Final Year 2021
Bachelor of Animation - Year 3
The following content is the compiled collection of all the little things that I worked on during 2021. This is more of a reflection piece rather than a cleaned up project, it's a moment in time which marks my overall talents and abilities I've developed over my study years, alongside a celebration of the collaboration efforts I went through alongside my cohort.
Trimester 1
Red Red Run - Animation Short Pitch
During our final year, students are asked to develop a pitch for final year films.
Working with 2d artist Aljohn Salceda over the Summer break we developed a pitch about a 2d/3d animation film about a sci-fi cop chase. I wanted to priorities my focus towards the 3d elements. I was responsible for getting a prototype concept of the car and environment working. I also collaborated with Aljohn to develop the script, early character concepts and getting a 3d shader working effectively with Aljohn's style.
It was a delight to work with someone as skilled as Aljohn, and he came up with an extensive list of improvements to ideas as we developed the project. It was unfortunate that our project was not selected to continue into pre-production. Regardless perhaps once I get time to further develop my projects, this may be one we may eventually return to.
Beats Per Minute - Pre-Production
During the pre-production stages of the film projects. I collaborated with Andy Cotton, in creating his experimental film Beats Per Minute (BPM).
Beats Per Minute was intended to be an interpretative animation based on the life of Norman Holter and his creation, the Holter Monitor. In theory the final film was going to be release as an audio track which then could be played back on an Heart Monitor.
My responsibility was to provide Andy with suitable low-poly models which then could be converted into sound files. My testing also allowed us to discover that it was possible for the software to process n-gons without processing issues, giving modellers the opportunity to work with Boolean modelling techniques if needed.
Sadly the project was never finished. However Andy has kindly provided these early tests of my models we developed during production. Each video also features the audio which the object produces, be warned they haven't been adjusted so they may be quite loud.
Professional Practice
As part of our course study in Intro to Professional Practice. We were separated into groups and tasked with the responsibilities to develop a fictitious animation advert for a business. Working alongside Courtney Miller, Ashlee Power, and Callum Robson, we developed a advert using a PayPal brief from a few years ago.
As part of the project I was given the opportunity to operate as the teams producer, I was responsible for managing the tracking sheet of the project, budgeting the project, and scheduling the tasks with the director.
I was also given the additional role of background artist and motion graphics, designing the environment of the project based on the directors concept.
Learning ZBrush
As part of my studies, I was given the opportunity to learn the capabilities of zBrush. As part of the course we we're assigned to create a 3d model that would be imported, posed and detailed in zBrush.
Learning Cel Action
I was given the unique opportunity to study under one of the animators at Ludo Studio. During the period I developed my own rig and animation in their preferred software, Cel Action.
My capabilities were recognised during the course, and I was given the special opportunity to attend an advance specialisation course and additionally the opportunity to intern as a designer at Ludo during November 2021.
Trimester 2
Deathline and Deadlines
Starting in trimester 1, I collaborated with the team at Deathline to bring Arlene to life. At the end of trimester 1, I managed to complete a specifications document, outlining the requirements for Arlene based on the shots of the film, and got a prototype armature system with working IK/FK switching and set key driven hand poses. I additionally modelled the body of Arlene and begun to retopologising the concept head to be more suitable for blendshape facial controls and systems.
Over the trimester break and into trimester 2, I developed the Arlene rig to completion with a variety of features and capabilities that extended the specifications needed for the project. You can read up on my final design in my rigging section.
Production with Halloween Hubris
In trimester 2, I was notified that a student project, Halloween Hubris, had recently lost their producer, and as a result of a variety of issues was now in jeopardy. Josh Percy and myself approached Laura Adams, and offered our abilities and experience from trimester 1 to help bring the project back to schedule. If you would like to read a more detail report, please check out my producing work.
Enter the Maze of the Minotaur
During trimester 1, I received notification a live action project was looking for a graphic designer to help with art assets for their final project, a physical game show. Work from Deathline and BPM being quite minimal, I offered my experience as a graphic artist and creative video editor to help achieve their resources. After meeting with the director and producer, I assessed their ideas and scope. It was a much larger project than anticipated, and they we're indecisive of what they wanted for style and presentation. I advised that they needed to revise their concept before I would be comfortable working with them in post-production.
In trimester 2, we came back and reassessed their ideas, and they were unable to pull back their scope for the project. With my additional responsibilities of Halloween Hubris and the Deathline, I reached out to my co-producer Josh Percy and BPM director Andy Cotton, to help complete the project and act independently on each section of the criteria.
I was responsible for completing the 3d transitions between each of the challenge rooms (with assistance from Josh) and the motion graphics overlays, while Andy developed the opening sequence which I assisted with animation.