ANI212 - Week 1

2021-09-23/24

What? So what? Now what?

During the break we were told by Rafi to get a Lego figure to be used in our project. I ordered a Lego Looney Tunes blind bag and got Daffy Duck. The figure also came with a sign prop.

This week we gave a quick introduction of ourselves and our relevant skills and showed some of our previous work so that everyone has a chance to gauge our skills because we will be choosing our groups for this project instead of the instructor choosing for us.

Skills Showcase Page

Everyone had very impressive work and there was a lot of variety in terms of skill set with many 2D artists, 3D artists and also in-between.

Luka messaged me during class asking if I wanted to work with him since we worked together on last trimester's group project. I also got messaged by Jahred who didn't know anyone in our class because he deferred for a trimester. Jahred had some very impressive 3D skills and we teamed up together with Luka to form our group. I know Luka has very good 3D skills and knows a bit about rendering in Arnold and he's even started learning Nuke too. Jahred is interested in learning lighting and rendering in Arnold as well, plus his animation skills are impressive. I think we will work really well together.

On the second day Rafi went through what the project will consist of. It's going to be a full production for a 30-60 second short film that includes our Lego figures as characters.

Jahred, Luka and I started to brainstorm some ideas near the end of class. Luka has a Sith Trooper Lego figure and Jahred has Marvin the Martian, also from Looney Tunes. So far we want to create a story that involves Daffy being abducted by Marvin and the Sith Trooper. We plan on meeting next Tuesday over Discord to discuss further.

Notes

ANI212 will be one group project the whole trimester. Groups of 3. Around 27 hours of work expected per week minimum, including 9 hours of class time. Each group are suggested to have at minimum: 1 good 3D artist, 1 good 2D artist & 1 good team leader. Also one of the people should be interested in lighting & rendering in Arnold.

First 8 weeks will be intense. Most of us will suffer a mental breakdown around week 7...maybe. After 8 weeks we will have less teacher supervision on our work and we will be expected to carry our own weight. Everyone will need to do their own character's modelling, texturing, rigging and some animation.

Project requirements:

  • 30-60 seconds in length

  • All members must have animated at least 10 seconds each

  • Incorporate all 3 Lego characters to some capacity (only 1 or 2 can be a main character if we want)

  • Environment does not need to be Lego, but must serve the narrative in some way

  • No dialogue

  • Any genre

  • Come up with an original story (can be PSA, one beat joke, or have a character arc)

  • No plants/foliage

  • Max 2 environments

  • Project manager is to send weekly updates


Week 3 - Milestone 1

  • Pitch

    • Story in 500 words or less

    • Concept

    • Storyboard

    • Concept design & development

      • Project inspiration

      • Image reference

      • Visual/graphic style examples

      • Concept images

      • Environment reference

      • Mood boards


Week 6 - Deadline 1

  • 2D animatic

    • Must be exact duration of the final piece

    • Must show intended shot & scene timings

    • Rudimentary animation and be synced with SFX and BGM

  • 3D models, UV unwrapping, Character rigs

    • Completed models of Lego characters with props (solo)

    • Completed models of environment and props (group)

    • Character rigs must complete a ROM test


Week 8 - Milestone 2

  • Previz (with sound)

    • Must use final models

    • SFX is locked in by this point

  • Textures

  • Test renders

    • At least 3 test renders


Week 12 - Deadline 2

  • Completed submission


Story writing

A story is a series of events about a character that wants something and goes about getting it. (They could be obtaining something physical or learning an important lesson.)

Principles of story writing

  • A character with a goal

  • Obstacles that stop him


Bear-Man-Door

  • Man is the protagonist

  • Door is the goal

  • Bear is the obstacle


Show that the character wants something.


Conflict

  • Character vs character

  • Character vs environment

  • Character vs self


Other story elements

  • Location - Establish the scene

  • Enticing moment - Everything was normal until...

  • Story question - Will they/won't they?

  • Theme - the general ideas/meaning present throughout the story

  • Need - what does the character need

  • Arc - how does the character change for the better/worse

  • Ending/Resolution - Answer the story question


Structure of animated shorts

  • A character wants something

  • An event happens that gears them into action

  • They meet some kind of conflict

  • Things get worse until the point of crisis

  • They nearly lose everything

  • They learn a lesson

  • Make a hard choice

  • Succeed or not