with Nigel
This week in class we focused on Understanding and Testing Research Viability, which has helped me start thinking more seriously about how a research topic develops over time. Rather than settling on one fixed idea straight away, I’m beginning the process of looking for possible topics that feel manageable, interesting, and relevant to the critical report topic I did for the Design for Animation unit.
We discussed how developing a potential research topic is an important step toward thesis development, especially making sure the topic is focused and supported by available resources. At this stage, my main goal is to explore different ideas, think about what questions they might lead to, and consider what kind of research would be realistic to carry out. This feels like an early but useful starting point, and I’m looking forward to narrowing things down as I move forward.
with Ting
This week began with a presentation on story structure and storytelling, looking at different narrative frameworks such as the three-act structure, the hero’s journey, and other ways of breaking down story beats. This was useful in thinking about how even short animation shots still rely on clear structure, intention, and change, especially when communicating an idea quickly and visually.
We then moved on to the self-study topic of constraints, parenting, and locators, focusing on how to manage object relationships in a scene without breaking the animation. A key takeaway was understanding the difference between permanent parenting hierarchies and more flexible constraints, as well as using locators as clean, invisible anchors for props. This was both very challenging and educational. We’ll focus more on practicing this topic with an assignment in the later weeks.
In addition, we refined last week’s hunter-to-prey previs based on feedback, improving clarity between the scene and the camera movement. We tried to balance the drama level between them for each shot.
We also started planning the next assignment: a 12-second shot combining body mechanics and acting, with a clear moment of change of mind involving a heavy object. I found references for this shot and also filmed myself ”acting” as a reference.