{"id":28,"date":"2024-10-28T22:01:23","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freestyleacademy.rocks\/~JackC\/?page_id=28"},"modified":"2026-06-03T05:11:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T05:11:01","slug":"zenith","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/freestyleacademy.rocks\/~JackC\/zenith\/","title":{"rendered":"Zenith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the semester at Freestyle Academy was about to come to an end, I reached to one of the last projects that was also my biggest challenge yet: the Zenith <\/strong>project. If you don’t know what the “Zenith” project is, the Zenith project is a presentation similar to the Explorations project, and it allows you to come up with various ideas and turn them into a final product. Additionally, you also have to tell everything that you’ve learned in your elective class and make it outstanding in front of your peers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For my project, I wanted to create a story that could be relatable and cute, so I went with a short film called “Through the Water”, about a 12-year-old boy named Copper that meets his reflection in the pond that’s next to his house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When I first thought of doing the project, I drew a little sketch a month ago that features an anonymous person looking at a puddle and seeing his reflected self having three eyes. I used it as a test to come up with the idea for my story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two weeks later, I’ve decided to draw another sketch, but this time I used Photoshop to do it (which you can see below). It features the same scenarios as the previous sketch, but I’ve made it in LEGO form, because originally, the medium was supposed to be stop-motion with legos. However, I had to scrap it because it would take too much time, and it was difficult for me to choose which medium to animate the story, since I was also stuck on choosing either 2D or 3D animation around that time. Once it was decided, I went with 2D animation so it would make the process faster.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Digital concept art.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Behind-the-scenes shot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I also made a document to write down the plot of “Through the Water”, but it was different from the current version: the story was supposed to take place during the modern times, and it would feature Copper seeing his reflection through a mirror rather than water, and he would meet his reflection through a TV screen and have fun times together until he tells him he had to go back to where he came from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first I thought the story would work, but I scrapped it because when my dad was helping me with the project, he said my story was cool, but he told me that I should rather focus on getting whatever I need to get done so I can present the project to the whole class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Production on “Through the Water” begun during the weekend, where I had to draw lego versions of two of my characters on two sticky notes, Copper and Reppoc. Copper is, like I said, a 12-year-old boy who lives with his dad in the woods. Reppoc is Copper’s reflection through the water, but with green skin and three eyes, and he also comes from a dimension where everyone has the same appearance as him. Furthermore, I also drew a character named Jim, who is the father of Copper and wants his son getting to do hard work, but has a hard time due to his son’s annoyance of doing chores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prototype Copper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Prototype reppoC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I’ve realized that I’ve switched to making the film 2D animated, I drew the models on Adobe Photoshop after the lego form was abandoned for a more cartoony look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copper character model<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Reppoc character model<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jim character model<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bio of Copper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bio of Reppoc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bio of Jim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Behind-the-scenes shot of Jim’s character model.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After doing the characters, I went on to do the backgrounds of Copper’s house on Photoshop. First, I drew out the sketches of the house and then I took a snapshot of the sketch so I would trace it digitally. It took me a few days to get the backgrounds done and overall it was quite easy. The other backgrounds are traced from a few shots I took of my storyboards around the same time too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sketch of the house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Digital background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sideview of the house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Interior of the house #1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Interior of the house #2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time I did the backgrounds, I did the storyboard for the story, which starts off with Copper looking out through the window until he gets called by his dad, who tells him to pitch a bucket of water out from the pond, but Copper isn’t too pleased about it. He walks out to the pond, but when he was about to scoop a bucket of water, he sees his reflection, Reppoc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copper becomes a little frightened and runs back to his dad so he can show him. However, Copper’s dad doesn’t see it, thinking that it was just Copper’s imagination and walks back. Copper goes back to the pond and sees his reflection again so he could look closer. Copper gets a little calmer once he interacts with Reppoc, even bringing him a bucket full of water through the pond, which Copper thanks him for. Once Jim was calling Copper’s name, Copper waves goodbye to Reppoc and runs back to his dad, ending the film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storyboards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Storyboard #1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Storyboard #2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Storyboard #3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Storyboard #4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Storyboard #5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Storyboard #6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Post-Production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Soon when the Zenith presentation was about to start, I really had to rush through the project before I had to come up. Because I didn’t have much time, I only put in a few shots of storyboards 2-3 as a preview for the film. Even though I didn’t get to do the full movie, at least I got a little bit of progress done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a short animatic down below! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n