3D animation

Key Points

Camera placement / Focus / Focal length / Geometry in frame / Camera movement / 5 + 5 storyboard challenge

What I Learned

This week, I learned that cinematography is not only about making a shot look beautiful. The camera should always support the meaning of the scene. Before placing the camera, I need to ask: What is this scene about? What do I want to say?

Focus was an important part of this lesson. Deep focus allows the audience to explore the whole frame, while shallow focus directs attention to one subject. Rack focus is also useful because it shifts the viewer’s attention inside the same shot, almost like a cut without actually cutting.

I also learned that focal length changes how the space feels. A wide lens can make the space feel larger or more dramatic, while a long lens can compress the image. Geometry in frame is also important because lines, circles, symmetry and shapes can create visual order and guide the viewer’s eye.

Camera movement can create different emotions. Handheld movement can feel nervous or realistic, dolly zoom can create psychological tension, and arc shots can make a subject feel important or isolated.

Class Task

For the 5 + 5 challenge, we created a storyboard with five shots, each lasting five seconds. The challenge was to communicate a clear story or emotion without dialogue, only using camera language

The translation has been blurred because it was not published.

In this exercise, I used the content from Week 1 to rethink a five-second advertisement line that originally had no camera movement. Instead of keeping it as a flat and static shot, I tried to turn it into a more comedic and energetic sequence. I used camera language such as whip pans, fast push-ins, quick zooms, rapid panning and quick cuts to make the advertising message feel more playful and exaggerated.

I also researched Stephen Chow’s comedy style and the Chinese sitcom iPartment, which gave me ideas about rhythm, timing and visual exaggeration. Through this process, I realised that camera movement is not only a technical choice. It can completely change the tone of a scene. For an advertisement, this kind of fast and humorous camera language makes the content more entertaining and more suitable for selling the idea to the audience.

Key Points

Narrative, not chronicle / Therefore and But / Character motivation / Conflict / SWBST structure / Storyboard practice

What I Learned

This week, I learned that a story is not just a list of events. A story needs structure, meaning and cause and effect. If the story only works as “and then, and then”, it can feel random. A stronger story should connect events through “therefore” or “but”.

I also learned that the character should lead the story. The story should come from what the character wants, what stops them, and what choice they make. This makes the story feel more active and believable.

Conflict is the core of story. A story begins when desire meets obstacle. The obstacle can be external, such as another person or situation, or internal, such as fear, doubt or obsession.

The SWBST structure helped me organise story ideas clearly: Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then. It is a simple structure, but it makes the story more logical and easier to explain.

This week, I learned different ways to structure a story. Before this class, I often thought of story as a sequence of interesting events. However, this week helped me understand that a strong story needs structure, change and emotional progression.

Key Points

Three-act structure
This structure gives the story a clear beginning, middle and end: setup, confrontation and resolution.

Hero’s Journey
The Hero’s Journey focuses on transformation. A character leaves their ordinary world, faces challenges, and returns changed.

Five-act structure
This structure creates a stronger dramatic rise and fall. It is useful for stories with tension, crisis and emotional release.

Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
I found this structure very clear because it breaks the journey into simple stages: comfort, need, unfamiliar situation, adaptation, reward, price, return and change.

This week, I learned how to make facial poses feel more organic and appealing. The most useful idea for me was that a good facial expression should not look too symmetrical or mechanical. Perfect symmetry can make a character feel stiff or uncanny, so small asymmetry can make the face feel more natural and alive.

Key Points

Asymmetry
I learned that one side of the face can be stronger than the other. This helps the expression feel less robotic and more believable.

Connectivity
The face should move as one connected unit. When the mouth changes, the cheeks, eyes, eyebrows and eyelids should also react.

Shape
Facial poses should be designed graphically. Instead of making the eyes or mouth into simple “football shapes”, I need to think about clear, readable and appealing shapes.

Volume
I also learned that the face should keep its volume. If one area compresses, another area should bulge or shift, otherwise the face can look like it is collapsing.

Lids and energy
The relationship between the eyelids and pupils can show the energy level of the character. Small changes in the eyelids can make the same face feel tired, surprised, suspicious or relaxed.

This week, we learned about Project 1, which is a formative assignment connected to our Final Major Project. The main idea is not to finish the whole FMP concept immediately, but to choose one core element that I want to explore further.

For example, this core element could be:

• a visual aesthetic
• a character design
• a narrative idea
• a technical workflow
• a portfolio direction

What I found useful is that Project 1 is more like a test run for the FMP. It allows me to test one part of my idea first, instead of trying to solve the whole project at once.

What I Learned

The examples in class helped me understand different ways to approach this project.

One example focused on visual style research. The student did not have a full story yet, but they found an art style they liked and tested how to recreate it in 3D. This showed me that visual research can become a strong starting point for an FMP.

Another example focused on character design and rigging. The student wanted to create an animation-ready 3D character, but later realised that modelling and rigging from scratch took too much time. This helped me understand the importance of testing whether an idea is realistic and achievable.

The third example focused on building a 3D animator portfolio. The student researched other animators’ showreels, planned different types of animation shots, and created a clear schedule and benchmark. This showed me that Project 1 can also be used to test a professional direction, not only a story or visual style.

This week, I learned more about how to create natural facial animation through the eyes. The class focused on three important areas: blinking, eye darts and eyebrow movement. I realised that the eyes are not just small details on the face; they can show the character’s thinking process, attitude change and emotional state.

Key Points

Blink
I learned that a blink should not happen randomly. It can be used when the character changes attitude, changes eye direction, has a new thought, moves their head, or holds a stare. This helped me understand that blinking should support the character’s thought process, not just be added to make the animation look “alive”.

Eye Dart
Eye darts show that the character is thinking or gathering information. The eyes should lock onto specific points instead of moving vaguely. I also learned that eye darts usually move in straight lines and can create a triangle-like pattern.

Eyebrows
Eyebrows are connected to intention and emotion. For example, an intentional blink can include eyebrow movement, while a natural blink may not need it. The eyebrow movement also affects the upper eyelid shape, so they should not be animated separately.