This week, the main focus was polishing the juice box animation. I had never done polishing before, but after watching Ting’s demonstration, I understood that polishing means adjusting the animation rhythm, adding details, and refining movements to improve the quality. For my animation, I adjusted the speed and frame count of the juice box standing-up […]
Author: Skyler Gao
In our lectures on Experimental and Abstract Animation, we explored two main approaches — Formative Abstraction and Conceptual Abstraction. These theories encouraged us to consider how artists use form, rhythm, and symbolism to communicate ideas beyond conventional narrative. In class we learned about two kinds of experimental animation — formative and conceptual abstraction. I was […]
Ball with Tail In my first version, the ball stayed in one place and kept jumping up and down. My tutor said this was a repetitive and meaningless motion, so I changed it. The animation should start from frame 80, where the ball begins to jump forward instead of staying still. The tutor also mentioned […]
Unreal Material Final Project Feedback During the tutorial, Serra encouraged me to develop my concept into a stronger and more cinematic visual statement.The film could show the emotional journey of a person who becomes trapped in their own digital image until they no longer recognize their true self.Serra suggested exploring the idea of two layers […]
This week, we continued working on the juice box animation and brought the box “to life” for the next actions. I designed a series of movements, including standing up, jumping, attacking, turning around, and leaping. My main focus was to show the sense of preparation, speed, and weight in each motion. Blocking Normal Golden Pose […]
Sequencer Final Project Concept This week, I created a video cover for my project The Death of Narcissus to present the main atmosphere and emotional tone. The image uses soft light and muted color to show both beauty and sadness. It represents the fragile balance between reflection and reality. Through the light and texture, I […]
Critiquing Pendulum animations Ball with Tail Anticipation is the build-up of energy before an action. It makes movements feel more powerful and believable. For example, a character squatting before jumping or pulling back before punching. I also learned about the “K.I.S.S” rule — Keep It Simple Stupid. We started a new exercise: the “Ball with […]
This week I worked on the “Show Me That Weight” task. I bought a real juice carton and filmed an animatic with my phone to study how it falls. Then I edited the clip in After Effects and imported image sequences into Maya as reference. I keyed the main poses, adjusted animation curves, and added […]
This week, I did some thinking about the final project. My inspiration came from a song by Qingfeng Wu called “The Death of Narcissus” Narcissus was a young man in ancient Greek mythology. He was very beautiful, and many people loved him, but he only loved himself. One day, he saw his reflection in a […]
In this week’s, George gave me feedback on my bouncing ball animation. He suggested that in the planning stage I should add two more frames at the first two peaks, so the ball slows down more naturally. He also pointed out that the ball was rotating in the wrong direction. At the end of the […]