filmed there first encounter in slow motion and normal so I can study the movements and timings that relates to the action, with the hopes of making it look believable. This has proven to be a big task and I am slowly getting to grips with my understanding of how the scene will work and how to move the characters. Overall, I am still really enjoying the process and I am learning something new each time that I animate each scene. Editing my film at the same time has enabled me to understand more about timing within the animation and the film in its entirety, I am thinking about this as I animate my other scenes, giving more timing to each shot and action so that it can be fully readable to the audience.

I have noted for future films I will need a better set up and more efficient equipment to help me with my film making. Things such as using rigs instead of tie downs would be helpful and for me to confidently move the puppets, also lighting that I can suspend for the ceiling or put onto rigs for the ceiling would also be hugely beneficial to my film set and working environment.

With regards to the film stage, I do have just over three weeks to keep filming and editing as I go. I know that it has taken me some months to get to this stage, and even looking at the film now as a whole I want to re-film some scenes and I am looking at ways to improve it. I had thought that this year I would be able to finish my film and make it into the film festivals that I would like to apply to. But upon reflecting on my film and getting to know how I work in this environment, what I can produce to the best of my ability while also having other life commitments it has been something that I have had to adapt to and work with. At this stage, I am thinking that I will have a film to hand in for the deadline of university, I do not think at this stage it will be fully completed and have everything such as music, sound, VFX, color grading, animation and editing done along with the story. I would like to continue working on this film after I have handed in and complete it to the best of my ability. I am halfway through the process, and I know that with some more time on my side I can fully focus and put my attention to each aspect of this film and what it takes for it to be done, with the hopes of applying to the festivals next year.

20/07/2021

I have presented my presentation which I discussed with the rest of the class my current project and where I am in terms of production. It was a great opportunity to show my work and gain feedback on it, also where my other peers are at with their work, we all have different projects and I believe it was very clear that we all where passionate about our subject areas.

I am at the stage in the film where my characters are fighting and with the submission approaching fast, I am at the stage where I can see that there are still so many things to do for this film to be finished. Therefore, I will for submission, hand in the film to the best of my ability that I can get the film at. I will then be creating a short trailer for the MA show, as I will also be able to use this to showcase my upcoming film and get exposure without having the full film.

I have also this week, printed and painted a new sword in order to have a stronger, fresh prop to work with as the original sword has began to wear out.

Tomorrow I will be presenting to the class my film and the stage at which is currently at. I am looking forward to receiving the feedback and any thoughts, ideas and improvements they may suggest. I will be also discussing my thoughts about it and what still needs adding/changing to the film.

While I am working on my animation, I am also using my Instagram and LinkedIn account to connect with others in industry. I can connect with people who work independently or for animation studios in the hopes to use my profile to showcase my work and talk with them, as I will be looking for a mentor after I finish University and continue my work on this film.

01/08/2021

Coming towards the end of my MA, I have been able to show my class just a small snippet of my film. I am grateful for the feedback and have taken on board what others have will be applying this to my film as I will be carrying on creating this film. I am working on building my online portfolio on Instagram and LinkedIn which I am using to create and find my own audience who are interesting in my film and its process. I am now going to be spending the next few days making sure that my film is more refined and the best that I can possibly get it before the hand in.

04/08/2021

I have now edited my film and added in the VFX elements that I needed in order to tell my story. Although I have not fully completed the film and there is still so much to do for me to be able to fully release the film, I am happy with the outcome so far. Embarking on this adventure and getting to this point in my production has allowed me to understand the process of animation and film making and I have learnt so much that I can take with me moving forward and getting this film finished. I was struggling (due to my set up and time constraints) getting all the shots that I wanted into this film but moving forward I will now have the time to be creative and think of ways to overcome shots that I am simply not able to achieve. Such as, I am still trying to film the shot where my Yokai character runs towards the girl to start the fight. I know what I want to see from the shot, but due to my characters not having rigs its proven to be difficult to get the puppets to balance on their own and make the run up look convincing. So, I will now with my time think of a way to overcome this but also still achieve a look and style that will fit within my film.

I am really looking forward to carrying on with my production and getting this film out into the world. Once I have finished, I feel that I will have a more solid foundation to work from that I will be able to find and work with musicians to create an original sound track that will work with my film.