We were asked to work in teams of two for this project. My teammate Amber Liu and I decided to draw a 2D animation. The software we used was FlipaClip, which was easy to use and convenient, and we had both used it before, which saved us a lot of time in learning how to use it. The Point of View theme is quite general, therefore we were given a lot of room for imagination and creativity. This is in fact one of the difficulties we encountered, because there is no clear topic regulations, that we were unable to decide on our final idea. It took us a lot time on discussion, planning and brainstorming before we were able to settle on a theme.

Storyboard

Since we had a 30-second time limit, we avoided adding too many details and ideas while drawing the storyboard that will make us exceed the time limits.

I used to draw the storyboard in black and white, but this time we chose to add colors to it. I think was easier to refer back when I need it, and it’s also very clear to see the difference in color because color is a very important part of our story.

Glasses Design

The 3D glasses were an important element in our animation. Because it symbolised the medium that our characters used to see the world and to show their point of view. Therefore we have several designs for the glasses and the final one we choose was the cartoon-style glasses that have only one side of the holder. The reason for this was that we think that our characters are origami which means they are flat, therefore having only one side makes the scene looks more reasonable.

Colors

The color we choose is red and blue because it was the classic color for the 3D glasses, however, we decided to make them into a more pastel color that looks cuter and warmer, which can deliver a more positive feeling to the audience. For the purple, the reason we choose this color was because the color blue plus red is purple. And purple usually has the meaning of wisdom and creativity which were also the concepts that we want to deliver through this animation.

Character Design

I think the character design part was interesting because we were both able to design characters that represented ourselves. We wanted to emphasize that each person is unique, so we came up with the idea of designing our own characters. We hope there will be some elements they got in common and later on, we came out with the idea that they were both origami. We are art students, paper is indispensable to us, it gives us space to create and express ourselves, this interpretation gives another layer of meaning to these two characters that are made out of paper.

We also added unique decorations on them to emphasise the colors they represent so that the audience can understand the story easily.

Reference and Inspiration for Characters

Characters’ View

Those the views that we design for our characters. For the squirrel, she loves nature and city, therefore I created view based on this combination of both ideas. For the cat, we decided that he loves ocean and space, therefore my teammate also designed this view for him. For the last part of the story, where two world combined together, my teammate used elements from both of our view and recreate a new one. This represent the idea of how their point of view has changed and create a new and better view. This view has color fill in, to emphasise the idea that it is different than the two before. However, the elements of nature, city, ocean and space also represent the idea that although we are all lived on the same planet, but how we seen this world is totally different because of the impacts from our living environment, personalities and other elements.

Reference and Inspiration for the View

Music

To create our music, my partner and I decided to use Garage Band software to make because we both have a bit of experience before. We first wanted to use violins and cellos but it was not really suitable for our animation. Therefore later we went for whirly piano and drums can create a sound that is more delightful and happy. However, after the screening feedback section, we had before the submission, the teacher suggest we change the music because the music we had at that time made our animation sounds like a cartoon show or advertisement. Therefore I guess the reason why it may feel that way was that there were no big changes in music in between, therefore we decided to add the electric guitar to highlight the fight scene in between and make the animation became more vivid. 

This process was interesting and I was thankful for the effort that my teammate Amber put in for this music. Because we are both not music professionals, she really spent a lot of time on our music and changed accordingly while we have changes in our animation. 

This process really trained me to start and think of creating our own music. Because in the future we will need to create that every time when we have new work. We can not use the music from others, because there will be copy right. Therefore learning how to make music that can be suitable for my work is important. 

Editing

Once the music and animation were completed, the last part was to combine them together and do the editing. The software that we chose to use is Cap cut, which is a relatively convenient software that can be used on both phones and computers, therefore it is more convenient for us to transfer information and files between different devices.
After we combined both animations, the time exceeded 30 seconds. To solve this we used some of the functions in the Cap cut such as speeding up to make some of the movements smoother. For example, the jumping part I drew, after speeding up looked more reasonable. We also added some special effects to make the whole animation looks richer.
Although I know I will learn more professional software in the future, I think this kind of easy-to-use software is good for me to practice or use in my leisure time, and it can still help me practice my editing skills.

Keyframes

I am personally very satisfied with this work because these key frames show that we have finished the plot we planned on the storyboard. Although some parts were deleted due to time constraints, the overall story direction has not been changed.

Final Outcome – Periwinkle-d

Our Story

The red and blue lines represent the viewpoints of the cat and the squirrel, they have their own perspective on the world, which is the scene that they saw when they put their glasses on. The cat likes space and the sea, while the squirrel loves nature and the city. In fact, this also represents that everyone has different preferences and views, and although we all live in the same world, we are concerned about different things. In the subsequent story, they collided together and found that each other’s ideas and their own do not match. In order to defend their own ideas, to prove that they are right, they fought. However after a rapprochement, that is, after the breaking of glasses in our animation, their worlds merged together again. This also shows that their point of view has changed, but also accepted each other’s ideas. Therefore we emphasize the difference in the scene at the end with the color purple. They were both surprised, but both accepted each other and chose to see this new world together. We left a space at the end of the story so that the audience could imagine the rest of the plot.

Moral Behind Our Story

From this story, we wanted to show the audience that everyone’s point of view is worth listening to and respecting. As your worldview is gradually opened up through experience and exposure, you will find new and perhaps more surprising things that might change your life.

Overall Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed the project and I was lucky to be teamed up with Amber, who is a very responsible and talented team member. Through this project, I learned how to narrow down the topic to a specific theme that we want to do. I am also delighted to have completed this project, and for myself, it successfully conveyed what we wanted to say. Perhaps the downside is that if we had more time, we could have made the story clearer. For example, the part in the middle that shows the viewpoints of the two characters, I think that part goes by too fast and it’s a little hard to see the details that we have drawn on the two views. The current version, if it’s a first-time viewer, might not get the message we’re trying to convey, and that’s something we need to reflect on and change.