Film Description

This interlude sequence is primarily inspired by Immanuel Kant and approaches the narrative from transcendental epistemology : how we organize and understand the external world through innate “a priori cognitive categories” (such as the inherent intuitions of time and space) in order to process the “a posteriori materials” of reality (namely, lived experience). Everything in the world must enter our senses as “material” before cognition can occur; without these experiential materials, cognition has no source. Moreover, this process of cognition is not only used to understand the external world, but also to confront the fundamental question of subjectivity itself — “Who am I? What am I?” However, when this transcendental cognitive mechanism can no longer function properly on the level of perception, the subject falls into the pathological condition of “alienation syndrome.” In this state, the perceptions of time and space that normally regulate reality begin to fracture. The subject can no longer feel that they exist within the same spatiotemporal reality as the world around them, as though separated from reality by a kind of “screen.” Once the transcendental intuition of time and space collapses, a chain reaction follows: first comes the distortion of materials, where incoming experiences of reality become warped; next comes the distortion of the world itself, as the subject begins rejecting and denying the now-mutated external reality; finally comes the distortion of the self, because the existence of the self fundamentally depends upon a coherent narrative of “who I am.” When the very tools of cognition themselves become distorted, the subject can no longer feel or affirm “who I am,” and thus denying their own existence. Faced with the complete collapse of the self, the subject’s response is to “attempt to detach from all material.” In the work, this is visualized through the vast blank snowfield — a space symbolizing the total stripping away of all past experiences and all a posteriori materials. Once everything has been removed, what remains? Only the “I” itself, and the “subject of cognition” that continues the act of knowing. Even if my state of existence has become distorted, and everything I perceive is an illusion, by resynthesizing all remaining fragments of knowledge within the inner self, the subject arrives at a more fundamental truth. At this point, the “I” is no longer treated as an “object that can be known,” but rather as the very subject through which epistemology itself becomes possible. From here, the subject is finally able to prove “I exist.” To resolve the temporal dislocation and alienation syndrome portrayed in the story, the final scene first draws inspiration from the closing tonal atmosphere of One Hundred Years of Solitude, particularly the idea of putting “the past, present, and future” together . This claim reconstructing the continuity of the self. Through this line, the subject rebinds the dimensions of time and space, affirming that the “I” exists within a continuous state of narration across past, present, and future. In doing so, the subject resists the previous condition of discontinuity and self-negation caused by the fractures in time and space. Lastly, when she finally says, “After all, I belong to that place, even if I feel that I exist within an illusion,” it signifies that, after establishing the certainty that “I truly exist,” she do not completely reject the importance of experiential reality and a posteriori material. This is not merely a metaphysical argument within epistemology; it is also an act of psychological reconciliation — an acceptance of the wounded self that once existed in the past, transcending cognition itself.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know if this film is good, just meet the basic standard or can’t be understood as I just keep pushing myself to finish and try to go though the whole production process of 2D and 3D during the process which is the main intend when I first started making this film and I haven’t ask for feedback from others, so not sure the quality of the film.

I think I already put in the effort and being in a tough, stressful situation that more than I can imagine during the making process, but I can still manage it every time.

I worked around seven hours a day for around two month when really steps into the main process of making, I kept constructing the story and learning the basic to build up the foundation first before this two months.

Lastly, I don’t like the 3D animation part as it losing a bit of performance and not smooth enough. Also, the emotion feel too intense and too focus on herself, even this feeling really describe her feeling at that high point of the moment, but I think it is too much and over cover the reflectiveness which I mainly want to convey in this film .However, I learn a lot during the process and can trobleshooting the problem in every production stage when I have the basic knowledge, even I didn’t know what’s the problem but I can try another approach!

After finishing the rotopology, uv mapping and cutting, I exported my low and high poly version into Substance Painter.

In Substance Painter, I baked my character in a high poly version, so it can retrieve the original details sculpted in Zbrush.

I tried to used the color selection inside the black mask, as I created a ID map by assigning vertex color in maya .However, it didn’t work even having a double check for the process I had done.

For the skin texture, I assigned the base skin color first, then use a darker and saturated red with a invert dirt mask in multiply mode to create some color variation for the face.

The mostly used tab in black mask is generator for dirt and metal Edge wear, filter for blur ,fill for noise and ambient occlusion and level for invert the mask. The mode I used sometime is multiply, subtract and linear dodge.

As the model imported from Zbrush has a very dense polyface count, I retopologized by clicking it ,made it a live surface and used the Quad Draw tool to create faces square by sqaure to reduce its polycount and create a better edge loop for a better performance in skinning process later.

I made a reverse IK for the feet, IK for the leg, FK for the body and the arm.

I made the cage room in maya, the original vision is the third one, but it feels like the one which we normal see in daily life — a normal cage with ordinary living room set up, that’s fine but my film is quite abract and it somehow limiting what viewer can imaging, not just thinking — Oh! There’s a cage and the charater is inside it without a door to go out, this film is about being trapped, but there’re something more than that, so I modify a bit by making the cage in a curvey design and delete some elements.

The snowy mountain was made in Houdini, which was using the heightfield node, it will create a plane for you to add up more node inside its system later .Then, create highfield noise node and distort node with a highfield paint mask to have a basic visual and placement.

Next, add the heightfield project node with a mask of a curve plane to create the river, resample node for a more subdivided polygon faces .Using distorted by layer node to modify the internal attribute — height for a more varied height ,erode and slump node for more natural looks. Lastly, convert it into polygon ,unwrap uv and poly reduce to export it to Maya in obj format by rop geometry node.

Using Zbrush for sculpting.

Start with z sphere to stack up the basic spheres into a proper proportion of the character ,then going to the normal sculpting mode to sculpt.

The brush I use the most is Move brush, ClayBuild up, Demian Standard and Standard brush for the beginning, Trim Dynamic and Smooth brush for polishing, the Inflat brush for filling the small hole after Dynamesh.

I export the sculpted character in 512vx to Maya (vx is a uniy symbol that a 3D cube inside a volunmetric grid which Dynamesh uses, this unit doesn’t shows directly in ZBrush menu as it is a internal calculation tool, after calculating it delete the vixel grid and turns back to standard polygon). This resolution adjustment finds in top menu, Zplug in, Decimation Master, 512.

Referenced video for research:

Opening and Ending Introduction

• Pure White Background:
• Use a completely white background to instantly focus the viewer’s attention without any visual distractions or noise.
• Hand-Drawn Aesthetic:
• The central character use a black-and-white line art style. This personalised character design directly showcases the creator’s visual development and character design abilities. The more traditional and simplified animation style also demonstrates strong foundational animation skills.

Negative Space Dominance:

• Approximately 85% – 90% of the screen remains pure white negative space, creating a minimal and refined visual atmosphere.

Typography Spacing & Balance:

• Since the amount of text is minimal and must visually balance with the small animated icon in the centre, the letter spacing should be increased beneath the illustration, to make both have a spacious visual.
• The name and character illustration together occupy around three-quarters of the screen height, including the spacing between elements.

Timing:

• Intro screen pause: approximately 3 seconds
• Ending screen pause: approximately 4 seconds
• Total showreel duration: around 1 minute 30 seconds

Colour Palette:

• Use black, white, and dark grey tones for both the intro and outro text. These neutral colours create a clean and understated appearance while allowing the animation work itself to remain the visual focus.

Similar Typeface Styles the showreel had:

• Sans-serif or Geometric Sans-serif typefaces such as:
• Futura
• Montserrat
• These fonts feel modern, clear, and visually professional.

Contact Information

1) Format:

• The heading “Contact” should use a slightly bolder font weight.
• Below it, display :Professional Gmail address (preferably including full name)
• Phone number with international country code

2) Positioning:

• Place the contact information in the bottom-right corner using a smaller font size.

3) Consistency:

• The outro layout and typography should visually match the intro screen exactly.

Outro Message:

• End the showreel with:
• “Thank you for watching my Showreel”

Main Animation Showcase Section

L-Shaped Black Border Layout

• Use subtle dark grey or black blocks on the left side and bottom of the frame (letterboxing style).
• This creates dedicated areas for information without covering the animation itself.
• The neutral colour scheme ensures the viewer’s focus remains on the animation.

Project Index (Top Left)

• Occupies approximately:
• One-fourth to one-fifth of the screen length
• Around one-eleventh of the screen width
• Include:
• A large project number such as “01”
• Project title

Role & Software Information (Bottom Section)

• Occupies approximately one-ninth of the screen width.
• Include:
• Your production role
• Specific contribution attribution (Character Animation and Layout)
• Software used (TVPaint)

Branding

• Place the school or studio logo (Gobelins in this video) in the bottom-left corner to increase professional credibility and authority.

Animation Production Process Presentation

• Retain dynamic timeline markers during production process footage.
• Allow certain frames or sketches to extend beyond the visible screen area.
• These areas can be separated using line dividers or darker overlays to indicate process layers and workflow differences.
• This helps communicate the authenticity of the production process.

Scene Transition & Multi-Role Presentation

If the same animation scene includes multiple responsibilities (for example both colouring and animation), present them together in a continuous transition instead of repeatedly showing the same scene separately. Smooth visual transitions can communicate multiple stages of contribution more elegantly and efficiently.

Rhythm & Pacing

• Reading Time:
• Important text explanations and transitions should remain on screen for 2 – 3 seconds to ensure viewers have enough time to read comfortably.

Visual Guidance:

• Use minimal border lines or framing elements to define the viewing space while pairing them with dynamic timeline markers to reinforce professionalism.
• Background Treatment:
• Use subtle grey or unobtrusive colour blocks during transitions so the audience’s focus always remains on the animation work itself.

How I Can Build My Showreel From This Structure

Intro Stage – Establishing a Strong First Impression

• Visual Design:
• Use a minimalist design approach with a pure white background and approximately 90% negative space to create a professional and clean atmosphere.
• Typography:
• Use Sans-serif or Geometric Sans-serif fonts such as:
• Futura
• Using only black and grey tones while keeping font variations subtle and visually cohesive.

Central Icon:

• Place a personalised character or illustration at the exact centre of the screen. If time allows, add a small looping animation to give the icon subtle movement and personality.

Text Layout:

• Display the full name at the top with increased letter spacing.
• Place “Animation Showreel” beneath the central icon.

Contact Information:

• In the bottom-right corner, use smaller typography to display:
• Professional Gmail address
• International phone number
• Alignment Rules:
• Core elements such as the name, icon, and title must follow strict centre alignment to maintain visual stability and balance.

Content Stage – Presenting Work & Technical Transparency

Attribution & Project Information

Each project clip should clearly display:

• Project title
• Studio or company logo (if applicable)
• Specific production responsibilities
• Software used

L-Shaped Information Layout

Use L-shaped dark grey framing areas on the left and bottom sides of the screen to place information clearly without obstructing the animation itself.

• Left-side rectangular section width: approximately one-eleventh of the screen
• Bottom section width: approximately one-ninth of the screen area

In the beginning part of my CV, I include where I am from, my specialization, and my expectations for the future of the animation industry. In the ‘About Me’ section, I mention full 3D animation production and the ability to work in a team. This suggests the possibility of holding positions responsible for coordination or communication across various stages of 3D animation in the future – a potential career role. Regarding Software/Skills, I have created a table to establish a connection between software and technical skills.

The content in ‘Experience’ is also connected to what is mentioned in ‘About Me.’ It showcases a wide range of skills in 3D animation production (corresponding to the 3D Self-Directed Film project) and experience working as part of a film team (corresponding to the 2D Group Project).

I create a logo by drawing a cartoon style of my face laying on a drawing paper. Her mouth is holding a pencil, representing my identity as an artist and creator. I used an unusual green for the character’s eyes, and her gaze does not look directly at the viewer. This suggests that her thoughts are as imaginative and free-roaming as her eyes, and her gaze reflecting her unique perspective in observing the world (looking into the distance).

The font is in a hand-drawn style, and the words “Concept Artist” and “Animator” are arched to fit the outer silhouette of the character. I then implemented the same logo on my website and CV.

Referenced link for research:

Morgane Billault

1) Website Structure & First Brand Impression

Professional Domain & Consistency:

• Ensure the website domain is professional and aligned with the personal brand identity.

Visual Design & Background:

• Use a pure white background without unnecessary visual noise to maintain a clean and minimal aesthetic.

• Avoid placing text inside heavy bounding boxes or containers, even for written content, in order to preserve visual clarity and openness.

Brand Identity:

•The creator’s name should be clearly displayed at the top of every page.

Navigation & Layout:

• The navigation bar has a clear and organised structure, including:

. Projects

. About / CV

. Contact

2) Project Content & Depth of Presentation

Project Details & Behind the Scenes:

• Each project page includes a “Behind the Scenes” section that presents:
• Sketches
• Production process
• Inspirations and references
• Final outcomes
• also include reflections on favourite parts of the creative workflow and personal insights. This helps demonstrate the creator’s depth of thinking, artistic passion, and professional process.

Homepage Prioritisation:

• The homepage should feature the most visually striking and best-designed project first in order to capture attention immediately.

3) Typography, Layout & Visual Balance

• Use subtle light blue accents or restrained colour variations to distinguish different categories of content while maintaining a clean overall visual tone.
• Typography remains spacious with generous letter spacing to preserve hierarchy and visual breathing room.
• Use fewer than three font families throughout the website. Font variations remain subtle, such as slightly heavier weights derived from the same typeface family.
• Choose simple, thin, and widely spaced typography to create visual balance with animation-based artwork.
• To separate sections of similar text content, only use thin divider lines in the same colour as the typography, while maintaining generous spacing between sections.

Project Layout & Borders:

• Since the site uses minimal text and a pure white background, project borders remain extremely thin or nearly invisible to maintain a refined and balanced composition.

Similar Typeface of the website :

• Inter is currently considered an industry-standard web design typeface due to its neutral, modern appearance and excellent screen readability.

Recommended settings:

• Font Weight: Light 300 or Extra Light 200
• Letter Spacing: 0.05em — 0.1em

4) Contact Information & Functional Structure

Placement of Contact Information:

• Visible contact details should appear in the footer of every page.

About Page Requirements:

• Personal background and experience
• Contact information
• Professional software and technical skills

Cross-Project Navigation:

• At the end of each project page, include an “OTHER PROJECTS” link or section that guides viewers toward additional works and encourages further exploration.

Professional Contact Methods:

• Clearly display a professional Gmail address and other contact methods so visitors can easily reach out without confusion.

How I Can Implement These Ideas Into My Website

I can implement these design principles by creating a minimal and highly structured portfolio website focused on clarity, visual balance, and professional presentation. The website would use a clean white interface, refined typography such as Inter, and spacious layouts to allow the animation work to remain the primary visual focus. Each project page would include detailed behind-the-scenes development, including concept art, workflow breakdowns, and creative reflections, helping communicate both artistic process and technical ability. Consistent navigation, subtle visual accents, and carefully balanced spacing would strengthen the overall user experience while reinforcing a cohesive personal brand identity across the entire site.

My website link :

HOME | My Site 1