Study Task 5 - Evaluate

Throughout this module, I was able to learn a lot about the difficulties and benefits of working in a group. Discovering and experiencing difference in opinions, responsibilities and importance of roles and learning how I, as an individual functions within a group.

What went well in the beginning was how we as a group were able to set roles, delegate tasks and keep our work up to date for each set week. In the beginning, it was clear that Cas was going to be our director as she had a clear vision and concept of the project visually and conceptually. Kathryn volunteered to be the producer and she was able to keep our group in check on a weekly basis which made us stay on task and at times above the schedule. In general we did not have a lot of disagreements and were able to come to constant consensus if disagreements arose. The group was able to come to an agreement that we will split ourselves into sub-divisions based on the type of media we were working upon; 2D tradigital and 3D with Maya.

The delegated work are also split evenly, where 3D will be used and explored in more action based scenes in the narrative. And 2D will set the introduction and motive of the character in the narrative.

As I wanted to dive into 3D media in this project, I had the guidance of Khoa to help me with technical aspects of Maya. There were a lot of things I was struggling with technically with Maya, so I worked as a support role and provided assets, character and story concept for the events that happens in the 3D scenes. Through Khoa's constant supervision I gained a lot of Maya knowledge which definitely helped me familiarise myself with the software a lot more during the process. Although my Maya skills still has to improve drastically to help with the process of modelling, texturing and rigging, this project was able to push me to develop the software skills needed for the project.

I learnt that being in a group can help in aspects that may be difficult working alone. Work distribution means I can focus on my part of the project without having to worry about the other parts. Allowing me to focus on the quality of the work at hand without worrying about time as much as it is much more feasible. The roles set also made me learn how important each role plays in a group. The director keeps everything consistent and everyone on the same page so that the outcome of each element we are working on will be unified and uniform. Whereas the producer keeps the work flow consistent and ensures that we are on task.

As a practitioner, not only did I learn about how a group functions with set roles and leaders and how as a group differences win opinions can always be compensated for in some way. But also in general, each person in the group is able to keep check and make the workflow much more efficient and consistent. As for myself, I've learnt that I function well as a support role especially in this group project. Although my skills in the medium that I was working on was lack lustre and inadequate in the beginning, through guidance of teammates I was able to push myself through the hardships and work through them in the end. I also learnt that in the begging, I was able to support the group with concepts of mostly assets, environment and in general how the story will play out.

Learning from this experience, next time I will make sure to improve on my skills further, both 2D and 3D through self practice to ensure that I can support my team even more without being somewhat of a burden during the beginning process of the project constantly seeking for help and guidance in the media I was responsible for.

Study task 3 - Research

2D vs 3D Animation 

Through immersing myself in 3D medium for this group project, I've learnt through experience the hardships of using 3D softwares in comparison with 2D tradigital, as well as the advantages and functionalities which 3D techniques are able to provide. 

Specifically, I've been using the 3D software Maya for this group project. As I was not experienced with it I've been learning a lot through working with it in the group project. Specifically, I've been developing my skills on animation, rendering and camera movements; I also worked a bit on modelling and texturing. 

As 3D Animation is becoming more and more popular in film and animation, the softwares in which 3D animation are produced upon are developing rapidly. With a lot of film industries progressing towards using 3D animation for full films. 

According to Vanhanaa Mahinder (2016), they state, 2D animation provides a cartoonish nature to the audience as it is more abstract and not an imitation of real life. Besides being able to provide nostalgia from the cartoonish vibe, in production conditions, it has costs less in comparison, takes less time to produce, less complicated to produce as it is less software dependant. However, some disadvantages of this practice is that it is less demanded compared to 3D as 3D is on the rising. Moreover 2D animation can be time consuming especially if a studio decides to create cel-based animation; no templates can be reused therefore, studios are giving up on 2D animation. 3D Animation is able to give off a realistic portrayal of environments and characters, moreover models of characters and environments can be reused, saving time and money. In contrary to all the benefits, 3D animation are all currently limited to the software itself. As 3D animation is purely dependant on the functionality and limitation of the software, it is obvious that not everything can be accomplished; therefore it is limited and less feasible. 


In addition to the mentioned benefits, CIIT (2019) College of Arts and Technology stated, 3D animation is a powerful business tool. As study suggests that the brain could process visual sequences 60,000 times faster than texts, this results in visual imagery in promotion being a powerful tool. In 3D Animation standpoint, it is able to appeal universally and making it interesting to the viewers compared to text. Through using animation in advertisements, brand companies are able to engage and connect promoters to the audiences piquing their interest in their products and services. Moreover, it is also able to create individuality and uniqueness, great for standing out amongst other advertisements. As we are in a digital age, 3D animation is great as it can be shared on multiple platforms, gaining more exposure within the multi million users online. According to Dreamgrow (no date), a content making and social information platform, including an animation promotional video on a landing page can increase conversations by 80%. Finally, it is efficient, as 3D animation is able to produce photorealistic products, achieving 100 percent accuracy is easier as errors are easier to spot and find; saving time and money through 3D software technology.


Manhinder, V. (2016) 2D vs 3D Animation - Pros and Cons. Available at: https://medium.com/@vandhana.appiness/2d-vs-3d-animation-pros-and-cons-51daba16a4ec (Accessed 15 December 2019)

CIIT (2019) 3D Animation Benefits: Exploring its Impact to Business and Branding. Available at: https://www.ciit.edu.ph/3d-animation-benefits/  (Accessed 15 December 2019)

Study Task 9 - Reflective Writing

Chain Diagram of practical process 

Conclusive Image

From the beginning, I was intrigued by the animations of Anime opening songs. How the visuals matched well with the impact and atmosphere of the song whilst not revealing the entire story plot, keeping it ambiguous yet interesting. Diving more in-depth in the realm, I looked into AMVs which was extremely popular for anime fans.  First thought of it as a hobby and personal projects, I then learnt that there was a whole subculture revolving around AMVs; from conventions to contests. With that, I started to look into different AMVs, and the thing in common is that they all tell a story with the marriage of music.

I decided it wanted to look further into AMVs and to breakdown the artistic features and mechanics behind them. Examples that I looked into were both fan made  AMVs as well as some original animated music videos. Both categorises into the same realm however are different in that AMVs are purely composed of existing Anime clips with a song, where as animated music videos are official animations for a particular song; which are mainly featured as music videos for artists as their single. Gathering from both types, I dove further into how those types are different in the terms of the origin of where they are made. Eventually learning that their origin is a significant factor as to how the method of storytelling is varied. Analysis on the method of storytelling, aesthetic and the methodology used in each type of AMV is explored upon on through secondary research, as well as a survey.

The practical work explored upon changing the audio and visual factor. How changing the type of music used and only showing a series of images will affect the effectiveness of storytelling.

As AMVs all use songs, I used music as my audio track instead, and as for the visuals, I made an animatic of a more adventure / fantasy twist on ‘The Red Riding Hood’.

Developing the animatic aesthetic was difficult as I wanted to make it simple yet effective. With that I thought of making the background in the style of a Manga, monotone with directional lines as shading. Using a limited colour palette to depict the protagonist and antagonist, creating a minor yet apparent contrast from the background.   

Through editing the practical, I used various filters on different scenes to depict flashbacks or to set the an ominous atmosphere for the antagonist.  

After completing the practical, I made a questionnaire to see the how people compared the style to the existing ones.

[Survey; https://forms.gle/7kHQRshYNaNpzFmm8]

After conducing the survey, it is apparent that the professionalism of the animatic is a significant flaw. Some believe that the monotone background was dull and doesn’t really bring the characters out. Moreover, it was stated that the flashback sequences did not make a lot of sense and the crow character did not have a purpose. In the contrary, some believe that the simple aesthetic of the visuals with the limited colour palette did help create emphasis the protagonist and antagonist. For some, the simplicity of the visuals did go well with the soundtrack, however some thought it was inadequate and confusing. All in all, through this practical, I’ve learnt that aesthetically, simplicity may work for some, however not all as it maybe confusing at times due to the simplicity; as it lacks detail therefore breaking the narrative. As for the audio aspect, the marriage between the dark / monotone visuals did achieve the ominous atmosphere of the music.