Ayca's Blog

Author: Ekin Ayca Demirli

Categories
Design for Animation

Week 6 – 27/10/2025 – Design for Animation

This week, we talked about the mise en scene which refers to everything visible in the frame: settings, props, costumes, lighting, and character positioning. Through the research assignment we got, we were able to analyze how every aspect combines with each other to set the mood, emotion and atmosphere. 

I initially examined the scene in which the Witch poisons the apple. The Witch’s dark basement with the green steam coming from her pot, makes the scene look scary and dangerous. The skulls, smoke, and shadows make it even scarier. The main prop, which is the apple, distinguishes itself from other objects due to its color. The Witch’s black cloak, wrinkled face, and crooked posture make her look old and evil, in contrast to Snow White’s pure look. Close-up views of her creepy smile and the shining apple create tension and show her dark power.

I proceeded to analyze the frame from Anomalisa. The positioning of the characters within the scene, along with their body language and facial expressions, shows the emotional isolation between them. The soft/nude color palette and subtle lighting establish a melancholic ambiance that aligns with the mood. 

Then, I analyzed the scene from Rebecca that shows how effectively mise en scène works to communicate relationships. The positioning of the characters (one standing confidently, the other appearing more hesitant and intimidated) reveals the existence of a power disparity between them. Every element, from the characters’ costumes to their manner of speaking to one another, contributes to our understanding of the underlying emotions and relationships.

Overall, this assignment has taught me to look beyond dialogue and narrative, and to concentrate on the visual language of cinema instead. Mise-en-scène is not merely decorative; it functions as a form of narrative through imagery, color, and composition. Gaining a deeper understanding enhances my perception of films.

Categories
Maya

Week 6 – 27/10/2025 – Maya

with George

This week we started off by talking about walk cycles and how you can show character by adjusting the small details of it. For next week we were assigned to do a planning and blocking phase animation of a walk cycle. For my planning, I filmed myself walking as a reference since it was really helpful last week with the weight shift assignment. I enjoy creating 2D plannings, they’re a great way to refine the overall timing and poses before moving on to the actual animating phase. Here’s my planning:

Here’s the initial version of the walk cycle (blocking phase):

After that, we moved onto the weight shift feedback. The feedback I got on my animation was to add more anticipation and to exaggerate the motion in order to better show the character’s weight. This week, I focused on improving both to make the movement feel more natural, and to emphasize the weight shift. I’m sharing the refined version here.

with Ting

This week, before the feedback, we talked about the workflow in pose to pose animation projects. It’s not a mandatory process, more like a guideline that is a very useful process to animate efficiently. We also looked at different approaches and their examples. Some seemed really useful for my own pace and workflow, while others didn’t feel as compatible. 

Then we got feedback on our Franky pose-to-pose animations. I was told to focus more on the hip movement and timing since I had done my assignment without a reference. I recorded one and adjusted the timing accordingly. Here’s the old and updated version:

Old version without the adjustments
Adjusted version with the reference

We also got a new assignment on hand gestures and create a few hand poses using real-life references. Here’s the poses I did for the assignment:

I’m curious to see what critiques I’ll get, since I haven’t worked on hand poses before.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 6 – 27/10/2025 – Unreal Engine

This week, we explored different tools and exercises to get a better feel for how physics work inside Unreal Engine. We started with some basic experiments using simple shapes, changing their mass and gravity settings while enabling Simulate Physics to see how each object reacted differently.

After that, we created a Blueprint Class and set up a master mesh with several child static meshes, linking them together with a Physics Constraint to mimic a chain-like movement. By tweaking the angular limit values, we were able to see how the swing and twist motions changed in real time.

Then, we imported a Paragon character model from FAB and adjusted the angular limits of each body portion in its skeleton mesh.  We then used these physics settings, as well as the character’s existing animations, to create a keyframe animation.

Later, we tested the Fracture Tool, playing with mass settings and experimenting with different fracture types to simulate destructible objects. We also worked with the Anchor Field Generic and Master Field Generic tools to enhance the realism of our fracture simulations. To wrap things up, we used the Take Recorder Tool to capture and record our simulation results.

Overall, this week helped me understand Unreal Engine’s physics system and how its different tools can work together to make environments that are more dynamic, interactive, and realistic.

For my final project, I’m preparing a storyboard to decide on the shots and to start creating the scenes.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 5 – 20/10/2025 – Unreal Engine

We got to talk to Serra one-on-one about our project ideas and progress this week.  I had already finished the main plot, so I spent my time looking into the FAB to find useful assets that could help me build my environment. To keep things organized and efficient, I broke my research up into different scenes and grouped the assets I found by scene.  When I showed them to Serra, she told me that I could also model my own forest using trees and other natural elements, which would be a great opportunity to practice working with the engine. 

She also told me about a tool called “Procedural Landscaping” that I had never heard of before. It can automatically make realistic terrains and plants, and I’m excited to try it out.

I’ll be sharing some of the useful assets I found on the FAB:

Character rig
Categories
Maya

Week 5 – 20/10/2025 – Maya

with George

This week we covered walking cycles and weight shifts and how they are one of the key aspects of animation. We also talked about the center of gravity and how to use it to make sure a pose is balanced and that the weight is distributed correctly. We then were assigned to plan and animate a weight shift for next week. For reference we shot a video of ourselves doing the weight shift. Based on that reference video I did my 2d animation planning.

For more on the weight shift subject, George told us to do a pose from our sketches that shows weight. For that assignment I’ll be using this sketch that I did:

After that we received the final feedback on the ball with tail animations. I had to make minor adjustments to the tail as it landed from the jump to make the tail follow the motion trail of the ball. Here’s the refined version of it:

with Ting

This week, we completed the final reviews for our Juicebox acting animations. Based on the feedback and suggestions, I’ll be doing some improvements in the walking cycle and I’ll be doing more polishing to make the animation smoother.

After that, we focused on the three poses we worked on last week. She explained how we’re going to use them as part of the “pose-to-pose” animation process. For this week’s assignment, she asked us to create an animation that transitions smoothly from one pose to another. To accomplish that she gave us a quick tutorial and introduced us to useful plug-ins for this assignment. My work will focus on transitioning from the angry pose to the happy pose. 

Here’s my angry pose and happy pose:

I think this is a very important exercise in order to understand clearly how the pose to pose animation works and its process. 

Categories
Design for Animation

Week 5 – 20/10/2025 – Design for Animation

This week in Design for Animation, we learned about animated documentaries and how they combine factual storytelling with creative visuals. The class covered how animation can show real events, ideas, or feelings in ways that live action sometimes can’t. We also talked about the problems of using animation in non-fiction, like whether it makes things less real or makes it harder for the audience to connect.

I thought it was interesting that animation can make serious or abstract topics easier to understand while still conveying truth. The session showed me how animation can be both expressive and informative. Overall, it was a useful discussion that showed how design choices influence how stories about real life are told and received. He also shared some resources that we can explore about politics in animation and film. I’m also excited to discover how political themes can be applied in animated works.

Categories
Design for Animation

Week 4 – 13/10/2025 – Design for Animation

This week’s class focused on experimental animation and the ideas of formative and conceptual abstraction. We watched a range of short films that explored colour, shape, rhythm, and sound instead of following a traditional story. Some were created directly on film using scratches or paint, while others used abstract movement and repetition to create a visual rhythm, almost like music.

We talked about how early artists used animation to try out new ways of expressing themselves after watching the movies.  They didn’t just see movies as a source of entertainment; they also saw them as a way to be creative and experiment.  I thought it was interesting how much emotion and meaning could be shown without words or people—just through movement, sound, and timing.

We also talked about how these early experiments changed animation today and how technology keeps giving artists new tools to use.  In general, the class helped me understand that animation is more than just telling a story.  It made me think about how shape, rhythm, and visual structure can convey ideas on their own, which is something I want to learn more about in my own work.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 4 – 13/10/2025 – Unreal Engine

This week we focused on the materials. We saw how we can create a material both manually and automatically by using a surface/texture asset by simply matching the asset with the material properties. We experimented with different material types by using and manipulating different parameters on the Material Graph. We created a basic material, a glass material, a light material and a tile material by importing a surface asset.

I also had a chance to talk about my ideas for the project with Serra. I am planning to do a first-person cinematic exploration but couldn’t decide on the shots and the camera sequence.  She gave me very useful feedback on that. Now I’m still in the research process, trying to create a storyline and storyboard. To build a solid foundation for the project and to better visualize the story, I generated storyboard shot images. This helped me shape the idea and see how it could evolve visually.

Categories
Maya

Week 4 – 13/10/2025 – Maya

with George

Last week I had finalized my pendulum animation with the offset applied. This week we received the final feedback on it and George didn’t give any notes, which meant the animation was accurate and well executed, a very satisfying result for me.

Also George gave the first critiques on our ball with tail animations specifically on the tail movement. With the notes he gave me, I was able to fix it and make the motion look more natural and consistent. Here’s the final result with the improvements:

Overall, I can see a significant progress in controlling the movement and refining the details that make an animation feel alive. I am really excited for the upcoming assignments.

with Ting

This week we started by reviewing the juicebox acting blocking animations. The creativity in everyone’s animations really inspired me to push my own work further. So after getting feedback I decided to restart my acting animation to give more personality to the juiceboxes. 

During the class Ting showed us how to “polish” our blocking animations. The polishing process is all about focusing on the details and refining each frame until it feels smooth and cohesive. Right now I’m in the polishing phase to make the animation smoother. Here’s the updated version of my juicebox acting animation.

Also we reviewed and critiqued the sad/regret poses. While reviewing them we talked about using the right controllers while posing and also the difference between IK and FK. In short it is best to use IK when in contact with surfaces and to use FK when you’re doing free movement.

Ting’s overall feedback about the poses was to start with three poses and then invent a fourth that pushed our creativity and helped us think outside the box because our works were very similar. To accomplish that, for this week’s golden pose assignment we will be creating 3 poses with real life references representing different emotions. I’ll be sharing my references for this assignment.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 3 – 06/10/2025 – Unreal Engine

The main focus of this week was Unreal Engine’s Level Sequencer and cinematics. While discovering it, I noticed that it is very similar to the Timeline and Graph Editor in Maya, which made it easier to understand. We were told to recreate a scene from a movie, so we completed our first animation. I chose to recreate the first scene of Frozen.

I also successfully used the FAB for the first time. I imported the assets and characters needed for the scene and was able to position, animate, and adjust them within the Sequencer. It was wonderful to watch everything come together in a cinematic scene, and it helped me better understand how Unreal handles animation and camera work.

We also discussed our ideas for the final project with Serra. I have a few ideas about the concept and aesthetics. Now I’m in the research phase, collecting inspiration images and trying to build a storyline and a storyboard to discuss it with Serra next week. I’m going to share some of the scenery ideas I have at the moment.