The Zenith Project is the final Freestyle project for electives, where students are given the freedom to produce whatever they wish based on their chosen elective.
For my Zenith, I would attempt to create my most impressive project ever. And managed to succeed in doing so.
My Zenith project is a 2D/3D animation titled “Monarch of the Mandala.” This animation is heavily based on my World Building project “The Mana Sorcerers of Shadomu” as it takes place in its world with characters from that world. The premise is in the style of King of the Hill, where the Mandala in the middle of the plaza is the goal, and the 5 characters are fighting over control of the Mandala. I thought this could be a good way to show off characters from my world in action.
Monarch of the Mandala would be a massive risk for me, as I have never done 2D animation prior, and the animation was rather long that I had in mind. I vividly remember my teacher and classmates asking “are you sure you can handle this?” It would’ve been more ideal to do something less ambitious, but I was up for the challenge, as I saw it as a project I could be proud of. I’ve usually been someone who worked very fast, so even if it didn’t turn out as expected, there was still a chance it all could come together.
Along the way I had to teach myself 2D animation. I could’ve made 3D models of the characters and used that. However, since I envision The Mana Sorcerers of Shadomu to be a 2D animated series, It made sense to stick with 2D. Plus, more room with stylish visuals, something I wanted to include to make the animation stand out. I did want to also show what I learned in 3D animation, so I made a 3D background. That way I could focus more on drawing the characters. The 3D background was perfect as it was easy to put together but still visually appealing and fit the intense mood of the animation. Throughout this project I became somewhat of a workaholic. Constantly wanting to meet milestones and make progress on this vision I had. It was great to have ambition, but sometimes it was a bit unhealthy as I should also find time for other things and take care of myself. However it may have been a blessing given how large the scale was for this project.
I couldn’t be more happy with the outcome of this extremely rigorous and ambitious project. As someone who has become engulfed by the idea of world building and creating characters, this animation brings it all to life. Monarch of the Mandala is the perfect sendoff for me from Freestyle as it demonstrates the person I’ve become, who I want to be, and what I want to produce. This project was very long, and even when I made a milestone, such as finishing sketching out the animatic, I still had a long way to go, and I can’t believe it all came together so well. I am so proud of myself for producing this all by myself and I am forever grateful for the amazing support and praise I got as this animation was put together.
Animation Itself:
Process:
