Information Design : Final Project

Week 2 - Week 8 : 10 Jan 2022 - 25 Feb 2022

Tan Yi Yun
0345559
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Final Project


INSTRUCTIONS

FINAL PROJECT : Sex Education 

Our final project a group work, requires us to develop a suitable visual narrative with a given script and voiceover to deliver an awareness motion graphic video about the topic Sex Education. Our target audience is the general public. 

Script Breakdown

Since we were given the script and voiceover, all we need to do at the beginning is to breakdown the script to divide the scenes. Our group chose to work on Chapter 1 - Your Body. 


Script and chapters, Week 2 (14/2/2022)

Script breakdown, Week 2 (14/2/2022)


Mood Board

We discussed about the illustration styles, typefaces, motion styles, and the 3 most challenging frames. 

Moodboard, Week 4 (28/2/2022) 

Google Slides link : 

Storyboard
We have divided the tasks so that each of us can contribute their ideas on the storyboard draft. 


After gathered the storyboard draft, I started to work on the finalised storyboard so that the drawing style can be consistent. 

Finalised storyboard, Week 5 (6/2/2022)

Mr. Martin said the traits of "adult version" of the girl is not obvious. So I made changes to it as shown in Figure 1.1. 
Figure 1.1, Revised adult version, Week 6 (10/2/2022)

Animatics

Animatics are done by Wiceline and Veyhan. I then helped to do the video compilation. 
Animatics, Week 6 (8/2/2022)

Illustration 

Yi Xuan, Wendy, Christie and I are in charge of the illustration part. Since there is no much time left, I break down the tasks into 5 parts, illustration and animation should work simultaneously. The general timeline as shown below: 

Figure 1.2, General Timeline, Week 5 (6/2/2022)

I then divided the illustrating parts among 4 illustrators, Yi Xuan, Wendy, Christie and I. To make sure we produce a consistent art style, we let Wendy to handle the character designs. I mainly do the mascot design, anatomical systems, supporting elements, background, and most importantly, making sure everyone is doing their job and submit on time. 

I have created a Google doc for me to insert the announcements, important deadlines, task distribution and things to take note of. 


Normally I sent the list to be illustrated in the group chat and let the illustrators to pick the part they can handle (as shown in Figure 1.4). 

Figure 1.3, Dividing tasks among illustrators, Week 6 (3/2/2022)

Figure 1.4, Illustrating mascot in AI, Week 5 (3/2/2022)

Figure 1.5, Reproductive systems, Week 6 (9/2/2022)

Figure 1.6, Bed illustration, Week 6 (9/2/2022)

After we have finished illustrating, we uploaded both the png file and AI file in the group's Google Drive.

Figure 1.7, Organising the folders of group's Google Drive, Week 5 (6/2/2022)

Animation

This is when the uneven task distribution happening. A missing group member from animation team left Wiceline and Veyhan working under pressure. At that moment, there is no guarantee that anyone from illustration team can help to cover that because we are rushing on our illustration parts, and then we switch our focus to our individual Project 1 and 2 of Information Design. But we did tell them to inform in the group if the animators really need help. 
 
In week 6, Mr. Martin gave feedbacks on the first part of our animation. I jotted down his feedback and sent in the group to inform the animators since they were not in class. 
Figure 1.8, Things to be fix for Veyhan's part, Week 6 (10/2/2022)

Figure 1.9, My feedback on Wiceline's part, Week 6 (11/2/2022)

Figure 2.1, Feedback on the entire animation , Week 7 (17/2/2022)

Figure 2.2, Feedback on the entire animation , Week 7 (17/2/2022)

Figure 2.3, Feedback on the entire animation , Week 7 (17/2/2022)

Unforeseen circumstances happened. Veyhan couldn't finish his part on time. There are only 2 days left before the submission. 

Figure 2.4, Emergencies, Week 8 (22/2/2022)

I looked back to the available video clips that we got so far. There are missing parts, unfix errors, unsmooth transition and mix typefaces. Seems like I don't have much options left, but to distribute the remaining parts among 3 illustrators (except Wendy because she was sick). I asked Veyhan to upload his working files and assets so that we can fix from it. 
Figure 2.5, Extra tasks, Week 8 (23/2/2022)

Figure 2.6, Extra tasks, Week 8 (23/2/2022)

Figure 2.7, Tasks assigned, Week 8 (23/2/2022)

It was a disaster. Last minute tasks are the killer of good work. We have to complete everything within the cramped timeline, and deal with the technical issues that dragged the entire progression. 

Figure 2.8, Missing files, Week 8 (23/2/2022)

Figure 2.9, Fail to render by Wiceline, Week 8 (23/2/2022)

Finally the video is compiled by me in the afternoon of 24/2 after I received everyone's clips. 

Compiled video without sound effects, Week 8 (24/2/2022)

Sound Effects and Subtitles

Yi Xuan and Christie helped to find some suitable sound effects and uploaded in Google Drive. Sound effects and subtitles are then added by Wiceline on the same day. 

Sound effects : 

After I came back from campus, the final video is then uploaded by me on YouTube. 

Final Motion Graphic
Final motion graphic - Sex Education by Group 8, Week 8 (24/2/2022)

Group's Google Drive link : 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SPfu68bndncd8Tc4rOw_y3xfinOt4BXs?usp=sharing

FEEDBACK

Week 5 ：

Storyboard consultation. Mr. Martin said the traits of the adult version can be more obvious. Overall looks okay.

Week 6 ：

Animatics consultation. Mascot can be appear first before the whiteboard appears. Take note of the transition. First part of the animation is consulted. 

Week 7 ：

80% of animation is being consulted. Pixelated issues need to be solved. Some overlapping scenes need to be fixed. Sir mentioned about inserting the 5 systems into the body. We have tried that and the scene looks awkward so we decided to switch back to the frame moving animation. 

Week 8 ：

Informed sir about the situation of the group. Subtitles can be added but not necessary. 

REFLECTION

As you can see in the process of completing this task, it was a chaos. I am aware of my group and my own weaknesses after completing this project. I realised that majority of my groupmates are lack of initiative. We tend to wait for the instructions, and this usually will drag the group's progress. During the middle of the semester, I know I have to stand out and lead my group because we were lagging behind the schedule. Unfortunately one of our members dropped the module without notifying which then disrupted the original task distribution. The imbalance task distribution then leaded to the exceeding of time to complete a certain task. The illustration team managed to finish the part within the timeline, but for animation team, it almost went off the track. Unforeseen circumstances have happened among our group members, and the decision I made was to distribute the remaining unpolished parts to other healthy illustrators. 

The major problems we have to fix is the transition of separated video clips, background, typeface and pixelated scene. During the re-animating (or the problem-fixing process), we encountered a lot of technical issues like missing files, unable to render, pixelated scenes, and desaturated colour on screens. At the end the problems solved one by one, slowly and patiently. 

The final outcome, however, is definitely not perfect. I would say we have tried our very best and pushed things to our limit, staying up late to render and re-render the problematic scenes and compiled them together before the deadline. If I have a second chance to work with my group members, I will be the one who guides and shows the way to a shared goal. Cooperation and time management will always be the most basic key to success. At the end, I would like to thank all my group members who have go through this hard journey with me.