Film Studies and Cinematography Final Project

Sun JiaYue (0376224)

PVT60104 / Film Studies and Cinematography  / Bachelor of Design ( Hons) in Creative Media /Taylor's University

Final Project

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Project Description: 

This is my third project in the Film Studies class. The goal is to create a two-minute animated storyboard based on my own story, "Memory Stitcher." The story tells of a psychologist entering a little girl's memory world to help her heal from traumatic memories.

My Story Setting

• Story Theme: True healing is not about forgetting pain, but about learning to coexist with it.
• Main Characters: Evelyn (a psychologist) and CiCi (a traumatized little girl).
• Special Setting: Evelyn can enter the patient's memory world and use golden thread to mend broken memories.

Detailed explanation of the creative process：

Step 1: Thumbnail Sketching Stage (Finding Visual Direction)

Preparation：

1. Reread your story script and mark all the scenes that need to be visualized.
2. Referencing the scene and character designs from Project 2
3. I used a tablet to draw out my initial ideas.

First drawing:

1.I'm not aiming for perfection right now; I'll just draw the key moments of the whole story at a pace of one frame every five minutes.

2.Focus on drawing these scenes:

• The first meeting in the clinic (realism)
• The moment of entering the dream world (transition)
• The space where memory fragments float (fantasy)
• The discovery of the blue traumatic memory (turning point)
• The process of stitching with gold thread (core action)
• The final healing moment (emotional climax)

3.Overall observation and revision: 

• Too many real-world scenes, insufficient dream sequences.Solution: Delete several clinic scenes and add more scenes exploring the memory world.
• The color transition is too rigid.

Step 2: Detailed Storyboard Creation

 I first drew 33 storyboards based on my sketches and story content.

Real-world elements:

• Emphasis on environment: curtains, chairs, etc.
• Establish visual continuity: maintain consistent placement of props within the consultation room.
• Capture subtle emotional changes: convey the establishment of relationships through changes in character posture, eye contact, and distance.

Dream World Section: Establishing a memory fragment classification system:

• Yellow fragments: round, warm-toned, containing happy memories
• Blue fragments: sharp, cold-toned, containing symbols of trauma
• Gray fragments: blurry, undefined, with irregular edges

Then the transition of fragments from blue to yellow indicates unhappiness eroding happiness; from yellow to blue indicates happiness infecting unhappiness.

Suturing and Regression Section:

• Gold Thread Position Breakdown: From the golden thread in the doctor's hand from a distance to a close-up of the golden thread in the doctor's hand.
• Color Emotional Transformation: The gradual process of the blue fragments being "infected" by the gold.
• Realistic Changes Echo: Synchronized changes in the clinic lighting, character postures, and prop status.

 Layering Technique Preparation

Create 5 independent layers for each scene:

• Background Layer: Environment, basic lighting and shadows
• Props Layer: Dolls, memory fragments, gold threads
• Character Layer: Evelyn, CiCi (body parts can be on separate layers)
• Effects Layer: Light, transition effects, dynamic indicators
• Annotation Layer: Arrows, text descriptions (can be hidden later)

Fig 1 storyborad 1

Step 3: Creating dynamic storyboards (making the visuals move)

Project Setup and Material Preparation: High-resolution PNG storyboard images were imported into the Adobe Premiere Pro project and categorized by scene, character, and element.

Rough Cut and Rhythm Adjustment: The footage was arranged in narrative order, with the initial total runtime controlled at approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Subsequent 10 rounds of pacing refinement were conducted, focusing on optimizing the transition duration from reality to dreamscape, the varying cadence of memory fragment shots, and the emotional progression of the gold thread stitching process, ensuring a balanced narrative flow.

Animation and Transition Design:

Image Motion: Multiple frames were drawn, the design from different angles was analyzed, and then strung together.

Core Animation: The gold thread was enhanced with shimmering stars and designed using a bloom mode. Differentiated floating and rotating animations were added to the memory fragments to enhance the dynamism of the space.

Sound and Sound Effects Integration:

A simple piano piece was selected as background music and edited to align with the climaxes of the scenes.

Layered ambient sounds, action sound effects, magical sound effects (such as the unique sound of golden threads growing), and emotional cues were added to enhance key actions and emotional transitions through audio-visual synchronization.

Annotation, Adjustment, and Output: Sounds were categorized, organized, and adjusted to appropriate audio sizes.

Key Creative Decisions and Solutions

Narrative Rhythm: Through repeated adjustments, a rhythmic framework of "real-world setup - dream exploration - climax stitching - emotional fallback" was established, ensuring that the audience can both understand the plot and be emotionally immersed.

Golden Thread Animation: To balance precise control and visual magic, magical audio and shimmering effects were added.

Sound-Visual Relationship: Adhering to the principle that sound serves the visuals, all sound effects and music aim to enhance the emotional impact of the visuals, rather than existing independently.

 Results and Goals

The final dynamic storyboard is not only a dynamic storyboard but also a complete audiovisual rhythm blueprint. It effectively previews the film's sequence, rhythm, basic movement, and emotional atmosphere, providing clear and reliable guidance for subsequent formal animation production.

Fig 2 Video production

Fig 3 Video production

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Final Results Presentation：

Sketch Showcase：

Storyboard：

Final Video:

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Feedback

1.Story Aspects:

Character Background Could Be Richer: Why did Evelyn choose to become a "Memory Stitcher"? Adding some background hints would enhance the character's depth.

Conflict Evolution Could Be More Expected: After discovering the blue memory, a "failed attempt" sequence could be designed to make the final breakthrough more significant.

2. Visual Aspects

Animation Range of Dynamic Scenes: The current action design is rather conservative; one or two more expressive camera movements could be added.

3. Technical Aspects

Richness of Sound Design: More layers of ambient sound could be added, such as the subtle sounds of memory fragments colliding.

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Reflection：

Experience

In this project, I experienced the entire creative process, from the initial idea generation to sketching, storyboard design, animation production, and sound editing. I handled each step personally and experimented with different methods of expression. For example, during the sketching stage, I repeatedly revised character poses and scene compositions to find the most effective visual language. In the storyboard stage, I explored different camera angles and shot pacing to convey emotions. During animation production, I adjusted the fluidity of movements and transitions, and in sound editing, I synchronized sound effects and background music with the rhythm of the visuals. Going through all these stages gave me a deep understanding of how each step contributes to the final work.

Observation

I observed that the more thorough the pre-production planning, the smoother the subsequent stages become. A detailed storyboard not only helps identify potential issues early but also reduces the need for repeated adjustments during animation. For instance, when I clearly defined the timing, character movements, and camera angles in the storyboard, the animation felt more natural, and I didn’t have to constantly revise key frames. I also noticed that each stage of production focuses on different skills: the early stage emphasizes creative thinking, the middle stage focuses on technical implementation, and the final stage is about refinement and integration. This helped me understand the interconnection between all phases of production.

Finding

This experience taught me that following a complete creative workflow not only ensures the quality of the final work but also strengthens project management and problem-solving skills. By personally experiencing each stage, I learned how creativity and technical skills work together to continuously improve a project. I also realized the importance of pre-production planning as the foundation for smooth execution in later stages. In future projects, I will pay more attention to systematic planning and phase-by-phase execution to enhance both efficiency and the expressive power of my work. This experience also boosted my confidence, showing me that I am capable of independently completing a project from concept to finished product.

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