This document summarizes the student's progress over 8 weeks on their Final Major Project (FMP) for an animation course. In the first few weeks, the student conducted research on game developers and started their contextual statement and proposal. They then conducted audience and market research through surveys to help inform their design decisions. In later weeks, the student focused on production planning, problemsolving, character and environment design, and storyboarding key scenes. They also began preliminary animation experiments. The document provides a weekly breakdown of the work completed and the student's reflections on challenges and plans to improve their time management.

1. Week1 Log
ThisweekIbeganwork onmy FMP, I startedby researchingpeople inthe videogamesindustrythat
I was inspiredby/seenandplayedtheirwork.Ididthisbecause itseemedlike the bestroute totake
as I wouldalreadyhave agood idea of whotheywere andwhat theydid,andI wouldbe able to
relate themtomy project.Istarted withsomeone Ididnotknow a lotabout,ConcernedApe (Eric
Barone) the developerof StardewValley.Forall the peopleIresearchedIstartedwithabit about
themand thenwentintowhattheydo.I lookedatarticles,books,andvideos.Ididthissothat there
wouldbe a diversitytowhere myinformationwascomingfrom, anditwouldnotbe the same thing
throughout.AfterEricI researchedsomeonewhoIheld close tomyheart whenIfirststarted
gaming,Jeff Kapalanthe creatorof Overwatch.Iresearchedhimbecause he holdsaplace inmy
heartbecause hisgame was the firstshooterIplayedandset me up forwhat I am mostpassionate
aboutand gave me an entire worldIwouldnothave withoutitandhisgamesare veryinfluential
and a massive partof gaming.
The nextpersonI lookedatisNotch the creator of Minecraft.I have playedMinecraftmyentire life
prettymuch soit seemedlikehe wasanobviouspersonIwouldresearch.Hisgame hashad been
withme a long time andit didnotfeel rightleavinghimout.The nextpersonIhonestlyadmireeven
thoughhe is controversial Istill likehimandhave aplace for hisgames,that personbeingTodd
Howard knownforSkyrimandFallout.Idecidedtoresearchhimbecause Fallout4wasthe firstreal
game I played,Ihad playedflashgamesandMinecraftbutnot anythingseriouslike fallout,mydad
had givenme hisPC(onlybecause Ihoggeditand hadbeggedprofusely) andIstartedplayingit,
fromthenon, I have beenobsessedwithvideogamesandamnow perusingitas a career.I didnot
knowaboutTodd straightawaybut whenI did,Iknew I wantedtowork forhim anddevelopgames
for him.Ihave completedmyresearchandam readyto move ontothe nextsectionof the project.
Week2 Log
ThisweekIhave beenfocusedonfinishingmycontextual research,doing,andfinishingmy
contextual statementandfinallydoingmyproposal.Istartedthe weekbyfinishing the researchon
my 5th
game developerJan-BartvanBeek.Iendedupdoing2 slidesonhimasI couldnot finda lotof
informationaboutthatI didnotalreadyhave.I lookedathisLinkedInaccounttoget an ideaof what
he didat hisgamescompanyand whathe had done as hispreviousjobsastheywere pivotal tohis
currentwork.I also lookedatan article where he wasinterviewedaboutHorizonZeroDawn,one
the mainpointshe talksabout howthe ideacame to be and how hisideawas1 in30 ideasbeing
pitchedandhiswas goodenoughtobe pickedandmade intoa game.AfterfinishingthatIstarted
my contextual statementinwhichItalkaboutthe conceptof my game inmore detail,Ifirstlytalked
aboutthe basicsof the conceptlike whatitwasabout andwhat happensinthe story.I thentalkin
more detail aboutthe conceptand whatwill happenthroughoutthe game,forexample
“Collectables/environmental interactionswill alsobe apart of my game,these will featureitems
that have sentimentalvalue tothe characterslike afamilyphotoora keythat opensa secretdoor.
Environmental interactionswill include seeingabuildingthroughthe mirrorthathas a memory.”I
wantedtobe as thoroughas I couldbe,so myideawas clear.
The most importantthingItalkedaboutwas art style,thisisa massivelycrucial elementof the game
as it isa visual media.Iwantit to lookamazingandI want to have createdsomethingIcanbe proud
of;this iswhatI wrote.“Whenit comesto the art style of the game, I initiallywantedtomake it

2. cartoonybut semi-realisticbutatmy currentlevel of animationandartskill Ido not believe thisis
possible andhave insteadoptedtouse pixel art.Ihave usedthisinthe paston my adventure project
inyear 1 andfound it quite simpleandeasytowork with.Ihave since thenbetteredmyartskillsand
have a visionof whatmy characters,layoutsandbackgroundslooklike soI will be able tocreate
them.”inthe contextual statementIalsowentintodetail aboutwhyIchose the ideaandmy
inspirations,mystrengths,andweaknessesandhow theywill affectmywork,andmy hopesforthe
project.I wrote a lotbecause itisimportantto me that I get mypointacross and inpast projectsmy
grade has suffereddue tome not beingthorough.
Week3 Log
ThisweekIhave beencontinuingwithmycontextualstatement.Istartedwhere Ihadleftoff,I
continuedtalkingaboutwhyIhaschosenthe idea,whatinspiredme andafteraskingforfeedbackI
talkedaboutinspiresme ingeneral andwhatIas creator lookto create.Next,Istartedthe process
of writingmyproposal,Ispentthe final dayof the weekdoingthis.Istartedwiththe basicswhatthe
name is andwhat itis about.AfterwardsIbeganwritingarationale inwhichI talkin detail about
past projectsandhowtheyhelpedme gettothispoint,whattheytaught me and how I have
improvedforexample.ItalkedaboutmyFMP lastyearas itwas an importantprojectthatI didnot
hitthe nail onthe headwithunfortunately.Ialsotalkedaboutthe adventureprojectandwhatI
learntfromthat because Iagain,I didnot do verywell onthatone either.Next,Italkedaboutmy
projectand whatit wasabout,I justrewrote whatI had put inmy contextual statementasthat
outlinedexactlywhatIwasdoing,I alsowantedtotalk aboutwhat researchIwouldbe doingand
howit wouldbenefitmyproject.Lastly,Iwrote abouthow I wouldevaluate the projectIsaidI
wouldseekfeedbackfrompeers,friends,andtutorsas theyknow the course and know whatisbest.
Nextwasthe bibliography,Ilookedbrieflyatgamesthatinspiredthe projectandjustgamesthat
wouldbe productive tolookat.An example of one of these isStardew Valleyasithasa lot of
elementslike mine.Iendeduplisted12 soI had wide range of sourcesto lookat and talkabout.and
finally,Ididatask schedule,thistookthe mostamountof time as I wantedtobe detailedasinthe
past,I have not followedascheduleandithasmade mywork sufferandas thisone of the most
importantprojectsIwill everdoitsimperative Idowell.
Week4
ThisweekIhave startedmy audience andmarketingresearch.Inmycontextual statementItalked
abouthow I wantedmyaudience todecide all the majordesignelements forexample the enemy
designs.Iwantedthe audience tobe involvedasmuchas possible asinthe pastI have neglected
that aspectof the researchandmy projecthas justbeenwhatI wantbut, thatis not real to life,andI
needexperience of notbeing able todoexactlywhatI want.To achieve this,Icreateda surveyone
on Google formsandthe otheronInstagram, it wasnot exceedinglylong,butithadall the questions
I feltwere mostimportant.Iaskedaboutthe name of the concept,the level design,the character
designandenemydesign.IaddedimagesIdrew withthe characterandenemydesignasthey
requiredillustrations,Iproduced6designsforeachof the topics.Whenitcame to the results,Iwas
a bit annoyedasithad not gone exactlyhow Iwanted.The name that was pickedwasOtherSide,it

3. was notreallya runnerinmy mindas itwas a temporaryone,I producedtoput onthe pre-proposal.
Althoughthiswasnotwhat I wantedthe resultmade sense asitwasthe onlyname thatmade literal
sense forthe conceptso overall thisone makesthe mostsense.ForleveldesignIchose the top5
pickedoutthe 8 I listed.People chose,anabandonedwarehouse,the sewers,aback alley,the
beach,and a station.Withcharacter designIdrew 6 imagesforhairstyles,andthe 3rd
one won,it isa
highponytail withalongfringe.Because Iam doingananimation,I am goingto have to editthe
hairstyle tobe a simpler,Iam notthat confidentasitis withanimating,soIdo notwant to make it
harderfor myself.OthercharacterdesignIdidwasfor the outfit,Imade 9 colourswatchesand
chose people topicktheirtop3 and fromthat I chose the top 2 whichwere redanddark blue,this
will be usedforhertop and bottoms.
I alsostartedmy marketresearch,sofar, I have researchedStardew ValleyandThomasWasAlone.I
chose these because theyare the closesttowhatI want to create and inspire me the most.For
StardewI lookedatwhatinspiredit,popularity,artstyle,reviewsandIresearchedatrailer.Ididthis
so I couldgetthe mostinformationIneededfromit.ForThomasWas Alone Ilookedatthe game,I
lookedatinon YouTube,whatinspiredit,reviews,andthe trailer.
Week5
ThisweekIhave beenfinishingmymarketingandaudience researchandstartingmytopicand
productionresearch.Istartedwithwritingupmysurveyresults,Ihaddone 2 similarsurveys,one on
Instagramand one on google forms.Iaskedquestionsaboutthe name,the characterdesign,level
designandenemydesign.Iwentthrougheachof the questionsandwrote downwhatthe results
were andhow theywill impactmyproduct, Igot a few resultsthatIwanteda few that I didnot
expectsoI talkedabouthowthat will change myprojectandI will adaptitto meetthe audiences'
expectations.Todisplaythe results,Iscreenshottedeachof the pie chartsand resultboxes,soit
clearlyshowedwhathadwonand showedIhadnot tamperedwiththe resultsof the questions.I
was overall okwiththe results,theywerenotexactlywhatIwantedbutlike Isay inthe conclusion,
inthe real worldnoteveryone wantswhatIwantand especiallywhenitcomestomediasoletting
audience decide isanimportantthingtolearnandget usedtoand doingthishas helped.Next,Idid
finishmymarketresearch,Ibeganwitha new product,Unravel Two,I talkedaboutwhyI chose it
and whatI wantedto research,general stuff aboutthe game,the inspiration,the factthat its
multiplayer,the trailer,andreviews.
As I saidearlier,Ialsostartedthe topicand productionresearch,Ifoundthiswebsitethattalked
abouteach stage of pixel artinvideogames,fromthe firstevergame topresentday,Ifoundit useful
and wasable to branch off itand findmore informationaboutpixel artgames.
Week6
ThisweekIwas not onWednesdaydue toa universitydayandThursdaybecause Iwas ill.Due to
thisI unfortunatelyhaven'tgota lotof workdone and will needtodoitoverthe weekend,Ialso
usedFridayto catch up on workfroma previousprojectasI hadn't realisedthatitwasincomplete
whichmaybe wasn’ta gooduse of mytime and insteadIshouldhave usedthe weekendtocatchup

4. on previousprojects,IthinkIjustwantedtobe secure inthe fact thatI had done all my workand
that I wouldbe able topass the year.Overthe weekendIwill finishthe productionresearchI
neededtodoand do the problem-solvingwork.Forthe productionIwill talkaboutwhatIneedto
learnhowto do whichisdifferentanimationsequences,forexample Ineedtolearnhow toanimate
the character jumping.Iwill talkaboutmyapproach to eachtutorial,how I founditand the result,I
will alsoshowscreenshotsof eachof the sequencessoIcan show the processof me animatingit.
For my problemsolvingIamnot entirelysure onwhatI am goingto soI am goingto ask my peers
whattheyhave done and refertothe PowerPointmytutorsentout as I thinkthatwill bestplace to
getthe informationIneed.
If I am reallystrugglingtokeepupwithpastwork,I will leave ituntil easterandcatch up thenas we
have twoweeksandthinkratherthan tryingto pushmyself tobe quickand doa minimumeffortjob
withmywork I shouldinsteadwait,dothe currentwork,andthenfocuson the catch uplater.
Week7
Thisweek Ihave focusedonboth planningandproblemsolving.OnWednesdaysince Iwasoff for
mostof lastweek,Iwantedto catch up withproblemsolving.Aftergoingoverthe PowerPointsent
to us on teams,Imade a mindmapusingbubbl.usasita website thatI have usedbefore andits
reliable.Onthe mindmapImade 2 branchesof the centre,one sayingpractical/technical problems
and the secondsayingtheoretical problemsasthisiswhatwas saidto put on the PowerPoint.Ithen
wentoverall the problemsIcouldthinkof that pertainedtothattopic andwrote themin bubbles
off boththe titles.Ithensavedthatontoand put intomyown PowerPoint,afterwardsImade a
table foreach of the topicsandput all the problemsinto5 mainproblemsforeachtopic, I then
made resolutionforeachof themforexample,"MyiPad/computerbreaks.If mycomputer/iPad
breaksI lose mywork,thiswill be detrimental tomygrade and will meanIfail the course which
wouldnotbe a goodat all.There isnot a lot that I will be able todoin thissituation,buttocombat it
before ithappens,Iam goingtoget a USB drive andput all mywork ontoit soif anythinglike this
happensorif OneDrive andmyiPadgetwipedill have all workandIwill nothave to worryabout it
all gettinglost."Afterdoingthis,Istarted onmy experimentswhichIam still yettofinishover
eitherthe Easterholidaysorthe weekbefore.Istartedwiththe designof the character,Ikeptto
whatthe surveysaid,the ponytail hairstyle,redsweater,andblue jeans.Ithenlookedupthe
animationfromStardewValleyandtookpicturesof eachframe of the walking,Ithenusedthatto
draw eachframe of mycharacter walking.Iam still yettoexportthisbutwill doit overthe
weekend.
On ThursdayI startedplanningforproduction,Idownloadedacopyof a PowerPointsentouttous
on teamsand followedwhatitsaid,Ihad to delete alotof the slidesastheyare forfilmor printand
I am doingan animation,forexampleIhadto delete acastingslide asI have notcast. One slide Idid
fill outwasthe equipment,Ilistedwhatuse foranimatingandwhy.Ithenwrote outa schedule for
productionthatdetailedall the specificsforwhatIwill be doingweekbyweekforproduction.
Week8
on track and to knowwhatI am I doingdrew a storyboard,doingthisalsogave the abilitytothink
aboutwhat I wantedtodo for eachscene ratherthan doingiton the flyas I have in the past.I also

5. decidedthiswouldbe asuitable time tostartdecidingwhatthe locationswouldbe,Iwentoff what
the audience haddecidedIthe surveysandusedeachof themin the storyboardas I saidI would.
goingoff that, I alsowrote aboutthe storyboardinmore detail andtalkedabouteachscene andwhy
I chose to do certainthingsforexample,"The 5thadditiontalksaboutthe multiplayerside of the
game,to showthisI drewthe two talkingthroughawindow asit seemedlikethe bestwaytoshow
themcommunicating,inthe actual animationImightinsteadmake atextbox at the bottomof the
screensoit's clearwhose speakingandsoit can be seenproperly."
The nextthingi didwascharacter design,thisisa crucial stepin the processas I needtoknow what
each of the characters looklike.Istartedwiththe designof a bosscharacter that I namedMelina,i
then,usingmyiPaddrew2 conceptsforher andput themon the PowerPoint.Ialsowrote a
descriptionforherandwhat she bringstothe game.I didthisforeach character, Ari,Ira,Silver
Mages, andGold Mages. for the two enemiesIdecidedthattheirdesignsshouldbe similarandgo
withtheirnames,soI designedthe silverone tohave silverinitand the goldone to have goldinit.
duringthisprocessI alsodecidedonnamesforeachof them.forthe two maincharacters i did some
researchintonamesthat readas anothername backwardsas the characters are the oppositesof
each other.IdecidedonAri and backwardsIra. forthe othercharactersI had originallynamedthem
minionsbutthoughtthatit wastoo basic,so I relateditbackto what I calledthe bosses,darkmages
and calledthemgoldandsilvermages.thisistoas I saidearliermake themgowiththeirdesigns.