For our simulated work experience project with 2nd grade, I was in a team with Nanxi Mo. Although we didn’t know each other before, I have benefited a lot from getting along and cooperating with each other for two weeks. I am honored to work with Nanxi. During these two weeks, I completed the character design, item design and bird design. And go through the storyboard with her and fix things that don’t make sense.

Nanxi and I are both Chinese, so we have very smooth communication. We can quickly understand what the other party wants to express, which makes our docking work clear and efficient. Nanxi has a lot of ideas about her own works, and she knows exactly what kind of animation effect she wants to make. She showed me the storyboard during the first offline meeting. She has a complete conception of key frames and story lines. It also gave me confidence in the project and inspired me to act.

When discussing which aspect of the work I could be responsible for, Nanxi took out her Pinterest. She collected hundreds of reference images and showed me one by one. These include character design, scene design, the use of lines and the desired color effect. I was struck by the seriousness with which she took her work.

As I flipped through her favorites, I listened to her describe in more detail the desired animation effect. In the end we decided that I would be in charge of the character design of the main characters. This is also the direction that I am good at and work hard for. (Thanks again to Nanxi for giving me a lot of choices, she allowed me to choose the part I wanted to do)

For the character design of the protagonist, I drew 4 different images based on the keywords provided by Nnaxi (leaf elements, small eyes, round body, etc.). Every image design does my best to fit the theme. I refer to the shape of a lot of hats and leaves, and think about what kind of clothes are more suitable. In terms of the types of leaves, Nanxi wanted to make birch trees, so I thought about more possibilities around the birch leaves. After sending the first version to Nanxi, Nanxi made modifications and collages on this basis, trying to make my design more suitable for the effect she had in mind.

In the character design of birds, I refer to a large number of birds that are beneficial to environmental protection. At first we started with “doves”, but apart from a symbol of peace, we really couldn’t find anything more from doves. So I set my sights on more interesting birds such as shrikes, magpies, and golden-rumped swallows. Their body shapes are different, and their flying wings look completely different. I geometrically manipulated the body shapes of the different birds to try to make them look more like animated characters.

In terms of bottle design, I have tried to draw bottles of different shapes. I also think a lot about the material of the bottle, such as glass bottle, plastic bottle, porcelain bottle and so on. However, due to the needs of the plot (we need to consider whether we can see the contents of the bottle clearly, and also consider that the bottle must be able to be broken later. Based on these two points, plastic bottles and porcelain bottles are eliminated), and finally glass bottles most suitable.

In addition, in the process of communicating the plot, we gradually discovered some unreasonable places in the plot, and we discussed together how to modify it to make the plot smooth. We also studied blender together, and Nanxi showed me a lot of animation works in her collection, as well as more blender teaching videos. This fits perfectly with the direction I want to go for deep learning.

I have gained a lot in this cooperation project, and I have deeply realized how much patience and sufficient preliminary research are needed to make a good work. I believe our cooperation is not over. Next, I will discuss revisions with her, and start coloring after the character design line draft is finalized. I admire Nanxi very much and hope to work with her in the future.