This project has been hyped up since I joined Freestyle academy. Ever since I saw the previous years Zenith projects, I wanted to create something great. I wanted to create a short 2D fight scene animation.
Pre-Production
This is Thatcher Ruina; the main character of my Zenith. I didn’t originally create him for my Zenith. Actually, I didn’t make him for anything. I just started drawing one day and added random features onto a body. And now I have a Thatcher.
This is usually how I prefer to create new characters. I draw a random character then based on the vibes I get, I make a story. For Thatcher, his general story is that he’s a competitive fighter in a world where fighting is indirectly linked to how different species are viewed. For example, let’s say that a cat and dog fought each other and the cat won. Until the next championship fighting tournament is held, dogs would be seen as weaker than cats. Basically sports teams.
Characters
Once I had a main character, I started to come up with other characters to add in. The only other character aside from Thatcher and Thorn that isn’t based off of an actual species is Thyceer(He’s a cat-dragon thing).
Storyboards & Sketches
Once I was done making characters, I started working on the story.
I ended up realizing during the storyboarding process that creating a full blown animation was going to take too long so instead, I opted to create a PMV (Picture Music Video). For context, a PMV is basically the faster version of animation; it shows general movements & scenes.
In total, my PMV was 46 frames.
Once I was done working on the individual frames, I moved onto stitching everything together In After Effects.
Final Product
Presentation Video
Final words
Hello! My name is Ashley(some people call me AJ) and this is my Zenith Reflection.
The reason I chose to create a fight scene animation was because I REALLY like animated fight scenes. Also, a previous senior’s work inspired me to try to create a high quality animation. I ultimately was not able to fully fulfil my goal of that, but I’m still content with what I put out.
Most of my artistic influence comes from just random animation videos that I’ve seen online and Anime/Manga. I like to read manga in my spare time and watch Anime. For this project, things like Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer inspired me to create my fight scene animation. I also did some prior research specifically for the combat animation itself. I referenced videos of people doing martial arts and also watched combat videos to see how people dodge and when people attack.
I don’t really think that I improved too much in terms of my skills. I mostly used the prior knowledge that I had in animation and After Effects. Most of the things I was doing for this project weren’t technically hard, just time consuming.
I think my biggest learning experience was understanding my limits and how to pivot. I think that for future projects, I will avoid overestimating my abilities and stick to doing what I know I can do.
I don’t think this is my ultimate/most successful freestyle project. I feel like this is more of a small, creative project I did on the side. I feel like the Narrative II project that I did in Animation was better than this. I tried to pour my heart out for this project, but ultimately, I didn’t have enough time to “Cook”. I wasn’t really able to put out my ABSOLUTE BEST. But, I am content with the outcome of this project. It’s not the best I could’ve made, but I still think it’s good.
As for my presentation, I think it went well. I didn’t expect to get compliments on my work, but I did. It made me happy to know that other people also enjoyed what I made.
So remember kids, Don’t overestimate yourself but don’t hold yourself back. It’s alright to experiment, to tinker, to explore different things. You can’t grow out if you stay put. Branch out! Have fun! Enjoy life!
This is Ashley, Signing out!
Truly, a Lenith of all time