This weekly reflective diary documents the progress of a student's first major production (FMP) animated short film over 4 weeks. In week 1, the student created storyboards and an introduction and was happy with their progress. In week 2, they continued animating but found some scenes more challenging. They planned to improve early scenes. In week 3, they completed additional scenes and were pleased with the nostalgia and smoothness of some drawings, though one scene needed touch ups. For the final week, they refined all work and completed the most detailed scenes, feeling proud of improvements to their drawing skills though background music was unfinished. Overall, the student documented progress, challenges, goals and reflections on improvements to their animation skills through the F

1. Reflective diary Remake
Production

2. Week1 249 words
• This week for production was good, I managed to get a lot more done than I thought. I got ahead
of what I was doing and managed to create the first three parts of my storyboard and an
introduction as well. I'm happy with how everything looks so far even the hand that I drew for the
jewellery box. I will probably go back at some point and add more detail to some aspects so
everything is not just by it’s self on a white background. I think what I could have done this week
was try get some of the 4th part done because I would have then saved myself more time for
week 2 so I can get things done quicker but at the same time it is good I did what I did this week
and spent time on it so it doesn’t look bad. My hopes for my fmp is that it will show and
improvement in my animation and drawing skills because I don’t really have much experience in
both parts. What could be improved would be the background for the ring that I made and a
transition to be added but I will go back to that In due time. I do hope I get onto the 5th and 6th
scene of the Storyboard therefore I can still be ahead of my work and might even finish before the
final week. I also hope to add the background music I've been looking for.
• (could not get 300 words exactly as there wasn’t much else to add)

3. Week 2 302 words
• This week for production has been alright even though Monday was a bank holiday, I managed to
work on schedule and I’ve started to work on background music in my free time as well as
working on my animation in college. I feel like I’m getting the hang of animating a bit better and
that by the end I’ll have made my first animated short film in a way I can be proud of. It had been
a bit more challenging this week as the segment I was working on was a lot harder than I thought,
especially trying to create the right poses for the character I’m working on. I’m definitely going
back to improve some of the beginning because it just looks rushed to me and I’m going to make
it look more detailed as well, I might switch one of the beginning scenes to a smooth animation
rather than choppy. I am really happy with how the hard scene turned out, it makes me feel quite
nostalgic looking at my old room. What I’m looking to aim for next week is to be on my 7th shot
from my story board and to finish at the last one so I can start refining my work for the last week
before the evaluation. By next week it will be even easier as I will have my pc and photoshop at
home to work on this and get ahead of time which will give me more time for touch ups and
refining. Another thing I need to go back and probably change is the transition between the new
and old ring, the background was also rushed and really inaccurate now that I look back at it, I will
probably change the background as a whole and make it look more sketchy.

4. Week 3 284words
• This week I managed to start/finish part 6, 6.5, 7 and 8 . All of them turned out how I wanted and
they actually bring back a lot of memories and I am happy with what is done. What I could have
improved on though would have to be part 6 as a whole, even though its how I want it could also
have a touch up to it because in a way it just seems sort of off. Overall I think my animation so far
it pretty good and I have gotten the hang of animating. Although its mostly choppy I’ve decided to
stick with it because it just makes it seem different from other animations and I like it but it
doesn’t mean that I wont do anything smooth in future though. My hopes for next week is to
complete part 8, 9 and 10 I’ve also gone back and started to refine some of my previous work so it
looks better and there isn’t any missing parts. What I wish I had done is make my bedroom scene
bigger because all of my other scenes are using the full page but at the same time it can look like
it’s a memory. I have a feeling that part 8 and 9 are going to be more difficult to animate but I will
do my best to complete what I can next week. I think I’m most happy with part 6.5 because it just
turned out so smoothly and I loved the way I drew the hand holding the bag, the proportions
were all in order. The last week of animation will definitely be dedicated to refining the rest of my
work.
• (It was hard to get 300 words this week)

5. Week 4 363 words
• This last week has been really stressful with completing the rest of part 8 and also completing
everything else and then refining the rest of my previous work as well. Part 8 and part 10 Have to be
my favourite parts in the whole animation because they looked so detailed and came out so nicely. I
couldn’t do anything to improve on both of them at all. I did some tweaks to part 9 and improved the
movement of the background so the walking is in time with the background. Im happy with the
character models I made as well, I am not that good at drawing people but what I did I can be proud of.
Part 8 was fun to make and I made the room in full size instead of doing what I did with the previous
bedroom scene as well so I could add more detail and I could make the animation of me laughing
easier. Another thing I loved was the final drawing of part 10, I made the background all myself and
from memory and drawing me and my boyfriend made me really happy as well, it definitely was a good
idea to add to the end because that day was really a big change for me and my relationship as a whole
and making art out of it made me remember that. I think the refinements that I did made a big
difference in the animation and looking back on my work I can definitely see a major improvement to
my drawing skills. What I hope now is that my fmp can show the amount of time effort and heart I put
into this because this last week I probably spent all my time at college and an extra 16 hours at home
working. I probably would have been quicker but I didn’t want to mess anything up. Unfortunately I did
not manage to get the background music in but the animation still is good just as a silent one. I do
hope people feel what I felt because my animation represents all the good things I enjoyed through the
rough times I faced during covid.