Information Design - Final Project

3/2/2024 - 17/3/2025 (Week 1 - Week 7)
Shawn Wong Kai Hen / 0375372
Information Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Final Project

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 INTRUCTIONS 

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 Our Work File 

Week 1
06/02/2025 [Thursday]

Today, I collaborated with nine other students to form a group for our video project. After reviewing the guidelines, we engaged in a discussion on potential topics, ultimately voting to focus on raising awareness about microplastics. The team entrusted me with the role of leader, which I accepted. I then presented our idea to the lecturer, who inquired about our rationale for selecting this topic. Following our discussion, he instructed us to develop a proposal slide and prepare for our presentation next Monday.

08/02/2025 [Saturday]

Preparing Slide and having our 1st meeting online.

Week 2
11/02/2025 [Tuesday]

During today's meeting, we finalized key elements of our project, including the mood board, styling, task distribution, and storyline. We start to discuss about our idea. During the discussion, our leader assign task for our group member, for me i taking animation task, but i also helping our leader to complete the task that others member cant finish because we have very limited time for our project.

Week 3
20/02/2025 [Thursday]

No meeting conducted; members delay a bit on the sketch frame timeline. But it's okay, she did it very quick later and conduct a good work. After having the timeline, our group member starting to sketch our the idea because we need to create an animatic video. Because of some group member issue so the drawing have some delay and cant done in time.

Week 4
24/02/2025 [Monday]
At today, we have a quick meeting with our group leader to discuss about the animation part, because we need to discuss how to separate the drawing layers for more easier to animation. Our leader labeled the parts that required final drawing and assigned tasks to the others including me. We have also completed the initial animatic with basic background music to get a sense of the overall feel. At this stage, I’m not entirely satisfied with the progress. I hope we can speed up a bit so that we have more time for the animation later.

Week 5
03/03/2025 [Monday]
We have our presentation today. Everything goes well. I have asked our lecturer some question about the narrative of our video. Mr. Fauzi gave us some really good idea about we can think of the color and tone of music to sperate the different sections.

05/03/2025 [Wednesday]

This week, our team encountered challenges with our drawings, causing delays in progressing to the coloring stage. Given the time constraints, our leader approached me for assistance with the drawing process. To ensure we meet our deadline, I contributed by completing certain drawing sections and assisting with coloring, helping the team stay on track and finalize the work within the week.

Week 6
10/03/2025 [Monday]
I received a message from our leader informing us that our progress has been delayed due to a lack of advancement since last week. As a result, we had to redo the coloring and drawing multiple times. Maintaining consistency has been challenging since different team members handled the coloring, leading to additional time spent ensuring uniformity and completing the final version.

Week 7
16/03/2025 [Sunday]
This week, we successfully completed all the coloring work. However, we now need to finalize the animation and compile the footage into the final video. As part of the animation team, I took the initiative to continue working on the animation and personally discussed refinements with the team to enhance the overall quality. It has been a challenging process, but we remain committed to achieving the best possible outcome.

 MY WORK SCOPE 

Here are some part im helping the drawing group to complete the drawing part, there have few more scene im draw but i just show some part here.

Fig 1.1 Drawing Outlines - JPEG

After done the drawing part, i need to apply coloring to my scene because is more easier to do the animation. I in charge in scene 5 - 11 for my animation. So i need to done my coloring during week 6 and start the animation part.

Fig 1.2 Scene 5-6 - JPEG

Fig 1.3 Scene 7-8 - JPEG

Fig 1.3 Scene 9-11 - JPEG

Fig 1.4 Scene 9-11 - JPEG

Now we come to the animation part, i start to import the file from Illustrator to After effect for doing my animation. 

Fig 1.5 Animate Scene - JPEG

Fig 1.6 Animate Scene - JPEG

Fig 1.7 Eating Scene - JPEG

Here i need to create a eating animation, first i start to animate the hand to make it like eating the food and the food will disappear. I just need to set the anchor point at the place i want to rotate, and that can make the hand like going left right like eating. After eating the fish and the fish will disappear and run down the esophagus.

Next we come to the next scene which is scene 7 - 11, i just decide to animate in 1 file and is more easier. Here come to the stomach scene, this scene here have not much aniamtion and i just make it fastly slide down out of the screen and will connect the transition to the next scene.

Fig 1.8 Stomach Scene - JPEG

So for the stomach here, it just like a few second scene, i just make it have some wiggle on the water in the stomach like the water gonna blow up from the stomach, after that the stomach will fastly slide down out of the screen.

Fig 1.9 Stomach Drop Down Scene - JPEG

Because for the previous scene the stomach are dropping down, so here i have make a transition that the stomach drop from the top and drop into the water. I also have adding some wave on the water and some wiggle on the stomach make it like the stomach are floating on the water.

Fig 1.10 Stomach Drop Down Scene - JPEG

After the previous scene, i also make a transition and come to this scene, for here also keep it simple and i just make wave for the water and some wiggle for the trash.

Fig 1.11 Magnifier Scene - JPEG

After a few second, a magnifier will come out and show up the word microplastic's also adding some wiggle for the magnifier like finding the word. My first idea is create the magnifier zoom bigger effect but because of some layer issue so cant apply the effect and i just keep it simple.

 Final Submission 

🫵🏿 I WOULD LIKE TO  WATCH ON YOUTUBE. 

Special Thanks to my team who contribute to this video:
Lead: Jun Jie
Sketchframe: Yang Zhi Ching
Drawing: Jin Rong，Ser Chen

Coloring: Tze Wei，Ser Chen
Animator: Yu Tian，ChaoRan，Ying Yi，Me
Sound & Compilation: Simon Ko Jing Liang

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 Feedback 

Week 1 - No Feedback Given

Week 2 - Narrow down your target audience. NGOs and activists are already aware of the issue, so they may not be your primary audience. Similarly, the government prefers a more formal video style, which may not align with your relaxed approach. Instead, students and children would be a more suitable audience. Additionally, try to find information on whether Malaysia's Parliament has discussed this issue. If so, including it would strengthen your content. Take care of the video length since the timeline currently not include the scene-to-scene transition yet. Your progress is advanced keep it up! Make sure your team knows how to use A5ter Effects properly.

Week 3 - I love the drawing sketches. Impress me a lot. it is complete. I can imagine the animation already. Who draw it Discuss with the drawing team what software to use for final drawing. Confirm Art Direction then you could start your Final Drawing. Can straightaway do what you're currently doing. Voice Over can use AI BUT (need to mention in e-portfolio).

Week 4 - No feedback given. Keep doing, good progress.

Week 5 - Your group might sperate scene by using colors from light to dark tone or using background music to create the climax part. So far looking good.

Week 6 - Your final art style looks weird at this point. Make sure the color scheme was aligned to all scenes. Check all the strokes on and off make everything looks like a theme.

Week 7 - No class today. Everyone proceeds on your own work.

 Reflection 

Throughout the research and development of our microplastics awareness video, I gained valuable insights into both the severity of the issue and the challenges of effectively conveying environmental concerns. Initially, I underestimated the complexity of microplastic pollution, but as I delved into scientific studies and real-world data, I came to understand how deeply these pollutants are embedded in our daily lives.

One of the most significant aspects of this project was crafting a compelling narrative. Rather than merely presenting statistics, we focused on storytelling to illustrate the journey of microplastics through the environment. This approach underscored the importance of making information both engaging and relatable, ensuring that the message resonated with the audience.

Additionally, I noticed that while general awareness of plastic pollution exists, many people remain unaware of the long-term effects of microplastics on human health and ecosystems. This realization emphasized the need for clearer messaging and actionable solutions, which we carefully integrated into our video.

The greatest challenge was striking a balance between scientific accuracy and audience engagement. We needed to simplify complex concepts without diluting their significance. This experience reinforced the importance of visual storytelling and structured content delivery—skills that will be invaluable in future projects.

Overall, this project not only deepened my understanding of microplastic pollution but also highlighted the power of digital media in raising awareness and driving meaningful change.

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