LIEW XIAO HUI / 0353121
BACHELOR OF DESIGN (HONOURS) IN CREATIVE MEDIA / LIGHTING INTERACTIVE DESIGN
Assignment 02: Concept & Narrative Development
JUMPLINK
Lecture Summaries
Instructions
Assignment 02: Concept & Narrative Development
Feedback
Reflections
LECTURES SUMMARIES
Week 04 / Narrative and Concept Development
This week, Mr. Shakir was absent, so the lecture was conducted by Mr. Zeon. During the class, Mr. Zeon introduced us to projection mapping and its applications in both indoor and outdoor environments. For example, outdoor projection mapping is commonly used for advertising, making it more eye-catching and visible to the public. Additionally, projection mapping is used on buildings for events and entertainment, allowing for dynamic visual transformations that enhance the structure’s appearance.
After that, Mr. Zeon briefed us on Assignment 2, explaining its requirements and objectives. The briefing provided us with a clear direction for completing the assignment. He also shared AI-assisted methods that could help us in developing our storyboard efficiently.
Week 05 /
During Week 05, Mr. Shakir taught us how to import Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop assets into After Effects. He also briefed us on essential settings, including canvas size adjustments. Additionally, he explained how to create pre-compositions in After Effects, allowing us to animate different elements separately. For Adobe Illustrator, he emphasized the importance of placing each asset on a separate layer for easier animation. He demonstrated how to release the sequence layer and drag sublayers out to create individual layers. As I had another consultation class at 11 AM, I left early.
Assignment 02: Concept & Narrative Development
This assignment requires us to research and brainstorm ideas related to the given theme, "Pulse/Nadi." We need to organize our thoughts in a digital mind map and conduct research on immersive projection for case study analysis and concept development.
Progress
Before the Week 04 consultation, we decided to start by creating the storyline and mood board, even though the brief had not yet been uploaded to MyTimes. We wanted to ensure we had progress to present to Mr. Zeon and receive feedback for refinement. Bernice and I began working on the storyline together.
I preferred to depict the human figure as solid, while other visual elements like heartbeat, ripples, and connections would be in abstract and particle styles. This approach was chosen because I was concerned about the complexity of animating a human figure made of particles. Additionally, the solid human figure could symbolize the visible aspect of humans, while the abstract and particle visuals would represent the unseen elements of communication beyond words and human connection, emphasizing their contrast.
 |
| Figure 1.1 Storyline attempt 01. |
I shared this idea with Bernice, and she helped create the mood board to align with my storyline concept. While working on the mood board, she consistently checked with me to confirm whether the style and design matched my vision. Once I completed the storyline, I added some images and videos to the mood board to illustrate the scenes more clearly.
Figure 2.1, 2.2 Mood board attempt 01.
Bernice also developed her own storyline, but her concept differed significantly from mine. She envisioned a fully abstract narrative using colors and shapes instead of human figures. Xinran and Haohan also created a storyline and shared their ideas with us before the consultation.
Figure 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 Progress screenshot.
After receiving Mr. Zeon's feedback, I decided to research potential future human connection methods before drafting any narrative. I explored academic journals discussing future communication trends and studied emerging technologies such as Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), mind uploading, and quantum communication.
Figure 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 Research.
However, I was unsure whether Mr. Zeon preferred a more realistic approach, explicitly mentioning the technologies used or a more abstract, out-of-the-box concept. To balance both aspects, I drew inspiration from the mechanisms and functions of these developing technologies, integrating them into a futuristic yet abstract depiction of human connection.
Then, I used the template and requirements provided by Mr. Zeon during the lecture to organize the narrative into a table, incorporating the emotional journey, including the beginning, buildup, and other key moments of the story. I also outlined the project objective, theme, character, and setting. However, I struggled with defining the target audience for our project, so I left that section empty for further discussion.
The story follows a human who wakes up in an unfamiliar space, driven by curiosity to explore this new world. As he navigates his surroundings, he gradually learns to use advanced technologies to communicate. Through trial and discovery, he masters the ability to sync his energy with others, matching frequencies to establish a connection. In the end, he fully integrates into this futuristic world, where communication transcends words and relies on the harmony of energy and frequency.
Figure 3.4, 3.5 Storyline attempt 02.
After completing the storyline, I decided to create a new mood board that aligns with the revised narrative, incorporating new visual elements while maintaining the animation style we originally planned.
 |
| Figure 3.6 Mood board attempt 02. |
I also attempted to create a storyboard based on the storyline to make further progress on the project. However, since my drawing skills are not strong and the narrative has yet to be approved by Mr. Zeon, I only managed to complete two frames.
 |
| Figure 3.7 Storyboard scene 01. |
 |
| Figure 3.8 Storyboard scene 02. |
After the week 05 consultation, we decided to hold an online group meeting to discuss and combine the most interesting elements of our individual storylines into a new, cohesive narrative. I urged everyone to list down their ideas beforehand to ensure an efficient discussion and avoid wasting time.
On Tuesday, I started brainstorming a new storyline that could depict a potential future method of human connection while incorporating elements from each member’s ideas.
I extracted key elements from different storylines to refine our narrative:
- A world where no one speaks—communication happens through abstract energy pulses forming symbols and patterns.
- The protagonist, driven by curiosity, reaches out to touch a floating wave of energy/images, triggering an environment shift.
- A lone, semi-transparent figure flickers weakly in the distance, unlike others who are engaged in energy-based communication.
- The figure does not reach out but waits to be acknowledged.
From Bernice’s storyline:
- A new figure appears with broken, unstable energy—flashing red and black—causing disruption in the world.
- As they step forward, glowing paths emerge beneath their feet.
From Xinran’s storyline (including Mr. Zeon's suggestions):
- White language symbols emerge from a black background, gradually disintegrating into dust before reorganizing into a blue data grid.
- A child holds his father’s hand, and the brain-computer interface transforms his father’s remaining brainwaves into golden particles, symbolizing love.
- In the final moment, a tear falls, triggering the last strands of brainwaves, spelling out the daughter’s nickname in glowing light. The name then shatters into stardust, forming a permanent light tattoo on her palm.
In my third attempt, I refined the narrative based on Mr. Zeon’s feedback, emphasizing a more realistic vision of future communication. I decided to continue with the BCI technology while expanding its portrayal with slightly more abstract and futuristic elements. I considered framing the story around a human experiencing a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) for the first time, presenting it like a BCI manual.
 |
| Figure 4.1 Storyline attempt 03. |
We held our meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss how to merge our ideas into a compelling and engaging storyline. However, since the team hadn’t prepared any ideas for combining the narratives, I had to wait for them to write down their thoughts in the Miro board before proceeding. Meanwhile, I pasted the storyline I had prepared earlier onto the board and asked the team to review it. This allowed us to compare different ideas and decide on the strongest version to refine further.
 |
| Figure 4.2 Storyline attempt 03. |
After about 30 to 45 minutes, we resumed our discussion. Before that, I reviewed Bernice’s storyline and found Scene 6 particularly compelling, the transition to a futuristic plaza where humans use new technologies to communicate.
During our discussion, the team agreed to continue with the storyline I had created. We then refined certain scenes by incorporating new ideas to enhance the narrative. I highlighted Bernice’s Scene 6 as a strong addition, and we decided to integrate it as the final scene. Xinran suggested swapping Scene 5 with Scene 6 for better narrative flow, ensuring that the father’s fracture and the teardrop fall occur in a more logical sequence. Additionally, I proposed extracting visual elements from Haohan’s Scene 2 to enrich our own Scene 2, as I felt it lacked sufficient description. Lastly, I encouraged the team to incorporate the idea of colors representing different emotions into the storyline.
Figure 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 Online discussion.
After that, we worked together to finalize the project objective, target audience, characters, and settings before submitting everything to Mr. Zeon for review. This allowed us to move forward with developing the storyboard and presentation slides.
 |
| Figure 4.6 Finalize narrative outline. |
Before ending the meeting, I asked Haohan and Xinran if they were comfortable using Procreate to create visuals, but neither of them was confident in their drawing skills. We then decided that Bernice would handle the storyboard drawings, while I would take charge of writing all the annotations and descriptions. To balance the workload, Xinran and Haohan would complete the presentation slides by copying the storyline into them and creating the mood board.
On Thursday night, we received feedback from Mr. Zeon, who approved our storyline and allowed us to proceed. I immediately began listing the requirements for annotations to ensure Bernice had enough time to complete the storyboard drawings. Once the requirements were set, I mapped out each scene’s shots, movements, duration, user experience, visual representation, and sound elements.
 |
| Figure 5.1 Annotation draft. |
After completing the annotations, I uploaded them to the Miro board and asked Bernice to review them. I also explained my ideas for each scene in detail, including shot sizes, to help her visualize the storyboard. In addition, I condensed the scene descriptions into a shorter form for easier reference.
By Friday, I started feeling nervous about the presentation slides not being completed on time since the submission deadline was Sunday. To speed up the process, I took the initiative to create the slide structure myself. After reviewing the assignment brief, I wrote a short explanation about how our storyline connects to projection mapping to ensure that Mr. Zeon and other viewers could understand it better. I then added the project title, objectives, and target audience to the slides.
Figure 5.4, 5.5 Progress screenshot.
Next, I created pages for character and setting information so XinRan and HaoHan could simply copy the content from Miro into Canva. Following that, I set up narrative slides in table format, as required, and structured the storyboard pages with annotations and descriptions.
 |
| Figure 5.6 Progress screenshot. |
To streamline Bernice’s work, I left space for images so she could upload her drawings directly without worrying about slide layout design.
Figure 5.7, 5.8, 5.9 Progress screenshot.
Then on Saturday, I noticed that they might have inserted some incorrect information into the slides, so I went through and refined everything again to ensure accuracy. Bernice and I also noticed that the mood board was still empty, so we worked together to complete it. We added more visual images and listed the corresponding visual elements that were included in our narrative. Besides visual inspiration, we also incorporated colors and typography to ensure a cohesive design direction.
Figure 5.10, 5.11 Progress screenshot.
Final Concept & Narrative Development
Miro Board
Link to Miro
Figure 6.1 Final Presentation Slide.
Week 04
Mr. Zeon pointed out that our storyline lacked interest, as it mainly focused on current human communication methods like colors, shapes, and body gestures. He mentioned that such a concept might not engage viewers, making it less compelling to explore. Instead, he suggested shifting the storyline toward a futuristic perspective, exploring advanced communication methods beyond face-to-face interaction.
For instance, we could explore AR or VR-based communication, where people no longer need physical presence to interact. By delving into futuristic communication technologies, we could enhance our narrative and align it more effectively with our chosen topic. Mr. Zeon believed this focus would make the project more innovative and engaging.
Week 05
Mr. Zeon highlighted key scenes from Xinran and Haohan's storyline and suggested merging their ideas with ours to create a new storyline. He advised that the storyline and visuals should not be too abstract, ensuring the audience can clearly understand the intended message. Mr. Zeon also reminded us to include annotations and descriptions for each storyboard frame. He emphasized that the mood board should be more detailed, incorporating more visuals and references to inspire the creation of each asset.
REFLECTIONS
In this assignment, I initially felt confused and directionless because the concept we chose didn’t align with Mr. Zeon’s expectations. We both had a misunderstanding. I realized that having a futuristic storyline or key points that encourage viewers to explore and interpret the concept makes for a more engaging experience compared to simply presenting current situations. However, even when exploring future technology, the story should still be understandable rather than overly abstract.
I found it challenging to create a topic that intrigues viewers while being based on something that hasn’t happened yet. Designers need to strike a balance so that the audience can engage with and comprehend the narrative.
Time management is also crucial, as it ensures tasks are completed on schedule and allows flexibility to accommodate sudden client changes or technical issues, leaving room for refinements. Teamwork is equally important, when everyone aligns on the same direction, it minimizes conflicts over style and visuals. Collaborating effectively means being open to suggestions and combining ideas to produce a better outcome. Additionally, offering help beyond one’s assigned responsibilities can significantly improve the overall quality of the project.
Comments
Post a Comment