CheHsin's animation Blog

Category: Uncategorised

Categories
Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language Uncategorised

Week5-Template for research proposal: Critical Report

1.Research Objective and Question

《Beyond Words: Visual Metaphor and Empathy in Animal-Centred Animation》

How can visual metaphors in short animation communicate animal vulnerability and encourage audience empathy? To explore how character design, symbolic objects and visual transformations can communicate animal vulnerability and emotional experiences without relying on dialogue or explicit representations of cruelty.

 2.Project Rationale

I am interested in exploring how animation can express complex emotions and experiences through visual storytelling. My proposed 3D animated short film follows a kitten that enters an imaginary afterlife and meets its favourite old toy, which is revealed to be a god-like being. Through the toy, the audience gradually discovers the kitten’s painful past.

Rather than directly representing animal cruelty, I want to explore how symbolic imagery can communicate suffering, vulnerability and emotional recovery. For example, the damaged toy could represent the kitten’s experiences, while changes in colour and light could symbolise transformation and healing.

This research will investigate how visual metaphors, character design and non-verbal performance can encourage empathy towards animal characters. I also want to consider whether highly symbolic storytelling can communicate serious themes clearly without relying on disturbing imagery.

Through academic research, film analysis and storyboard experiments, I hope to develop a visual language that is emotionally powerful while remaining sensitive to the subject matter.

3.Keywords and keyword phrases used for research

-Visual metaphor

-Visual symbolism

-Animal representation

-Narrative empathy

-Non-verbal storytelling

-Emotional storytelling in animation

4.Situate your proposal in relation to key texts, issues and debates.

Hannibal (2017) explores how visual metaphors in animation can communicate abstract and subjective experiences. This is relevant to my project because I want to represent the kitten’s past through a damaged toy and symbolic transformations rather than direct representations of cruelty.

Wells (2009) examines how animals are represented in animation and how anthropomorphic characters can communicate wider social and cultural ideas. His research offers a useful perspective on using animal characters to explore human responsibility and ethical questions.

Keen (2007) develops the concept of narrative empathy, while questioning whether emotional responses to fiction necessarily lead to altruistic behaviour. Although her research focuses on literature, it provides a theoretical starting point for examining the relationship between storytelling and audience empathy.

These sources raise an important question: can symbolic storytelling help audiences understand animal suffering, or can highly stylised representations create emotional distance?

My research will examine how visual metaphors, character performance and symbolic transformations can balance emotional impact with narrative clarity.

5.Identify any materials or data that will be examined

I plan to examine the following animated films and visual materials to explore how animation uses symbolism and character performance to communicate emotions.

1. Kitbull (2019), directed by Rosana Sullivan

I will analyse how the film uses animal body language, character movement and facial expressions to create an emotional connection with the audience without relying on dialogue.

2. Ryan (2004), directed by Chris Landreth

I will examine how the film uses unusual character design and visual metaphors to represent emotional and psychological experiences.

3. Visual symbolism in animation

I will examine examples of symbolic objects, lighting and colour transformations in animation to understand how abstract imagery can communicate emotional experiences.

4. My own character designs and storyboard experiments

I will develop visual experiments based on my story, including the damaged toy, symbolic memory sequences and the transformation of dark energy into golden light. These experiments will help me explore how to represent the kitten’s experiences through visual metaphors rather than explicit imagery.

6.Bibliography

Hannibal, C. (2017) ‘Subjective perspective as creative metaphor in the animated film’, Mediaesthetics – Journal of Poetics of Audiovisual Images, (2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.17169/mae.2017.63.

Keen, S. (2007) Empathy and the Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175769.001.0001.

Wells, P. (2009) The Animated Bestiary: Animals, Cartoons, and Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Landreth, C. (2004) Ryan [Film]. Canada: National Film Board of Canada.

Sullivan, R. (2019) Kitbull [Film]. USA: Pixar Animation Studios.

Categories
Uncategorised Unreal Engine

Week4-Final Project Proposal

1. Period Thief

Core Theme: Women’s Issues
Story Concept:
An alien from a lifeless planet dreams of creating life. Believing that menstruation holds the key to the mystery of life, it travels to Earth in a spaceship to investigate the secrets of menstruation and discover how it works.
Intended Message:
Through a humorous and playful storyline, the animation explores the physical discomfort women experience during menstruation and the significance of menstruation in their lives.
Visual Direction:
Surreal science fiction with a humorous and unconventional perspective, exploring the physical experiences and social challenges women face in relation to menstruation.

2. Core Theme: Animal Abuse and the Dignity of Life

Story Concept:
A stray kitten with physical disabilities walks through a door and enters a room where the Grim Reaper resides. Upon discovering that the kitten has lost its eyes and feet, the Grim Reaper decides to punish those who abuse animals by giving the kitten the abuser’s hands and eyes.
Intended Message:
Humans often assume they have the power and right to control other forms of life, sometimes taking animal lives without a second thought. This project explores the idea that those who treat other living beings as if they have no value may themselves be subjected to the same arbitrary power by beings from a higher dimension.

3.Bird-Window Collisions

Core Theme: The Impact of Human Development on Birds’ Natural Habitats
Story Concept:
A bird is happily flying across the city alongside another bird. Suddenly, it collides with an invisible glass window. After shaking its head, it attempts to continue flying, only to discover that it has transformed into a spirit. Looking down, it sees numerous other birds lying on the ground, all having suffered the same fate.
Intended Message:
As humans build cities and pursue convenience and aesthetic beauty, should they also take responsibility for the environmental consequences their actions have on other living beings? If harm is caused without malicious intent, does that mean it should be overlooked?

Categories
Maya Uncategorised

Week4-Acting in Animation

Key Learning Points

This lesson explored how to create believable character performances in animation. Animation is a medium rather than a genre, and almost any object can be brought to life through creativity and convincing acting. As Stella Adler’s quote suggests, “Acting is reacting.”

Key Elements of Believable Performance

Objective and Motivation: Characters need clear goals and reasons for their actions. Animators should understand what a character wants, what is stopping them, and why they move.

Personality: Every movement should reflect the character’s personality and their relationship with the situation. For example, a shy character might hesitate before speaking, while a proud character might straighten their posture before acting.

Thought Process: Characters should appear to think before they move. Small pauses, eye movements and subtle changes in posture can reveal their inner thoughts and make their actions feel more natural.

Developing a Performance

Character performance is built from the inside out. A character’s backstory, personality, habits and relationships shape their needs and desires, which then lead to actions in a specific situation. These internal motivations are translated into physical movements and poses.

Good pose design requires clarity, interesting timing, effective staging and simplicity.

Practical Animation Techniques

Before animating, it is important to develop the character, create thumbnails for shot planning and consider the arcs of movement. Filming video references and using Blocking Plus, which adds details to the basic blocking, can also help improve the performance.

Reflection

This lecture gave me a deeper understanding of character performance in animation. In the past, I often focused more on smooth movement and physical principles. However, I learned that a character’s thought process is what truly brings them to life. Without a pause or a subtle eye movement that suggests thinking, an action can feel mechanical rather than believable.

The concept of “acting is reacting” was particularly inspiring. I realised that even a simple geometric object without facial features can express convincing weight and personality when it has a clear objective and reacts to its surroundings.

Complex dialogue and visual effects are not always necessary. Pure body language, even in the form of mime, can communicate rich emotions and tell a story.

In my future animation practice, I will pay more attention to a character’s backstory and psychological state before creating keyframes. I want to make pose design a natural expression of the character’s thoughts and emotions, rather than focusing only on the movement itself.

Assignment

Bouncing ball blocking

Golden pose

1.Happy pose

2. Angry pose

3. Fear pose

Categories
Uncategorised Unreal Engine

Week3-Translating Film into Unreal Engine

During the session, I learned how to animate objects in UE by changing their positions over time and using Auto Key to automatically create keyframes. This helped me understand how keyframes control movement and how animation can be created directly within Sequencer.

I also learned how to create and position a camera, adjust its settings and control its movement within the scene. By using a Camera Rig Crane, I explored how to adjust parameters such as Pitch, Yaw and Arm Length to create different camera angles and movements.

1. From Traditional Filmmaking to Virtual Production

This workshop explored how traditional filmmaking concepts can be translated into Unreal Engine (UE). By comparing physical film sets with digital environments, I learned how familiar film production processes can be applied to virtual production.

In UE, a project corresponds to a filming location, a level represents a stage, and sub-levels organise different sets within an environment. Props and actors are represented by Static Mesh and Skeletal Mesh Actors, while lighting, cameras and visual effects are managed through digital tools such as Components, Blueprints, Control Rigs and Niagara.

2. Translating Film Structure into Sequencer

Traditional film structures, from the overall film to individual shots, can be organised in UE using nested Level Sequences. A Master Level Sequence controls the overall film, while individual Shot Level Sequences manage specific shots.

This structure helps organise complex scenes and makes it easier to manage camera movements, timing and editing within a virtual production workflow.

3. Different Filmmaking Workflows

The workshop introduced several ways to translate traditional filming techniques into UE:

  • Master Scene Technique: A linear workflow that uses a master sequence, multiple cameras and an editing track to organise a scene.
  • Triple Take Technique: A non-linear workflow that uses nested sequences and the Take system to manage repeated performances and overlapping actions.
  • Collaborative Workflow: Sub-levels, sub-scene tracks and visibility tracks allow multiple artists to work on different elements of the same project.

These approaches demonstrate how UE can support both traditional filmmaking methods and collaborative digital production.

4. Understanding Sequencer

Sequencer is UE’s built-in cinematic sequencing tool. It can be used for pre-visualisation, creating individual shots, producing complete cinematic sequences and developing game cutscenes.

It allows artists to combine animation, camera movement, timing and editing within a single digital environment.

Categories
Maya Uncategorised

Week 1 – Golden Pose & Posing Principles

What I Learned – How to make pose more attractive

In this week’s 3D Computer Animation Fundamentals class, we explored the idea of the “Golden Pose” and how posing can make a character feel more dynamic, expressive and believable.

We looked at several principles of effective posing, including clear silhouette, line of action, balance and weight, asymmetry, exaggeration, emotion and personality.

1.Clear Silhouette

If a character’s silhouette is unclear, the pose often becomes less engaging and harder to read. When creating a pose, it is important to make the action recognisable from the character’s silhouette alone.

2.Line of Action

The professor explained that a line of action does not need to be complicated to make a character’s pose feel more dynamic and expressive. Simple shapes, such as C, S, and V shapes, can already create a strong sense of movement and make the pose more visually interesting.

3.Balance & Weight

A character’s centre of gravity should generally remain balanced to make the pose feel stable and believable. However, intentionally creating imbalance can also be used to suggest the direction of movement and make the pose feel more dynamic.

4.Asymmetry

Avoid making both sides of the pose completely symmetrical, as asymmetry can make the pose feel more natural and visually interesting.

5.Emotion

Exaggerated poses can help the audience understand the character’s emotions more clearly and make the expression more engaging.

Finding References

Below are some animated movies I like that I found, which I can use as a reference for my studies.

Up (2009) — Pete Docter, Pixar Animation Studios.
WALL-E (2008) — Andrew Stanton, Pixar Animation Studios.
Spirited Away (2001) — Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli.

Challenge

1. Hero Pose

Reference:

Pose screenshot & 360 degree camera:

2. Standing Pose

Reference:

Pose screenshot:

3.Happy Pose

Reference:

Pose screenshot:

Self Study

1.12 Principles of Animation

The 12 Principles of Animation introduce a set of fundamental guidelines for creating animation. Straight Ahead vs. Pose to Pose, Arcs, and Timing were concepts that I had less experience with before. In my future work, I can consciously apply these principles and put them into practice.

2.Maya workflow

Learned how to set up a camera in Maya, rotate the character rig, create a 360-degree character turntable, and export the animation as a video.