Category: Advanced & Experimental 3DCA Techniques

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 “Stitch’s Tea Party” 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.

with Nigel

The second session focused on short narrative, with particular emphasis on non-verbal storytelling. Through discussion and examples, we explored the unique challenges of conveying meaning, emotion, and narrative clarity without the use of dialogue or text.

The session examined different strategies and narrative structures used in short animated works, including visual pacing, character movement, framing, and symbolism. These elements were discussed as tools for communicating story efficiently within a limited timeframe.

with Ting

In Week 2, we shifted focus from the camera to the story. The session broke down storytelling at its most fundamental level, emphasizing that stories are not a list of events, but a chain of cause and effect. The difference between “and then” and “therefore” became a central idea highlighting how meaning, not chronology, is what keeps an audience engaged.

By examining internal and external conflict, we learned to let character choices not coincidence push the narrative forward. The SWBST framework (Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then) helped clarify motivation, obstacle, action, and resolution in a clean, repeatable way.

The session also introduced common story structures, from three-act and five-act models. Through an activity, we developed multiple story variations based on the SWBST framework, tested them for causal logic, and translated their strongest idea into a storyboard.

The storyboard we did:

We also got feedback on the animation of the storyboards of the guy at the bar, so this week I worked on polishing it. Here is the polished version:

We also got a group assignment that combines the last 2 weeks sessions. We will be writing a story focusing on the change of power dynamics in a story. Here is the previs of the “Hunter to Prey” assignment where the thief gets killed by an innocent man.

The storyboard:

The previs:

with Nigel

The first session of the module introduced the core foundations of the master’s thesis, with a particular focus on the thesis proposal. We dicussed what makes a strong research topic by considering its potential, motivation, and practical or theoretical applications. This encouraged early reflection on why a topic matters not only to the researcher, but also within a wider academic, professional, or social context.

A key part of the session focused on understanding the purpose and significance of research, alongside the ethical considerations that underpin responsible academic work. We discussed how ethics should be embedded from the outset of a project, influencing topic selection, research methods, and outcomes.

with Ting

In our first session, we set the foundation for thinking beyond “coverage” and into intentional camera language. We focused on one core question: where do you put the camera, and why? Every framing choice begins with understanding what the scene is about and what you want to say visually before dialogue ever enters the picture.

We explored how focus, depth of field, focal length, geometry, and camera movement shape meaning. From deep focus that invites the audience to explore a frame, to shallow focus that directs attention with precision, we discussed how the camera guides the viewer’s eye and emotional response. Techniques like dolly zooms, handheld movement, whip pans, and arc shots were examined not as stylistic tricks, but as storytelling tools.

To put these ideas into practice, we were assigned to do the 5+5 Challenge: creating two short storyboards that tell a clear story or emotion using exactly five shots of five seconds each, no dialogue, simple acting, only camera language.

Here are my storyboards for this class:

Then we brought these storyboards to life with Maya by exchanging our storyboards with each other. The storyboard of Jingwen and the animated version (previs) :