Max worked on logos, sprites, and backgrounds for his film and game project. He struggled with walk cycles but plans to improve by studying tutorials. He completed the game logo by recreating the film logo in pixel art. Max finished his first background using techniques from prior work. He started a menu screen and NPC, ensuring consistent color schemes. Soundtracks were made matching intentions though the boss music could be improved. Overall the project is progressing well through pixel art assets, character designs, cut scenes, and level development despite some challenges along the way.

1. Production Log

2. Reflection 1 - Screenshots

3. Reflection 1
Today I worked on the logos for my film and game, my game being a pixelized version of the film logo. I also
worked on my protagonist's sprite/walking and idle cycle. Lastly I made a start on the background for my
game.
Logos - For my film logo I had trouble deciding on a main font, however I decided to go with 'Kings Butcher'
instead of 'Crimes Times Six'. This is because Kings Butcher looks more thriller than horror which is the genre
I'm aiming towards with my film. It also stands out and looks a lot more unique as Crimes Times Six is incredibly
similar to other horror/horror thriller films logos. Despite this as soon as I picked a font I easily managed to
form the rest of the logo, mixing it with a more calligraphy font alongside a skull symbol to add to the logo and
make it feel less empty. I think the logo went very well!
Sprite - I'm happy with my sprites base design, I think the style is unique yet appealing and my choice of
colours work nicely together. What could've gone better was the walk cycle, I had trouble animating the sprite
to make a good walk cycle and I need to work on this! My plan to improve this is to look at tutorials or other
animated pixel sprites for inspiration as well as to help construct my own walking cycle well.
Background - For the background I wanted to create a detailed background whilst also not spending a great
deal of time on it. So, to solve this issue I decided to do a bit of the background then copy and paste it across to
form a full background. I believe this doesn't ruin the quality of the background as the copy pasting won't be
very noticeable when you are watching the 'gameplay' and it allows me to have a detailed background without
wasting time.

4. Reflection 2 - Screenshots

5. Reflection 2
Today I worked on the background some more and started on my game
magazine cover!
Background - I started adding more to the background like forest and a
house, I believe it went quite well and the shading/colour scheme makes
everything blend together nicely. I had trouble making the house, so I looked
up pixel art houses online for inspiration to apply techniques from there onto
my own pixel house. I will be using similar techniques again for other
structures in the background.
Magazine - I made a start on my magazine cover to test how it'd look. I
believe the colour scheme is quite nice and that I should continue to develop
a layout that fits the colours.

6. Reflection 3 - Screenshots

7. Reflection 3
Today I finished my first background and completed my game logo.
Background - I completed by first background using similar techniques to yesterday.
I believe this went well as I could replicate the shading techniques I had used prior
in order to keep they style consistent. I also strictly stuck to the colour scheme in
my planning throughout, I believe this makes my background aesthetically pleasing
and not too jarring. I struggled with the structures in the far background as it was
difficult to make them look separate or further away. So, to solve this I overlayed
them with a lighter colour in order to give a 'distant foggy' feeling. I believe this
technique was effective.
Logo - I completed the logo for my game by adding a skull like the film's logo, just a
pixel art version. Using the original as a reference I was able to easily recreate it in
pixel art form. I believe this went quite well. I struggled at first as I tried to use a
filter to pixelate the original skull, however it didn't look very fitting, so I decided to
do it by hand instead which in turn looked a lot better and didn't take too much
time.

8. Reflection 4 - Screenshots

9. Reflection 4
I started my menu screen and created pixel art for my NPC in my level.
Menu Screen - I started on my menu screen and stuck to the same colour scheme
as I have for my prior background and character. I believe doing this most definitely
allowed my menu screen to stick to the same theme/aesthetic. I tried to get more
detail into the menu screen and make it feel fresher than the game background
despite following a very similar premise. I did this by allowing more pixels for extra
detail, I ended up detailing the grass in a 'wispy and mysterious' way in contrast to
the less detailed and blocky grass of my background. I think this was effective as it
doesn't feel stripped from the game and feels more like a standalone piece for the
menu screen.
NPC - For my NPC I wanted to incorporate the same colour scheme again yet a
different design, so my NPC feels completely different to the main character. So, to
solve this I changed up the silhouette of the character by adding a hat. I also used
colours in my colour scheme which weren't the same as my protagonist to further
help easily differentiate the characters.

10. Reflection 5 - Screenshots

11. Reflection 5
I finished my menu screen and boss character!
Menu Screen - I completed my menu screen and managed to keep the dark
and gloomy theme but still let the title and menu buttons stand out. I did this
by outlining the menu buttons in a brighter pink. On the contrary in order to
make my title stand out I had to make it darker to contrast against the
background, however I had trouble getting the logo to stand out. I still
consistently managed to use the colour palette in my menu screen, so it fits.
Boss - For my Boss character I had to make a ghost. I believe the idle
animation went well as it looks smooth and natural. I had trouble with this
design as I didn't know how to make the boss look 'boss-like', so I gave
my ghost a cloak which I believe makes the boss look more threatening and
gives a more interesting silhouette. The glowing eyes emanating from the
cloak adds to this and overall, I am quite proud. My next plan is to make a
alternate version of my ghost for the cut scene.

12. Reflection 6 - Screenshots

13. Reflection 6
I worked on my 2 backgrounds for my video game, the dungeon/boss room.
Hallway/Boss Room - Yet again I reused techniques from my first background
for this one as it worked quite well. I created a small portion of the
background and duplicated it to save time and create a fully fleshed
background. I also decided to use lighting effects to create a sinister feeling,
another technique I used to make these backgrounds contrast to my prior
background is darken and desaturate the colour scheme. Although this strays
away from my colour scheme I believe it was necessary for the mood I was
aiming for. My boss room background doesn't look refined, so at a later date
I will redo it to look more appealing. Something I could do is change the
background colour to match the hallway so it looks darker and more sinister.

14. Reflection 7 - Screenshots

15. Reflection 7
I made my soundtracks for my video game (6).
Soundtrack - I followed my plan and made the soundtracks I needed for
each section. This went very well! I believe my music sounds good and
matches my intentions well. I think my boss music could've gone better
however, the build-up to the tense and rapid chorus wasn't as I
would've liked. If I have time towards the end, I would like to alter this
and update it. Despite this everything fits my intentions well. I tried to
use lots of instruments and made one do a melody, another a beat etc
until I built up a song I was happy with.

16. Reflection 8 - Screenshots

17. Reflection 8
I started working on my pixel art assets.
Assets - This went quite well! I managed to animate some wildlife so
when I do my final product everything seems alive! I kept everything to
the colour scheme once more and overall, I am happy with how
everything looks. I had trouble making the text box as I didn’t know if
to make it simple, complex etc and if it'd fit with my aesthetic. In the
end I decided to a somewhat simple design in black, so it'll stand out
against any of my backgrounds. I believe this solved my dilemma and
despite the simplicity it'll work quite well.

18. Refelction 9 - Screenshots

19. Refelction 9
I completed my character designs/animation.
Character designs – For my NPCs I tried to keep them very different
from one another, each character having a different sillouhette and
colour pallette. I had some issues giving the muderer a interesting
design as I wanted him to be mysterious and appear shadow-like. I
wanted him to seem 'unidentifiable'. A solution to this was to make
him shadow, I didn't define any of his features to keep his identity
conealed. My animation was also pretty smooth, I used my main
characters animation as a base for the rest. I believe my animation
technique is nice and doesn't need to be changed, so I borrowed the
same technique I used for my prior character.

20. Refelction 10 - Screenshots

21. Refelction 10
I created the art for the second part of my cut scene, and I put togther part 1 of my
cut scene.
Cut Scene - When making the cut scene I had trouble with the beam of light to
represent the ghost 'going to heaven'. I ended up redrawing it and putting the
ghost in front of the beam to fix this issue. Despite this I believe the sound effects
went quite well, alongside the animation. To improve I will be changing out the
background in the final version, so the scene looks more desatuated and gloomy.
Cut Scene Art – Drawing the characters went really well! I managed to make the
mysterious man look mysterious by only making him a sillhouette, not defining any
features. This is a similar technique I used for the murderer also, I replicated this
technique once more as it was effective. What could go better is the background, it
was plain at first, so I decided to change the walls to be stripey to make the scene a
little more interesting as there was nothing in the background other than the
windows. I believed this helped give the art a little more to it, so it wasn't too
simple.

22. Refelction 11 - Screenshots

23. Refelction 11
I did my first film poster.
Fim Poster - For my film poster I managed to use techniques from my
photoshop experiments! I used clipping masks and hue/brightness
layers to help portray the feeling I was going for. I think my photo
manipulation went well, I blended sperate images together and
created effects that weren't there initially. My use of colours went well
also. However, I had notable issues with the typography. The colours for
the gradient in the text was difficult to make stand out but also fit the
mood I was going for. So, at a later date, my plan will be to re-work on
this and experiment with different colours until I get something that
works.

24. Refelction 12 - Screenshots

25. Refelction 12
I put the second part of my cut scene together
Cut Scene – I added speech to the still frame I created, I had difficulty
with this as I wanted a typewriter effect on my text (appearning letter
by letter). On premiere, this was time consuming to do. In order to
learn a resolution to my problem I researched techniques for doing this
which revolved around using after effects to do the effect then
importing the clip back to premiere. I did this and it was really effective
as I also had some 'speech' to accompany it. Not only this but I changed
the speeds at which the words appeared and had pauses to give the
illusion of speech. I think this went very well! I am happy with this
scene and nothing feels like it needs to change.

26. Refelction 13 - Screenshots

27. Refelction 13
I put together the 1st part of my level.
Level – I managed to incorporate the sliding effect I wanted to. I did this by
saving the layers of my background individually so I could move them on
sperately. I then made each part move at a different speed to give an almost
'3D sliding effect'. The only downside to this is it took a while to render and
in turn took up a lot of my time. I also had different npcs and parts of nature
moving to make the environment seem livelier! I made sure there was a
sound effect for every noise and overall, I think the product is nice. Due to
render times, it became very difficult to add things to my level, so it was hard
to create interactions. I believe this didn't go so well as I had to simplify my
level due to the time it was taking. Despite this I am satisfied with how it
looks and feels.

28. Refelction 14 - Screenshots

29. Refelction 14
I made progress on my magazine cover and 2nd part to my level.
Magazine - When continuing from where I left off, it was hard to make the title of
my game stand out. The background didn't work well as whites and grays would
blend in and darker shades would blend into my character. So, I decided to change
the background. This worked out very well as my title text no longer blends with it.
I also added headlines to my work. I used the colour dropper to attain colours from
the background and character for my typography. This is so everything looks nice
together and nothing clashes. For the masthead, I made the X glow to match with
the hanging lamp in the background (outerglow).
Level - For my level I adapted the same techniques from the 1st part of it. Used the
sliding background but I also used a nice lighting effect. I did this by exporting the
lighting on my background seperately then overlaying it on top of my game (making
it move at the same speed as the hanging lamps). This creates a nice effect. I also
put an echo on his footsteps as I believe it better matches the environment.

30. Refelction 15 - Screenshots

31. Refelction 15
I finished my magazine cover.
Magazine Cover – I made the circle in the corner blue instead as there
seemed to be too much purple. I also added a blue banner behing the
character, this was to add a bit more colour but also fill up some space
that was too small to be filled up with text. I like the finished product
and believe it follows the common conventions of magazine covers
well.

32. Refelction 16 - Screenshots

33. Refelction 16
I finished the boss fight in my level.
Boss Fight - I put together my boss fight, I used the same lighting effect
as the hallway to create a sinister feeling. I had the fight work as
dodging boss attacks using the arrow keys then once passed the level
can be completed with a single killing blow. This could have gone better
as I believe the movement didn't look as smooth at parts and if I have
time, I'd like to go over it. Despite this I think the attack animation and
sound went well!

34. Refelction 17 - Screenshots

35. Refelction 17
I finished my level!
Level - I put together my final level. I added a HUD that matches with
whats happening (the ghost detector going up when max gets closer to
the ghost, the health bar going down when damaged). Everything went
quite well, to improve though I may have added more to it if I had extra
time like a pause menu or inventory icon. I also added extra sound
effects to my level like the door opening and closing sound sound
which accompanied max entering and leaving buildings.

36. Refelction 18 - Screenshots

37. Refelction 18
I completed my 2 film posters.
Portrait - I edited the text to be a bit lighter which I think works
because it stands out a lot more. I kept the gradient somewhat green to
fit the cover, however.
Landscape - I made this film cover match the same feeling as the first. I
used the green smoke brush to give an interesting lighting effect. I also
used clipping masks and a soft brush to reflect this lighting on my
character. I think this has gone quite well as I got the same dark and
gloomy effect I was aiming for much like the portrait film poster.