So, we decided to abandon the first design because we felt it didn’t effectively showcase the environment’s charm. Instead, we shifted our focus to highlighting the connection between the doll and its surroundings.

In future designs, I’ll consider adding more metaphors in the composition or using subtle details to make the story sequence less direct. I can maintain the sense of mystery while leaving more room for the audience’s imagination.

This setting allows each team member to create characters with different shapes without making the environment feel inconsistent. However, it requires us to produce more props, like doll and other toys, to fill out the environment, which adds to the works. Therefore, we intend to carry over some parts of this design into the next concept.

Finally, we chose the theme of picnic to make stop-motion animation. Based on the first two ideas, the modern cabin environment was not suitable for making animation scenes, and the second Toy Story was very difficult for us to make and required a lot of toys to fill the whole environment, so we chose the theme of picnic

In the next drawing, I will keep checking the color harmony and adjust small details to make sure the final result shows the atmosphere we want.

I sketched the environment. A big problem in this environment was that I didn't have props around the whole environment. In order to make the environment more interesting, I chose to redraw the scene and add more small items such as food and some useful tools such as boats

1. Theme: I chose a “cute” theme to make the doll fit well with the picnic setting.

2. Reference: By looking at cute-style dolls, I got ideas for body proportions and materials.

3. Color Scheme: I tried cool colors first, but warm colors worked better to make the doll stand out in a green environment. So, I decided to use warm colors for stronger visual impact.

4. Making: I added felt to the hat design, and I kept the clothing design simple to make it easier to create.

We already have some ideas for the materials. For example, we plan to use artificial grass for the ground, blue fabric or plastic to create water ripples, and layers of wood blocks or clay to make the texture of the tree trunks. This should help add detail and realism to the scene.

•Story 2: During an exam, a sparrow accidentally flew into the classroom, was knocked unconscious and was rescued by the students, and flew away freely after the exam, leaving a deep impression on the classmates.

•Story 3: A little girl spotted a hungry little stray dog on her way home and lured it home with food, and successfully persuaded his father to adopt and named it ‘Little Black’ .

For my character, I chose a hat, vest, and shorts. This style makes the puppet more lively and fits the relaxed picnic atmosphere. This choice of clothes also helps keep the design simple and suitable for the theme.

In the future, I will keep improving the composition to make each element work well together, making the whole scene look better.

This production made me realize the importance of material selection, especially the need to be more careful in the use of tools and adhesives to avoid wasting resources and time.

This statement is more fluid and highlights the point of solving the problem

REFLECTION

This SET was too complex and required more sets than we could produce, so we dropped the idea and moved on to the next one.

This time, I learned from my experience and made sure that the puppets were in a stable state and that they didn't tip over again. In addition, I found many problems through the film. For example, during the first part of the shooting, the puppet wiggled too often, which made the animation look less natural. Aware of this problem, I reduced the frequency of the puppet movement in the second half, so I think the latter two parts are significantly better than the first part. In the next creation, I plan to add more storyboards to optimize the narrative structure of the animation, and combine it with post-production software such as AE for further processing to improve the overall quality and viewing experience of the film.

Based on the content of the course, I tried to make puppet, with different thicknesses of wire, and began to think about how to make the structure of the puppet stable and flexible.

For the lip animation, I wanted to make sure that it was in sync with the audio. I tried using software tools to speed up the production and editing of lip animations, which improved efficiency and improved the accuracy of audio synchronization.

Teamwork Together, we set up the environmental framework in the Cook Building, and I was responsible for coordinating the overall layout and installation.

FEEDBACK

We found some mistakes.

We used the wrong hole punch when we punched the hole, and the thickness and size of the nails we used were inconsistent, which caused the nails to be not tightly connected. At the same time, we used an unsuitable glue (wood glue), which resulted in the two boards being glued together and not being able to be disassembled, and needing to be reworked.

We solved some of the problems through division of labor and flexible adjustments, and at the same time learned the importance of dealing with details.

I tried materials to make the head of the puppet, such as wool, but I found that the surface of the wood was flatter, which was conducive to the gluing of the mouth shape, so I finally chose wood as the head.

I initially completed the overall frame of the puppet, but in the feedback I noticed that the scale of the head was quite different from the concept art, so I resized the head and mounted it to the frame. New make the puppet more with the character concept design as a whole.

In the production of clothes, a number of problems were found:

 The glue adhesive clothing seam is not strong enough, which affects the wearing, taking off and adjustment of clothes.

 The cloth selected is easy to absorb dust and make the white cloth polluted.

 In the future, I plan to change the material and consider remaking a new garment with traditional sewing.

Teamwork

In this week, our team optimized the process of creating the environmental frame: we chose a set structure surrounded by three sides, avoiding the use of glue and installing it with the same type of nails.

The gap of the nail is filled with filler material to ensure that the surface of the frame is flat and easy to paint and follow-up.

My contributions include cutting wooden strips, installing screws, and assisting the team with frame splicing.

This week we used white paint to color our background.

In the team project, I was mainly responsible for the production of two background trees. I first tried to shape the trunk step by step by stacking wooden blocks, but through feedback I found that this method was laborious and difficult to precisely control the direction of the branches.

I chose to optimize the production method, and based on the feedback, I switched to foam material to make the trunk. This material has the following advantages:

       1 Easy to cut: The shape of branches and trunks can be flexibly adjusted.

       2. Light weight: convenient for the installation and movement of the background.

I managed to make the initial branches of two large trees using foam, and then I used some materials to add dimension and natural detail to the scene.

Puppet Making:

This week I reworked the puppet's head, replacing the original yellow wood with a whiter wood to match the environment.

When it comes to hair selection, I use wool felt for shaping, which has the advantage of being easy to shape and has a texture that is close to the real hair effect.

Body :

I used wool felt combined with glue to wrap the material layer by layer onto the skeleton to make limbs, and I referred to and learned how our team members made it.

Pants making: Glue is used to secure the fabric.

Hat Design:

I put a lot of time and thought into making hats. When I first tried it, I planned to make it from fabric, but it was not easy to fix and difficult to keep flat, I eventually switched to wool felt instead.

In the end, I made two hat designs:

First try to make a more ordinary hat to see if the wool felt is suitable for formal hat making.

After that, it is designed in strict accordance with the concept drawing, and the overall effect is closer to the expected effect.

Continuing to finish the background tree this week, I found that DAS clay is very suitable for use as a sculptural material, so I purchased this easy-to-use clay material.

DAS clay:

       1. It can be bonded to the surface of the foam with water, and it is very convenient to shape.

       2. After air drying, the effect is sturdy, and it is suitable as a detailed part of the trunk and branches.

Instead of simply making the trunk into a cylinder, I made multiple slender clay cylinders and coiled them around the main trunk to create a more natural texture and structure, which is still a bit different from the real tree, but this method makes the final result more natural to the natural form.

Tree branch making:

I devised two ways to make the branch part, and improved the efficiency after comparison:

       Method 1: the wire into the formed clay trunk, wait for the clay to dry completely, and then cover the wire with clay to shape the branches. The disadvantage of this production is that it takes a long time overall, and you need to wait for the clay to dry before you can continue to work.

       Method 2: Make the overall structure with iron wire in advance, then shape the branch, make the branch and the trunk separately, and then insert it into the trunk after the branch is air-dried.

In fact, using the second method to make a second tree was significantly more efficient and the completion time was significantly shortened.

In the future, I plan to paint the trunk and branches, possibly using watercolour or acrylic paints, and further enhance the tree pattern to accentuate the natural sense of the tree.

For the leaves, I use green yarn balls as the leaf material, which has a natural texture and is easy to match with different shades. I chose a variety of green yarns to add depth to the foliage.

Swing making, I initially tried to make ropes for swings out of wool, but found that the material was susceptible to external influences, such as shaking, instability. Finally, after feedback, I switched to using wire as a swing support, which has higher stability and plasticity, and further improves the realism and practicality of the scene.

Tree branch coloring and color scheme, acrylic was used in the making of the branches, I painted the branches with a brown background, and then added green, red, yellow and blue layers, in fact, I realized that in real life drawing and electronically drawing the trunk is very different, their coloring logic is completely different. In the end, I decided to use brown as a base color, with green and white as accents. Green represents the leaves, and white is the texture of mushrooms, making the whole more vivid.

Teamwork:

I was mainly responsible for setting up the environment, working with the team to complete the grass and creek sections, and adjust the visuals.

At the same time, I helped the group make some food models and food baskets, sanded them with sandpaper, and adjusted the color scheme for them. Although I was not directly involved in the production of the sky, I was helping the team to find suitable materials and methods to help the team successfully complete the background design.

puppet clothes making:

I decided that the way the clothes were sewn was too difficult to control, so I switched to glue for the garments. This time I use less glue to ensure that the garment adheres to the surface of the doll's skin both firmly and without compromising the look.

Reflection: With the glue under control, I avoid spillage or material deformation due to over-bonding.

Background tree stability issue, I found that the background tree lacks stability in my tests, and the tree can fall down with just a nudge of the trunk. In the end, I will make holes in the grass floor, insert the trunk into the bottom plate, and fix it with glue to enhance the stability. After fixing, the stability of the tree has improved, and it has met the needs of shooting.

Scene items are fixed

TEAMWORK:

 In group work, I am mainly responsible for sticking all the objects in the scene (such as grass, streams, etc.) firmly in the designated places, and I will use the right amount of glue to ensure the bonding effect, while avoiding the appearance of marks caused by excessive use. This fixation method ensures that the scene will not move due to accidental touches during shooting, improving stability and shooting efficiency.

Preparation for the shoot:

I'm mainly responsible for recording and organizing the camera's data, including key parameters such as focal length, sharpness, aperture settings, and more.

I'll record the adjusted parameters into the team's discussion group so that I can replicate the same effect in future shoots. And after each camera adjustment, a picture is taken, which provides a clear guide for subsequent shooting.

Ambient lighting and mood adjustments:

We initially tried to illuminate the scene with a single light source, but it didn't work well and didn't capture the light and shadow in the forest. We used feedback to adjust the light source, using multi-position light to simulate the light perception of the forest, and adjusting the color temperature to accentuate the depth and atmosphere of the scene. In the end, we decided to shoot in warm colors (orange and yellow) to enhance the texture of the animation and at the same time work well with the background and characters.

Next Steps:

To further optimize the performance of the lights in animated dynamic scenes, try to start shooting. Ensure that the shooting equipment can adapt to the needs of different lenses and form efficient work.