Here are image captures of the render test I did
that shows both the transformation of the shape of the church,
as well as the change of shaders.
Bridget helped me adjust some things in Shake
to make the church look more like my concept drawing.
Unfortunately, the movie file size is too large to be put up here.

I have also done a 3D animatics with the basic environment set up,
and used Andy rig to be the substitution for my character model.

After weekly meetings with Professor daCosta this quarter,
I have started writing the first chapter of my thesis,
which contains Introduction, Statement of Problem,
Significance of Study, Methodology, and Literature Review.

I am really glad that I’m having progress on both my thesis project and paper!
I have to give Professor Bridget Gaynor and Charles daCosta
a billions thanks!! Their guidance and help are deeply appreciated.

I have gotten the phone booth model from Gaddy,
and done the UV mapping.

Thanks Gaddy for the detailed model,
he really interpreted my concept design well.

Today I met with Prof. daCosta again,
and showed him my revised Literature Review,
which I edited after receiving his feedback from Tuesday’s meeting.
Next Tuesday, I have to show him the revised Methodology.

Below is my current Literature Review.
I will have to rewrite it once I do more research on the topic.

Literature Review

This thesis examines the 3D and 2D fusion in contemporary animation. Literatures in the context of history and from the aspects of aesthetics are studied. Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI provides comprehensive overview of the history of animation from the earliest pioneers such as Winsor McCay to the latest Pixar animated feature film. Not only Western animators are being mentioned here, animators from all over the world are being discussed in this book, providing unbiased information for the readers. Another book in the historical context is Maureen Furniss’s Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. It not only describes the historical developments and transitions of various animation forms, but also discusses different viewpoints of aesthetics. It reminds artist of what they should be thinking and knowing before executing. Studies of various animation methods and techniques are also included. Furniss quoted contributive figures, such as Norman McLaren and John Lasseter, and pointed out that in order to obtain satisfying outcome, artists need to break limitations and seek ways to blend the old and the new tricks.

In Animation: 2D and beyond, Jayne Pilling invites different artists to discuss their unique animation works that went beyond 2D. For example, John Cary talked about how he was drawn to the original cut-out puppet animation from the late ‘50s, and now they recreated the animation using compositing of digital drawn animation and renders of 3D CG objects. Interesting and innovative methods are being shared by the artists, which allow the viewers to see animation in a new perspective, away from the mainstream cinema or television animations.

To Westerners, Japan is probably the most representative country in the Eastern world. As Westerners begin to learn and appreciate Eastern cultures, they start to see the values in Eastern artists’ works. The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation, and Anime From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle enable the reader to have better understanding of Eastern animation (anime) and artists. The philosophy behind Miyazaki’s works is often brought up, since he is such an influential figure in the Eastern animation world. In this research, Miyazaki’s insistence on keeping 2D animation purely hand-drawn is being argued. It is not to say Miyazaki has the wrong belief, because it is understandable once we get to know the Japanese history and etiquette.

The art books of Miyazaki’s films, such as The Art of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Art of The Princess Mononoke, The Art of Spirited Away, and The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle, are all examined to better understand how Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli produced their award-winning animated features. Comparisons can be made between “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and “Princess Mononoke”; both tell a tale of a heroine, but one was produced without digital aid, and the other one employed various digital techniques. Studio Ghibli continued its success in blending the digital components and traditional cel-animation in “Spirited Away” and “Howl’s Moving Castle”, but Miyazaki decided to go back to purely hand-drawn animation when producing “Ponyo on the Cliff”…

Questions that I have after writing the Literature Review:

1. Japan wanted to use animation as the weapon to invade the Western world after its failure in World War II. (Need backup references)

2. Journals and reviews of Ponyo on the Cliff.

3. Tacit knowledge: how to validate tacit knowledge in the writing of thesis paper.

I tried painting in Photoshop for one of the flash back scenes
showing Milly’s memory with her mother.

I am still working on it, for the characters and setting are not stylized enough.
The style does not feel right yet,
but the textured background is what I’m aiming for.

I have gotten back from SIGGRAPH.
After seeing student works from Ringling College of Art and Design,
I feel excited to know there are people who are doing
the same things I want to do for my thesis project.

There are two thesis films that I really like:
Lindsey Olivares - “Anchored”
http://www.lindseyolivares.blogspot.com/
http://webspace.ringling.edu/~lolivare/magic/art.html

And Gianna Ruggiero - “Gretel and Hanzel”
http://gigi-portfolio.blogspot.com/
http://www.the-gigi.blogspot.com/

I went to check out their personal blogs and websites,
and found both of them are really good illustrators.
They both have really strong styles.

I did some more storyboarding with a slight change in storyline,
and changed the camera angles for some shots.

My original grass test render looks like this (which is really bad):

I have started texturing the church model,
but there are still a lot to be done.

After Bridget showed me how to change the attributes for the fur description,
like changing the Base color noise, clumping, clumping frequency,
I was able to obtain more desirable result.

My goal is to create something similar to this:
(Image from the short film “Big Buck Bunny” by Blender Foundation)

I have converted my paper outline into JPEGs.
For people who are interested in reading it,
click on them for larger view.

Here are some more digital concept drawings that I have
for my main character, Milly.
They look too unoriginal to me,
and I’m really not a character designer,
so I decided to ask my talented friend, Don Low, to help me.

Milly is a middle school student
with short dark brown hair and eyes.
she wears school uniform (shirt and pleated skirt),
and also white knee length socks and canvas shoes.
She’s kindhearted and optimistic,
and not very talkative, especially after her mother’s death,
she tries to hide the sorrows and grief inside her heart.

I have been working on this concept illustration,
and it’s almost done.