Blog of Ziyi Jiang by Ziyi Jiang

The trailer storyboard

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 16:16:13 UTC

The first animation is inspired by a sudden idea at the park behind the University. It is not very clear-cut and tells the story of MU, who overcomes darkness. The second one is a stop-motion animation that I had planned before coming to Teesside University. Due to limited skills, I was unable to complete it as a full animation and only had some basic settings and ideas. This is likely to be a long and challenging process.

Character draft

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A simple sketch

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Testing colors on the procreate

Be familiar with the mechanical equipment in the cooking building.

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（Photographer: Eri

Simple practice results:

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I followed the tutors to do some basic exercises to get familiar with various machines

Learn to draw puppet sketches and the general process.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 19:26:27 UTC

The puppet is supported by wood and wire. The wire connects the limbs, and the wood serves as the upper and lower body parts. The wire is soft and convenient for posing the movements.

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Handle character details

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 20:00:53 UTC

I'm not quite satisfied. I plan to make a few more attempts for comparison. I feel that the mother character doesn't seem like a kind and instructive figure as expected. It's a bit like a housekeeper in China.

Go to the museum to collect inspiration.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 20:06:48 UTC

The Dorman Museum, located behind Teesside University, has historical artifacts. As expected, there are many porcelain pieces and patterns related to flowers in the museum.

Try the character again.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 20:11:52 UTC

It looks even more uncomfortable now 😭

again and again

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 20:13:05 UTC

In class

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Start making puppets according to the characters. Cut the soft wood with a saw, smooth it with sandpaper, and make holes in the wood with a knife to insert wire... Connect it with yellow glue called "UHU".

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 20:38:05 UTC

Took a hot sec but finally got it done! 🕒✨

Loser Number One

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:14:47 UTC

This attempt was mainly to test the materials. Although it failed, I got a rough idea of some materials in the material room. When I made the puppet, I chose the materials completely based on my feeling and the first impression of the materials. According to Aaure's explanation, first, the sponge used for the body was wrong. This material is used for setting rather than for puppets. Secondly, the clay should have been milliput, but I used white polymer clay instead. Also, the glue HUH was not strong enough and super glue should have been used. The aluminum wire for the hands should not be the same as that for the limbs. I think this experiment was meaningful

Improve the previous draft.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:16:57 UTC

I participated in a nude sketching event.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:26:12 UTC

It's a very interesting activity. Participating with friends, quickly capturing movements at different times is very helpful for understanding the general structure of the human body.

Ten-second animation preview character completed ✅

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:39:19 UTC

Final version, the angles roughly used for the character in the preview have been drawn.

Supplementary: Additional character color tests

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:41:31 UTC

Supplementary: Additional character color tests

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:50:25 UTC

Animation character walking test draft

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:55:39 UTC

Since the character is wearing a loose skirt and the feet are not easily visible, first draw the simple bones of the lower limbs in motion.Continue to draw the skirt's swing and pleats based on the skeleton.

complete✅

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 21:57:33 UTC

Add details to the draft.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 22:06:09 UTC

I followed Neil to make a complete miniature furniture for the first time and learned a lot, especially in the handling of details. For instance, when drawing drafts on the wood board, it is necessary to leave extra space. Also, I learned about the common usage of sandpapers with different roughness for different wood treatments. Moreover, to make the door of the wooden cabinet open and close more flexibly, a bevel needs to be ground. I also gained an understanding of the complete process of making a small model.

Learning the animal running cycle

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:04:00 UTC

Completed under the guidance of Nike, Nike shared with me a video of a leopard running, analyzing the movement of the front and hind limbs of quadrupeds, the compression and extension caused to the trunk muscles, and finally successfully completing the limb movement part.

Tail modification and swinging pattern

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:04:29 UTC

Lesley pointed out the problem with the tail. I searched online for explanations: The tail of a quadruped plays a stabilizing role in their running, so there is a certain pattern to its swinging. I made further adjustments to ensure the movements were coordinated.

Re-making the puppet

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:28:42 UTC

The shape of the wooden body is refined to be less rough than the previous version, and the wooden part at the shoulder position of the upper body is drilled through this time to allow the wire to pass through.

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To better fit the designed character, wool was wound around aluminum wire instead of using milliput for wrapping.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:29:05 UTC

Use wool to poke out the head and fix the hairstyle with aluminium wire.

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The activity test was conducted this time using super glue and there was no loosening.

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Draw and cut out patterns for making clothes.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:36:56 UTC

I reviewed the four-legged animal running from last week and drew a little fox again.

acting class

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:38:05 UTC

A group photo taken during the acting class, and I performed a skit with my classmates about a person walking on the road who was suddenly strangled by a thug and nearly suffocated.

Shooting reference

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:45:56 UTC

On the third day after the acting class, I also shot a reference video of myself walking for a 10-second 2D animation. I deliberately wore a very long sweater.

To create monster characters

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:49:27 UTC

the fingers are made with thin aluminum wire. While combing the wool, use "HUH" glue to wrap and coil around the aluminum wire fingers. Since the arms are too long, Milliput is used to fix the non-joint parts.

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The fingers can move flexibly.

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:49:51 UTC

The second failure

2383203949 — 2025-05-11 23:51:42 UTC

Lesley pointed out the problems with the puppet: the small puppet was too tiny to perform large-scale movements, and the shoulder part couldn't be fixed by drilling through the wood, which was prone to wear and displacement. Also, the thick woolen clothes restricted its movement. The monster puppet's wooden body was too square and thick, and it would become even heavier after being wrapped with materials. (Oh no, I failed again.) She suggested that I continue making it with the materials shown in the picture.

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Redraw the drafts and make adjustments as suggested.

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Wave cycle

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Revise again

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:00:37 UTC

After modification, the arms are still made of wool and wire. This is because using new materials would make the joints too large and not match the original design of the animated character. Initially, I intended to remove the arms from the second version and reinstall them, but the super-strong glue was too firm to be removed, so I had no choice but to make new ones.

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The director's assignment completed this week.

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The part I participated in of the directing class

Making expression loop

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The color doesn't quite work.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:24:07 UTC

Adjust the color tone again based on the brightness

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:31:12 UTC

April is just the right time for flowers to bloom. Let's go to the park for inspiration.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:33:27 UTC

Sketching on iPad, capturing the blooming flowers 🌸✨

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:38:48 UTC

Handle the details and complete.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:39:21 UTC

Apply sketches to the scene design of the first act.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:45:02 UTC

By magnifying the flowers sketched earlier, I obtained the line drawing of the flower curtain. To make the flower curtain more vivid, I redrew each frame with lines to create a natural trembling effect, avoiding the flat, sliding appearance of a slide show.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:46:12 UTC

In search of a reference for the eyes of the second act, it was ultimately decided to adopt the eye design of the Chinese cloth tiger.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:47:44 UTC

The first version of the eyes was discarded because it didn't match the overall tone of the film and the color saturation was too high.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:48:51 UTC

Keep trying out colors.

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Based on the previous reference footage, convert the first act into an animation draft, design the timing, and stylize the characters.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:56:49 UTC

Act Three: Cave Design and Coloring

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 00:59:35 UTC

Reference for hands

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:00:48 UTC

Adjust the color saturation to make it more grayish.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:02:24 UTC

Adjusting the composition, especially the position of the flower, the third picture was finally chosen.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:03:40 UTC

Animation design of flowers

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:05:09 UTC

Eye coloring

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:05:31 UTC

Change the background color in this area to a deep blue that leans towards black to distinguish the front and back relationship between the flower curtain and the background eyes. Also, remove the white around the eyes.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:10:10 UTC

Finish applying the color for the third act.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:11:41 UTC

Act Three, Frame-by-Frame Coloring

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:18:38 UTC

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:20:48 UTC

The first scene, although it was the first to have its colors and animation sketches determined, had so many details on the characters and rich colors that it took a lot of time. It took two weeks to complete it entirely. During this process, the walking motion of the mother was modified. Previously, it was very much like marching in step.

Participate in the sketching activity at school.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 01:28:59 UTC

wave cycle reference

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 03:13:23 UTC

Birds flap their wings for movement, referring to and learning from it.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 04:02:04 UTC

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Eye animation design

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 04:43:29 UTC

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Use brightness to distinguish the foreground, middle ground and background.

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2383203949 — 2025-05-12 16:32:36 UTC

Edit a 10-second video from a total of 25 seconds of animation across three scenes using PR.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 23:40:23 UTC

In the video recorded in the park, the chirping of the birds was extracted and used as part of the background music.

2383203949 — 2025-05-12 23:47:31 UTC

Because a lot of time has been consumed and no satisfactory results have been achieved, I'll put it aside for now and focus on 2D creation next week.

Sketch of walking cycle

2383203949 — 2025-05-13 00:16:56 UTC