All posts by Mingzhu Jing

Year 2 work experience

7th March 2023Daily homeworkMingzhu Jing

In collaboration with a year 2 student Yifan Lyu, I was given the task of drawing a scene in which a character falls through the air in an animation.

Firstly, Yifan Lyu, discussed the plot of her work with me. The main story is about a girl with a social phobia, who is afraid of speaking in a crowded place, resists physical contact with others in a crowded place and is reluctant to go out and socialise with people. With the warmth and encouragement of his family, he eventually overcame his fears and tried to face life. My drawing work was mid-story when her mother called her and she was sucked in by the phone and fell through the air into her mother’s arms.

After Yifan told me what I was working on, I did a search for information on some of the poses and movements from the sky. I looked at scenes from animated and live action films for reference and comparison, mainly in relation to the position of the characters and perspective. From the references I found commonalities in the falling poses and similarities to my task.

At the same time, I added some of my own personal observations, I think it would have made the story clearer to switch the shots during the fall, where she sees her mother first and then jumps into her arms. I think it would have been better to have a progression in the sequence.

I had a lot of problems during the painting process, but I was very fortunate that I was able to complete my assignment and get the approval of Yifan. She thought she might consider adding a camera shift, which is a good point!

During the drawing process, I kept communicating with yifan, hoping to understand the character better so that I could understand her better and draw her accurately.

I think I gave my all in this project, but I still have a lot to work on in terms of the perspective of the figures. This is something I didn’t do very well and it was the hardest part of the project for me. Because I rarely see this kind of movement, I had a hard time imagining it and drawing it. And because it’s a drop, the hair swaying and the clothes swaying are both difficult. I think I could improve on the perspective and the swaying of the clothes.

In my opinion, I help the animation director to draw a sketch of the movement of one of the shots, which in animation work I consider to be the job of the animator or split-screen artist. Drawing some keyframes or storyboards.

The learning on the course helped me a lot. The life drawing of the human body allowed me to avoid many mistakes in the body structure during the drawing process, and the basic principles of animation were able to help me catch the movement, gesture and timing of the character during the drawing process.

I think I learnt and learned a lot through this experience, starting with collaboration and communication skills, as I helped the director with her split, so we had to keep communicating with each other to achieve the best results. Drawing the split drafts required me to be able to refine the storyline and character emotions through the images she drew. This has honed my visual narrative skills and will help me to better express myself in future art and design projects. Secondly, being involved in the production process allowed me to understand the various aspects of animation production, including character design, storyboarding, scene design, animation and post-production. This will be very useful for my future graduation design and for my future career in the animation industry.

After this happy collaboration, I have improved and grown a lot in terms of communication, animation flow and split-screen drawing. I had a great time working and communicating with yifan, and she also gave me comfort and advice for my confusion and distress as a first-year student in my studies, and I am very honoured to have this experience, which will be the most memorable one of my term2!

Here’s all my experience！

Sand Stopmotion – Material Expansion

6th March 2023Reflection & ExpansionMingzhu Jing

My presentation about the two stop-motion sand paintings, <Pan Gu >and <White Snake>, got me very interested in ink stop-motion animation in the form of sand paintings.

I have tried using sand for framing before, this time I tried to be innovative and the material I used was – sesame. I was thinking about using different materials to create an ink and wash style. Sesame seeds are similar to sand in that they are both grainy, as I didn’t have white sesame seeds I couldn’t do some gradient effects, but here are some of the experiments and explorations I did.

I try to use sesame seeds to arrange different shapes boats, hats, fish, monkeys?

I used a few tools to try and create different textures, such as floss and forks, which didn’t work very well due to the limited space and number of sesame seeds but still worked, and the annual and flat textures could be used as backgrounds or transitions.

I have experimented with some Chinese ink and wash styles, Tai Chi and landscapes.

This is a new beginning for me, and I will be experimenting with more textures and materials for stop-motion animation, and then I will enrich the material with some script ideas to make it more complete.

Life Drawing

1st March 2023Daily homeworkMingzhu Jing

Weekly life drawing classes on the human body keep me in good hands and in my opinion it is very important to observe the details of the human body. The proportions of the model’s body, the lines and contours, the dynamics and so on. Only by careful observation can we truly understand and express the form and structure of the human body.

Life drawing of the human body is a great way to practice observation and skills. Through nearly six months of practice, I have gradually improved my drawing skills and techniques, as well as becoming more acute in observing and perceiving the form and structure of the body.

The 30-second sketch of the human body usually emphasises speed and agility, requiring us to be able to capture the pose and movement of the model quickly and draw it as quickly as possible. In this style of sketching, the work is usually more concise and abstract, conveying only the general outline and gesture of the body.

In contrast, the longer 2-3 minute sketch of the human body allows for more in-depth observation and expression of the details and emotions of the body. I have more time to look more closely at the pose and dynamics of the model, showing the proportions of the body, the muscular and skeletal structure, as well as the emotion and expression.

In general, life drawing has played a big role in my understanding of human structure and character drawing.

Charcoal Animation

20th February 2023Stop motionMingzhu Jing

Charcoal stop-motion animation is a very interesting art form that uses hand-drawn or charcoal drawings to create stop motion. This form of animation often gives a very unique visual experience as it captures the detail and texture of the lines, making the animation look more realistic. I had never tried this approach before.

We mainly used larger grams of watercolour paper, the thicker thickness of which made it possible to avoid the paper becoming unusable due to heavy wear and tear during the drawing process, and the charcoal pencils were divided into different thickness and hardness so that the texture of the drawing would be different.

There were two types of experience, one was stop-motion animation through toner and the other was making a self-portrait together as a class.

For the toner stop-motion animation, I used a grinding tool to grind the charcoal into powder for stacking to create the effect of waves, and added white powder to the ebb section to make the image look clearer and more three-dimensional.

Drawing a self-portrait together as a class was more of a new form for me we drew for 2-3 minutes leaving our canvas and through multiple actions eventually becoming a huge experimental stop-motion animation. This activity allowed me to try drawing with carbon strips for the first time, a process I found very testing in terms of hand drawing skills and control of the line, requiring me to accurately capture the texture and detail of the line and to capture my own appearance.

All in all, I had a lot of fun and I learnt a lot of new techniques and forms of animation. Charcoal can produce a stronger contrast between black and white and more pronounced textures, which brings more expressiveness to my future work. Also, the nature of charcoal drawing allows me to make quick revisions and changes on paper at will. This freedom and flexibility allows me to be more creative and imaginative.

Animation and Business – Howl’s Moving Castle and Loewe

15th February 2023Reflection & ExpansionMingzhu Jing

The Howl’s Moving Castle animated film has a high audience reach and influence as a form of cultural entertainment. A co-branding with a well-known luxury brand allows the luxury brand to gain exposure and recognition in front of a wider audience, enhancing brand awareness.

Animated films often come with some kind of theme or storyline, and co-branding with a luxury brand can create a new brand story or plot for the brand and the film, thus adding interest and storytelling to the brand and the film, which is more likely to be of interest and resonate with consumers.

For example, Calcifer and Moving Castle, the co-branding has spawned many products such as food lines for macarons and biscuits; clothing lines for hats and scarves; and card cases and bags

In terms of publicity effects, the offline pavilion, online promotion and surrounding wall graffiti have all played a very good role in promoting the brand, attracting widespread attention from young consumers From these aspects, the effect of Hal’s mobile castle in association with Loewe can be considered a success.

The co-branding attracted a lot of attention from anime fans and luxury goods lovers, as well as created a wide range of discussions and buzz on social media. The co-branded products have also received good sales performance, proving that consumers have a high level of recognition and willingness to buy the co-branded products. In addition, the co-branding has brought more young consumers to the Roewe brand, further expanding the brand’s audience base.

All in all, the Hal’s Moving Castle and Loewe co-branding can be said to be a successful collaboration that has brought good publicity, sales performance and brand image enhancement for both brands.

The exhibition hall also honours the film and its fans by displaying the original hand-drawn manuscripts.

Kew Garden——Animation and Nature

7th February 2023Museums ＆ exhibitionsMingzhu Jing

I recently visited Kew Gardens and not only did I feel the beauty and magic of nature, but I also got some inspiration and insight from the visit.

The garden has greenhouses for flowers and the warm and humid environment provides for the survival of a diverse range of plants. It also shows the magnificence and diversity of nature. I saw many flowers and plants that I had never seen before, in all their different forms and colours, which made you amazed at the creativity and wonders of nature. The visit also made me realise that we can also draw inspiration and creative materials from nature in our animation work to make it more colourful.

I imagined and drew some sketches based on the roots of a bonsai tree, a few elfs, with the image of the elf also referencing some flowers and plants. I also drew the tree sprites based on the grain of a tree in the park. The plants are like little miniature worlds, perhaps a tiny plant hiding a whole kingdom of little people!

I think in animation I need to focus on the ecosystem and the balance presented in the work to make it more natural and realistic. The botanical garden shows exactly that.

Another thought was about the plant textures, where tens of thousands of plants have their own unique ‘coat’, which varies from plant to plant depending on climate, temperature, humidity, time and space. I was inspired by these wonderful textures. They can be used in future animations, such as textures for stop-motion transitions.

To sum up, my visit to Kew Gardens has given me a deep sense of the beauty and magic of nature, and I have gained many inspirations and insights from it. I believe that in my future studies and creations, I will draw more inspiration and creative materials from nature, pay attention to the ecological balance and natural authenticity in my works, as well as bring my unique creativity and thinking skills into play.