The document summarizes the student's experience in a 15-week visual effects course. Each week, the student reflected on the lessons learned and challenges faced. They found creating personal mythological elements and an animatic interesting. Learning After Effects basics like masks and keyframes was overwhelming. Creating a first shot and realizing the work of animation was eye-opening. Overall, the student is proud of completing their trailer and learning visual effects skills from scratch with help from their professor.

1. FinalPortfolio
EmilyPontanares

2. weektwo
My personal mythological elements, which were much harder to come up
with than expected, are the following:
Now: “A sheltered twenty-something constantly looking for more
happiness, one-way plane tickets, & french fries”
Culturally: “A typical village girl who seeks adventure and a better life and
yearns to see the world beyond her small isolated province”
Future: “Just another girl accepting adulthood but refusing to let all of its
responsibilities and obligations keep her from being happy”
Thinking back to week two, it's amazing to see what i have now in
comparison to what I started with. Who knew that a story that originated
from my personal views and experiences would be made into this type of
project. Thinking of a high concept based on myself was an interesting
approach for a project and I liked how it gave everyone an opportunity to
make something unique.

3. Week3
This was the week I knew this class wouldn't be a
walk in the park. Going into a class knowing nothing
about the program is always challenging, and After
Effects is no exception. Making the seemingly
bouncing ball animation and text on a path proved
that a good understanding of the programs and its
controls are a must.

4. week4
There wasn’t much of a difference between this
week and the one prior. After being introduced
to more After Effects basics (masks, keyframes,
origins, etc) I felt pretty overwhelmed thinking
about how I would be able to remember all that
(I don’t remember too much of it). But this
lesson (as well as most of the others) showed
me that there are so many things you can do
with this program.

5. Week5
Looking back on this assignment I feel like I could
have done a lot more with it. But at the time I was
just focused on meeting all the requirements. I’m
pleased with what I learned and the steps I had
to go through for the final product. My personal
bumper that I made for future projects is very
different from the one I submitted, however I’m
not opposed to using this one if I feel I need to.

6. week6
Week six concentrated more on further developing the story and gettin our scenes
together. Making a production plan and beatsheet benefited me greatly in that it
gave me a place to refer to with how to go about working on my shots. From there
I was able to easily make changes it I needed to and see what details I wrote
down but had forgotten. It is a great tool to keep organized and make the
production process run more smoothly.

7. week7
It was good to have a “finalized version
of the production plan so that aspects of
the project were set in stone and could
allow for the process to go further. Of
course even the “finalized” production
plan underwent further changes as the
weeks went on, but it only consisted of
changes that would make the the
process go quicker, such as taking out
scenes or dialog.

8. Week8
Making an animatic was an interesting experience. I probably
like making the animatic more that the final trailer because it
consists of my initial story and all the scenes that I had
intended to make. It was also true to what I had originally
envisioned because I was able to draw out all the scenes in the
way I saw them in my head and how they played out. I like how
animatics are more raw and simple but are still able to convey a
story as well as the completed film they represent. I like that my
final project turned out a lot like my animatic in its style and how
it was organized.

9. Week9
For a girl who had zero experience using photoshop going into this class
I think I did a pretty good job with my color script. Adding to color adds
life to work but no color could also be just as powerful. I initially wanted
to add color, but eliminating color was one of things I changed in the
production process to make things easier for me.

10. Week10
Making a first shot took more thought and
precision that I thought it would. I tried to go
for a hand-drawn, wiggly animation style but
my sketches weren’t as similar looking as I
thought they were so the transition between
the frames wasn’t as smooth. It gave me a
heightened appreciation for animation and all
the work that goes into it.

11. Week11
Week 11 was a nice break from working on
the project with just a small assignment
that utilized skills and concepts we were
introduced to in the beginning of the
semester. It was a good refresher for me to
use some of the tools and functions that I
would have otherwise never looked at
again and make a type of title
sequence/bumper.

12. Week12
Week 12 was mostly lab time and
asking individual questions with the
professor, which were both things that
everyone in the class really liked. As an
in-class demonstration we looked into
green screen and other visual effects
that can be added to your project, like
snow or rain. There are truly unlimited
possibilities with what you can do with
After Effects, but only if you know how
to go about doing it.

13. Week13
Week 13 wasn’t very much different
from week 12. My classmates and I
really like the one-on-one time with the
professor to advise on all the things
unique to individual projects. Most of us
were in the process of finalizing our
projects or really close to doing so.

14. Week14
The animatic I submitted this week consisted
of many of my scenes and felt that the trailer
was at least 60-70% complete. I was during
this time I knew what scenes were going to
be in the final project and wasn’t going to
make any more changes to the production
plan. Also during this week I submitted a
story pertaining to the trailer. It was a cool
experience creating the details of the story
that would be included in a full length feature
of my project, and to imagine, from a film
maker’s perspective, how i would what to the
story to unfold.

15. Week15
And after all the in-class exercises,
questions, scans, class time and
Saturdays in the computer lab, I finally
finished my trailer for VSAR 402. Sure,
there are things that are very different
from the original high concept I pitched
week 2 but the essence of it is still there.
I think that considering I knew nothing
about After Effects and Photoshop prior
to this class, I did a decent job. I’ll always
be my harshest critic but I have to give
myself credit for dedicating time to work
on this project and doing a lot of hand-
drawing in the production process. I’m
glad I was able to learn about visual
effects from such a good professor.