Intro to Zenith
After 2 whole years at Freestyle Academy, I had finally reached the project that’d become my biggest challenge yet. The “Zenith” project at Freestyle, as the title implies, is essentially the programs capstone project. Similar to Explorations, Zenith allows you to choose whatever subject you wish to do for your final work with the intention of using everything you’ve learned to make something truly outstanding. I especially wanted to task on this task by not only doing something I’d be proud of, but something that’d encapsulate as much of what I’ve learned as possible while also covering all aspects of the Animation/Production pipeline, especially since I will be majoring in Creative Producing.
For these reasons, I chose to create a 20 minute storyboarded episode of one of the chapters in my original story Bewilthred. This would be a long-form animatic style video that’d primarily emphasize showing clear emotion and creative composition to tell a story. It’d be a mix of audio, visual, and written work which would help cover a lot of the things I had learned over my time at Freestyle. Most importantly, it’d be a project that’d show how far I’ve come with not only pitching my ideas but also making them real and tangible.
My process was divided into three main stages, Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production. All three of these will be delved into below.
Pre-Production
The Pre-Production stage of my Zenith began with a variety of things. I had to outline and then write the script for the production which I completed in February and then made various Zenith edits in order to make it compatible with the scope of this project. I also did various audio tests, specifically to test against songs with lyrical content (such as in the “Physical” sequence) to see if I could have both lyrics and dialogue. I also scouted out background music that was eventually made into the playlist below.
(Training Practice BGM Playlist)
In addition, I redesigned The League of Chaos, who are side characters who show up briefly in the background. I wasn’t able to get to redesigning them for my pitch book last year, so I’m glad I was able to do so with this project. Finally, the most helpful step I did during pre-production was definitely modeling all of the backgrounds in Roblox Studio so that I could use them as reference when boarding. This made it significantly easier for me as I didn’t have to worry about perspective or inaccuracies as much because I had a 3D reference I could look to in case I was having trouble.
Production
Around April I moved into the Production stage. This began with me creating a rough audio edit where I’d record myself reading the script and add rough sfx and music and then using that as reference for thumbnailing. During the thumbnailing stage, I would go through and make a very quick sketch of every single beat in the script on an app called Cardflow and essentially create the skeleton of what’d become the Thumbnail Edit, which would function as the final episodes very first draft. In this first draft, I could check for timing errors, see if I needed to remove any scenes, etc. Whilst thumbnailing did add an extra step, it saved me a lot of time in the sense that it allowed me to find and stomp out mistakes early rather than going all in and having to fix stuff as I go.
After I finished thumbnailing, I moved onto the boarding stage. Almost every single board for Training Practice was drawn in Ibis Paint X (with some initial boards being done in Toonsquid but I ended up switching after I realized working in Ibis was more comfortable and thus more efficient for me). Boarding is self explanatory as it was mostly just drawing each frame based off what I’d sketched in the thumbnails. The biggest things I tried to focus on whilst boarding were doing dynamic compositions, avoiding similar looking shots, and expressing clear emotion/exaggeration as much as I could. I also tried to focus more on being experimental rather than “perfect” and incredibly clean. I also recruited classmates to become voice actors during this time and I brought them into the Freestyle Iso Booths so they could record various lines which I’d later compile into the final sound mix for Training Practice. In the end, there were 12 voiced characters.
Post-Production
After all of Training Practice was boarded, I then worked on the Intro and Outro sequences, which were both made in After effects. You can watch both of them below! I also used these as my Advanced Learning choices in Digital Media.
In addition, I of course had to move into editing all of my boards to the final sound edit in After Effects. I essentially split each sequence into its own composition so I could save space and be able to adjust individual scenes easier.
I also chose to create a trailer for Training Practice in After Effects to both market the project to people outside of Freestyle, but also to be able to show a snippet of what I’d done during Zenith presentations considering I couldn’t play a 20 minute video in a 15 minute presentation. You can watch it below!
Completed Project
You can watch my Zenith Celebrations below and the full official episode below!
Reflection
You can watch my Zenith reflection and read it’s transcript below!
Hello! My name is Blanki and this is my reflection for my Zenith Project.
The idea for my Zenith project primarily came from the media I used to watch growing up and still adore. I’ve always found indie animation inspirational and have wanted to do my own take on an animated series since I was 10. I’ve fostered a deep passion for storytelling over the years and Freestyle has taught me the skills to help really execute that vision. Thus, I thought it’d be perfect to showcase all I’d learned through a project that helps show others something that’s incredibly near and dear to my heart, which is my original story Bewilthred.
I did a ton of research in order to prepare for this project. I looked into various animatic techniques, watched a ton of sound/video mixing professionals give advice as well as asking friends with experience in both to help me finalize my mixes, and of course I looked to long-form animatic style videos like “Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl” on Youtube to give me an idea of what sort of project I wanted to create in the first place.
The main way I collaborated with others through this project was by recruiting voice actors to voice 11 of the 12 characters in the final production. I also asked for sound/video editing help as I previously mentioned, but I also got a lot of critique throughout my working process that gave me a lot of guidance on how to better my process.
I’d say I improved on all of the 21st Century skills a lot through this project, but I think the ones I came the furthest on was risk-taking and high productivity. I actively chose to do something that would be challenging for me instead of doing something that’d be a bit safer albeit less rewarding. I also worked basically everyday since February to bring this project to its completion, even working over breaks in order to make sure it’d get done. I also took a huge risk putting myself out there with something so vulnerable to begin with.
Having made a full production like this makes me feel confident in doing so again in the future. It also makes me even more confident in completing smaller projects, as I can now fully see the scope of what I could do. It’s also taught me the importance of letting people see your vision and pushing for what you believe in, even if you are scared.
I think I accomplished my project’s objectives very well. I was terrified I’d come out of this with a half-baked, unfinished product, but I kept working and actively kept adjusting my strategy to make sure I’d get work done without burning myself out. I’m extremely proud of that and the fact I’ve managed to come so far in general with my ability to create.
If I could do this project over, I’d likely start even earlier, but other than that I honestly wouldn’t change much. I think I learned a lot from my mistakes, so in the future I’ll use that knowledge to make something even better next time.
Finally, the takeaway I want the reader/listener to have about my project is to never EVER give up. It is an overdone saying, but it’s true! I constantly fought feeling hopeless throughout a lot of this process, but part of what makes finishing a project so thrilling is that it is proof that you can do something you never thought was previously possible. Even if you fail, adding to the world is so much better than passively letting it pass you by. No matter where I go in life, I will never stop creating, and my Zenith project I think helps show that belief as strongly as I could possibly show it.
Thank you for listening! And you should watch my Zenith final product (Training Practice) on May 21st!