Digital Photography & Imaging - Final Project - Self Titled
1/12/2023 - 5/1/2024 (Week 10 - Week 14 )
Ho Winnie / 0364866
Digital Photography & Imaging / Bachelor's of Design Honors In Creative Media
Final Project - Self Titled
INSTRUCTIONS
1.Lectures
3. Final Project : Self Titled
Week 10 Lecture Summary :
Mr Martin introduced to us how to do video timeline animation in
Photoshop and content aware fill feature. He started off by showing us how
to do it using an image of a guy surfing than using the transform tool in
the video timeline , we created several transform points to animate small
movements of him. After that, we were tasked to do 3 more animation
practice on our own.
He also looked through our final idea project moodboard and advised us on
how to improve our idea.
Week 11 Lecture Summary :
Mr Martin introduced to us how to use Adobe After Effects to create
animated videos, we were introduced on tools like position free transform,
blur effect motion and 3D view. We started off with a tutorial video on
creating animated composition video by following Mr Martin's steps and
tasked to work on our own animation video afterwards.
Week 12 Lecture Summary :
Mr Martin introduced to us how to do 2.5D parallex animation with his given slides and tutorials. We were instructed to come up with a semi-3D animation using smoke effect.
Week 10 Practicals :
We worked with Photoshop video timeline mainly for this week, we did
several animations which includes " Boy surfing " , " Girl floating into the
sky " and "Girl on grass field " and "Yoga Exercise " . I recorded below on
the process of how i did each of them.
A ) Boy Surfing
We were given an image of a boy surfing on the tides and our main point is
to make him move agaisnt the tide. Here are the steps taken to complete this
animation :
1) Select the boy using quick selection tool and make a layer via
copy
2) Use the content aware fill to fill in the background . use stamping tool
if needed to clean up the background
3) Make the background layer and the cropped out boy layer into smart
layers before going into the video timeline animation
4) Using transform feature, make main movements of the boy becoming smaller
and the current going anti clockwise to the boy
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| Fig 2.1 Surfing Boy Image Given , Week 10 (12/1/2023 ) |
B ) Girl floating in the sky
We were given an image of a girl who is floating midway in the air and
our main point is to make her move up the sky . Here are the steps taken
to complete this animation :
1) Select the girl using quick selection tool and make a layer via
copy
2) Use the content aware fill to fill in the background . use stamping
tool if needed to clean up the background
3) Make the background layer and the cropped out boy layer into smart
layers before going into the video timeline animation
4) Using transform feature, make main movements of the girl becoming
smaller and floating up into the sky
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Fig 2.2 Floating Girl Image Given , Week 10 ( 12/1/2023 ) My Take on Animation |
C ) Girl on the grass field
We were given an image of a girl who looks like she is running across
the grass field and our main point is to make her move forward and split
this image into background foreground and midground . Here are the steps
taken to complete this animation :
1) Select the girl using quick selection tool and make a layer via copy
, name this layer midground
2) Use the content aware fill to fill in the background . use stamping
tool if needed to clean up the background , name this layer
background
3) Select the grass field using quick selection tool and make a layer
via copy , name this layer foreground
4) After separating clearly the foreground midground and background, make
all of them smart layers
5) Use the video timeline and the transform tool to make the key movements
inside
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| Fig 2.3 Girl on Grass Field Image Given , Week 10 ( 12/1/2023 ) |
My Take on Animation
We were given an image of a girl who is doing yoga and our main point
is to make her move slightly and realistically . Here are the steps
taken to complete this animation :
1) Select the girl using quick selection tool and make a layer via
copy
2) Use the content aware fill to fill in the background . use stamping
tool if needed to clean up the background
3) Make the background layer and the cropped out boy layer into smart
layers before going into the video timeline animation
4) Using transform feature, make main movements of the girl becoming
smaller and floating up into the sky
5) To make realistic movements of the girl, use the puppet warp tool and
anchor some main points which are her joints. Adjust the anchor points to
do realistic movement
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| Fig 2.4 Yoga Girl Image Given , Week 10 (12/1/2023 ) |
My Take on Animation
Week 11 Practicals :
We worked with Adobe After Effects to create animated videos, we
created a total of 2 animated videos - first being a composition
animation and second being a flower girl face animation.
A) Composition Animation
We were given a few vectors to create position animation effects and to
make it the positions of the different vectors look interesting and set
the animation at 5 seconds. Here are the steps I took :
1) I started off with the video flimmaker vector as the background and
created a total of 4 main anchor points- when it dropped down vertically
and bounced back up.
2) Next, i worked with the shark vector and created a total of 4 anchor
points - it will enter from the left and move to the middle
3) Next , i worked with the typesetter vector and created a total of 5
anchor points- it will enter from the bottom and bounced back
up
4) Lastly, i worked with the fencer and created a total of 6 anchor
points- it will move from left to right than right to left than back to
the middle
Fig 2.5 Composition Animation , Week 12 (12/7/2023)
B) Flower face girl animation
Mr Martin let us work with this animation freestyle as there were no
main expectations set, the main point was just to have fun and
familarise with After Effects, here are the steps i took to complete
this animation.
1) I used the cut out face vector and created 2 anchor points - making
it detach from the face and moving to the left.
2) Secondly, i worked with the main bushes and created 3 anchor points-
making them fly in from the right side.
3) Thirdly, i worked with the minor bushes and created 2 anchor points
- making them fly in from right to left as well
4) Lastly, i added in butterflies and created 2 anchor points for each
butterfly - making them fly in from right to left
Fig 2.6 Flower face girl animation , Week 11 (12/7/2023)
Week 12 Practicals :
Following the slides Mr Martin provided us, I came up with a 2.5D parallex animation and learnt about the camera and 3d view effect in Adobe After Effects
Fig 2.7 Parallex Animation , Week 12 (12/15/2023)
3. Final Project : Self Titled
3.1 Research & Moodboard
To start off with my ideation, I created a small biography about myself and
the type of work I will want to come up with to get a better understanding
about my art direction and art concept.
Next, I went online to Pinterest to search for mood boards that fits my art
style for me to get a better direction and also an idea on how I would
create my final work. I mainly researched on how I would create my duo
personality character.
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| Fig 3.1.1 Moodboard Reference #1 , Week 12 ( 17/12/2023) |
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| Fig 3.1.2 Moodboard Reference #2 , Week 12 ( 17/12/2023) |
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| Fig 3.1.3 Moodboard Reference #3 , Week 12 ( 17/12/2023) |
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| Fig 3.1.4 Moodboard Reference #4 , Week 12 ( 17/12/2023) |
3.2 Sketching of Drafts
After getting a direction on how I would compose my work, I proceeded on to
the sketching process and came up with two layouts that might work for my project.
Layout 1 :
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| Fig 3.2.1 Draft sketch 1 , Week 13 (20/12/2023) |
Layout 2 :
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| Fig 3.2.2 Draft sketch 2 , Week 13 (20/12/2023) |
I came up with two pencil sketches with a rough layout and different compositions. After feedback sessions with Mr Martin, I decided to go with the first layout.
Elements in my composition that I want to include :
For my poster, I intend to bring out the feeling of a duo personality
existing alongside me at night as the other part of me enjoys gaming and
falling into my own universe. To bring out the effect of my duo personality,
allow me to explain some main factors contributing to the final layout
1) Japanese Style fan - the incorporation of a Japanese-style fan in the poster can serve as a symbolic and aesthetic tool to visually articulate the coexistence of my contrasting personas, offering a captivating and artistic representation of my multifaceted identity. It aligns with my art style as I will be doing cherry blossoms design onto it.
2) Red moon with shrine design - it signifies that when night reaches,the other personality of me arises together and red is a strong color that resembles energy, passion and intensity. Hence, it represents the vibrant, active part of me when I am immersed in my gaming world and own universe.
3) Fox tail - the concept of the fox tail stems from my game character ,a nine tail fox. This element brings out the elements of gaming and also representing the fox universe as a whole.
4) The duo personality - I would be using a game styled version of me coupled with a fox head instead of my normal head, strengthening the idea of a fox universe. I would be wearing a japanese style mask as well to match closer to a japanese art style
5) Color scheme - the whole poster would be in a red and pink hue as these are the main colors in my gaming character, doubled up with a dark background.
3.21 Ideation
When coming to Japanese style poster, I did research on the core elements i
mentioned above such as the fan and the mask. As both elements stem from japan artstyle, it matches with the idea of my final work well. I realised that the usage of flowers and an intricated design style of the mask can greatly help to bring out the effect
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| Fig 3.21.1 Japanese Fan Reference , Week 13 (20/12/2023) |
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| Fig 3.21.2 Japanese Mask Reference , Week 13 (20/12/2023) |
I booked the studio to take the pictures of my final project with the help
of my friends. It was very interesting to be playing with the lights to
ensure that they shine in the right direction. Below is the final picture i
decided to use for my poster design
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| Fig 3.22.1 My Photo Taken In Studio , Week 13 (20/12/2023) |
3.3 Digitalisation of work :
To start off, i decided to create a new font for this project as the one i did in my typography class does not match the style I wanted as the strokes goes from thin to thick. But for this work, i envisioned it to have a more consistent stroke. I plan to create both a Kanji style word and an English style font.
3.31 Digitalisation of Typography in Illustrator :
Research on Typography :
I looked into how Kanji words can be designed online and it can be concluded that thicker strokes are generally used inside. Kanji words in Japan are highly similar to Chinese characters as well. It looks very handwritten like with hints of brush strokes in it.
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| Fig 3.31.1 Kanji type exploration , Week 13 ( 22/12/2023 ) |
Final Kanji Style :
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| Fig 3.31.2 Final Kanji style font designed , Week 13 (22/12/2023) |
Final English Style :
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| Fig 3.31.3 Final English Font designed , Week 13 (22/12/2023) |
I decided to go with a thicker stroke as it fits better in my poster compared to the original font I did.
3.32 Vector Creation in Illustrator :
I created some of my vectors and elements in Adobe Illustrator and i
documented my process below. I created the fan, the mask and the tail inside
.
3.33 Vector Creation and Layer Adjustments in Photoshop :
I created the duo personality me, the red rising moon and light in
Adobe Photoshop and included the elements i created in Illustrator inside.
Below is the documented process of my work in Adobe Photoshop .
Final Digitalised Poster (JPG) :
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| Fig 3.33.1 Final JPG Self Titled , Week 14 (12/25/2023) |
Final Digitalised Poster (PDF) :
3.4 Animation
For the last part of the project, we were tasked to animate our poster and
the duration should be 15 seconds. I imported my design into Adobe After
Effects and I decide to animate my duo personality character colliding with
my original character back to back. Below documents my animation
process
3.5 Audio Editing
I decided to add audios to my animation to elevate the effect, the audio i chose to input is a Japanese Koto sound and I managed to search the audio online for free. I further edited the audio using the stereo mixer effect in After Effects
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| Fig 3.5 Audio Edit using stereo mixer , Week 14 (12/28/2023) |
Title - Converging Shadows : A Nocturnal Tapestry Of Dual Identities
My poster embodies the nocturnal convergence of contrasting personas within me. A Japanese fan, adorned with cherry blossoms, symbolizes the harmony and discord of my multifaceted identity. The red moon and shrine signify my vibrant gaming alter ego, while the fox tail represents my connection to a digital universe.
Central to the piece is a hybrid game character portrayal of myself merged with a fox head, wearing a traditional Japanese mask, bridging human and fantastical worlds. The red and pink hues echo my gaming character against a dark backdrop, inviting viewers into a world where my dual personas coexist, blending artistry, gaming, and the allure of the night.
Link to video : https://youtube.com/shorts/jaDLSCVikBI?feature=share
4. Feedback
Week 12 : Composition is quite good, but try to add an element that connects both the duo character and you, and emphasize abit more on typography
Week 13 : Final layout is good, proceed to animation
5. Reflection
This project is one of the hardest to complete as we integrated the 3 different modules into 1 final artwork. However, throughout this project, even though I took some time especially in the animation part - to ensure that the elements flow in smoothly.
I understood more about myself as it wasn't an easy task to express myself in an artwork and through feedback sessions and lots of ideation , I managed to piece together a final work that I am very satisfied with.
It was a fun process creating the vectors and elements in both Photoshop and Illustrator as I managed to apply the skills learnt in the two modules. I realised the importance of making sure all elements come together and how compositions affect the outlook of an artwork, it was a fruitful experience getting to create an artwork that expresses myself.
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