Design Exploration

 Design Exploration

Ibrahim Fazal Ahmad / 0337423

Design Exploration / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylors University 

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INSTRUCTIONS 

Week 1

For our first week of Design Exploration, we were told that we had to choose to create any form of media as long as it was based off the UNs SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). I immediately had an idea to create a short about the LGBT community as I feel like it would be an interesting topic for me to explore!

I wanted to create an animation or short comic if I could possibly about the experiences of one character living their life.

Week 2

I had this idea that I could create a short animation about this character who basically has the option to choose what they can do throughout their days. What they want to wear, want to eat, want to go, etc. After which they try going on a date but realise they can't change their preferences. Which would then echo the idea that LGBT people do not have a choice in how they were born. 

We were also given a quick little task by Ms Anis to find some awareness videos. One good and one bad, in which we would analyse why one is good and why one is bad at their purpose.

For my good animation I chose the short "Aquarium" 

Pros

• This short demonstrates the struggles than an LGBT relationship could face for trying to do so simple (just taking a picture together).
• It also demonstrates how one could react and shows the different reactions. One is scared to do any form of affection publicly, while the other is hurt that they've been made to feel like they've done something wrong.
• It does a good job of voicing out the struggles LGBT relationships can encounter.

Cons

• None honestly, it was really well done.

Now for my bad awareness video I chose this video called "Flamingo Pride". 

Pros

• It was pretty funny.

Cons

• I am actually beyond lost and confused as to the intention of the video. 
• The amount of stereotyping done is so harmful and also just really not tasteful.
• Felt homophobic... but somehow heterophobic? 
• Kind of portrayst the LGBT community as just rowdy and in your face. Also having no respect for boundaries (which is extremely harmful)

I'd like to show this comment that I saw that perfectly captured the second video for me:

Week 3

This week I looked through the rest of my ideas and realised maybe I should try creating it about a gay couple instead. To show the double standards that come with them when they just try to live a normal life or do something mildly romantic. This could reach a wider audience and feel a bit more relatable as well for those in the community. As creating something that is directed towards homophobes is almost pointless unfortunately. I also watched this amazing animation called "Fuelled" and I really want to take a lot of inspiration from it in terms of its storytelling and ability to evoke emotion.  

Week 4

I have the story roughly planned out now on a Google Doc, after which I streamlined it and created it into a storyboard which I can propose. I also created some rough ideas for my character styles, I wanted to go with a very cute and friendly style which appeals to many. Along with using animals as my characters as it could reach a broader audience since it doesnt have the hyperspecificness of a human character. 

After getting a feel for how I want my characters to look like I went ahead and drew them with a more polished looked. I wanted them to look very cute but have their own distinct differences from each other, especially since I am trying to avoid being too unique for every character (as it will result in way too much work)

Week 5

This week was proposal week! And it went over really well !! Which I am very happy about. Ms Anis said that I can go ahead with this idea and that I should just keep my time management in check. Other than that she has full faith in me to complete this animation. Here is my final presentation:

Week 6

This week I mostly spent working on my animatics. I tried three different versions each with a different feel and even story structure from the other. Following my initial storyboard lead to the story feeling very abrupt and sudden. It was so much happening in such a short amount of time that it was very jarring. Especially because the mood changes so drastically, there was no initial form of calm or even slight fear that could've indicated towards it.

For the second one, I got rid of the morning wake up/get ready scenes completely as suggested by one of my friends. Instead I added my characters standing by the door/in their room waiting nervously. However, this time when I showed other people they said the characters felt distant from each other and almost like an abusive relationship even. Especially because they look so distant, followed by their relationship photos which they look very happy. The contrast is strong and just at the wrong time. However, other than the beginning of the video it felt fine which meant I was on the right track.

For the final try, I changed the beginning once again but added only one character waiting nervously, who feels relieved when he sees the other one. Along with their relationship photos and stuff, this allows the viewer to understand that they are in a relationship. The pacing also feels much better overall and this is the final animatic I made before moving onto actually animating.

Week 7

I had initially planned to use Photoshop for illustration and then export it to After Effects/Animate to animate. But a huge problem came up in the form of when I exported it. The files would completely corrupt and I could not overcome that issue unless I stop using blending modes in Photoshop and that really toned down the mood of my whole video and made it in all honesty just uglier to look at. 

So I decided I would take on the challenge and animate on Photoshop. It is definitely not an animation program, after using it for just a bit it is already a little difficult to handle. But I should be able to pick up in pacing after getting more familiar with the program. 

Luckily though, using Photoshop made the illustration quality much higher than  if I had used Animate or After Effects. This is the first background I had drawn for my video, I used a screencap of my animatic and then drew this. After which I coloured it in to really make it feel homey and comfortable. I wanted it to feel comforting and nice to look at. So I tried making it very bright and warm while also adding some cool shadows to balance it out.

Week 8 / Week 9

I have continued animating as per usual, most of my progression will just be videos/screenshots from my animation progress. Here's a more detailed look at how I try to do things. Firstly using the animatic as my base of reference. I draw the assets I would need, after which I do a very rough animation without any extra movements/colours.

After which I added some extra movements and colours onto the character in the front so there is no overlap when the character behind comes into the scene. Once I'm happy with that I move onto the next step.

I just colour the rest of it in along with a rough background to fit the colours/mood of the whole video. I did only the first character here before I moved onto the second.

After which I did the same for the second character, I just coloured it in and then added a colouring balancing layer on top to bring the entire videos colour palette into a more similar vibe.

Week 10

This week we had to present our progression to Ms Anis. I had a few video clips that I had already exported ready along with my first scene which had basically been completed fully. Ms Anis said it looks really good so far and I should try finding the music at this point since I hadn't already. It would be good to find a fitting sound track beforehand normally. 

Week 11

This week I worked on a lot of scenes (Scenes 4 - 8) I finished off a lot of them and had been surprisingly productive this week! Which was great. Here are some snippets of what I had done this week.

This is Scene 4 as of now, I've been working with a friend of mine and they told me that I should change their walking animations as of now. Making them walk not in unison and have more reactions to each other while walking.

 

Week 12 - Week 14

There was nothing out of the ordinary these weeks, I just continually worked on my animation. Slowly finishing scene by scene which was honestly a little frustrating. But it was mostly very monotonous work which I dont want to just repeat over and over again here. I will just show my final presentation and a link to my final video here! Ms Anis said that the video is really good and that I transferred my entertainment skills to animation well. It's jsut a little abrupt at the end but it was clarified that the video may have lagged at the point. 

REFLECTION

This class was so exciting for me. I initially wanted to do animation when I began my degree but as I went through my first year I realised my real passion in drawing and illustration. So having the chance to revisit my passion of animation was such a fun experience. The last time I had animated was when I thought I could be a YouTuber lol... which was a good two or so years ago. So coming back after two years of being trained in this degree and creating an animation really showed how much progress I have made. I feel really proud of myself honestly. Is it perfect? No, not even close. But am I happy with it? Yes, I put my effort into creating something that had a message behind it and delivered it as best I could. I hope anyone who sees it realises the difficulties the LGBT community faces for just trying to exist as human beings. Nobody deserves to be treated as though they had done something wrong, when they haven't. I also am just really happy with how the animation came out in the end, the colours and general vibe of it were exactly what I wanted. I hope to look back on this reflection a few years down the line and know I am still proud of this. I hope to scoff at the quality and think "wow i could do so much better now" but look at the intent I had behind this and be proud that I was willing to do something so compromising and caused me so much fear just because it could make someone like me feel a little less alone.