SD3004 Independent Project(s)

Helping Culture: Help about the needs

A animation for arousing helping people message

Proposal

Ng Wing Ting (09051258D)

 Contents
Aim and objectives of the project
Target audience and profile characteristics
Summary of research and review studies
Approach and sketches of creative design solution
Work schedule
Details of technical approach
Reference list
 Aim and Objectives of the project
Project background Helping is a duty that we need to do for any needs. It is because everyone will meet
difficulties, if we can help each other, many problems can be solved and will not have
bad ending. Also helping can produce happiness and positive energy on both sides.
You will feel warm when you see the smile or hear thank you. It can’t buy with money.
But why don’t help others even though we having ability？

Nowadays, some teenagers are emotionless and indifferent on others, especially

strangers. They think that helping strangers is absurd and silly. They don’t know the
importance of helping. So they may not help others even though they having ability.

Aim and Objectives In this project, I want to encourage teens to help about the needs. I want to tell them
there is always a difficult time per person. We also need help on this time. Why we don’t
help each others？ I hope that the animation can let them understand the importance
of helping. On the other hand, I want to rise to the interest of teens on the door god. It is
because few people stick Door god nowadays. Thousands of years of traditional culture
will gradually fade away. So I want to tell them it can be fashionable.
 Target audience and profile characteristics
Target audience

Age Teenagers (about 12 - 18 years old)

Who Hong Kong teenagers who believe that helping is absurd and silly

What do they like / visual cartoon and animation, funny characters

what appeals to them

What are the effective ways
to communicate to them
Based on the target are teenagers, the animation need to more funny and
special. It is because arouse their interest to watch the animation is difficult.
So I will tell the story with interesting script, such as using the characteristics
of characters to design the funny dialogue and the language. also the
unusual motion, such as using some Cantonese Opera(粵劇). It is because
the characters, Door god, is come from ancient.
 Summary of research and review studies
Door god

In the beginning, I think that I need to attract teens to watch the animation because helping message is boring to
them. So behind the interesting story, I want to design the characters that they haven’t looked out and match
with my story message. Chinese people think that Door god can help them to blocking the monster. Also both
Door gods need to help each others. So I choose a pair of Door god to be the main characters. Next, I find the
information about Door god from Wikipedia,《中國門神畫》written by薄松年 and also called《中國門神畫》written
by王樹村.

Door god has several thousand years of history. You will see
on the doors of Chinese traditional houses and the temples.
People depict the door god on the桃木 because they
believe that both things can block the monster.
But now paper become the material instead of the桃木.
Most people will paste up the door god in Chinese New
Year.

People draw and stick Door god on the door of

Chinese traditional houses and the temples
 Summary of research and review studies
People have different objectives to paste up the drawing of door god. Also, the characters can match with
their objectives. For example, If they want to success in the exam(科舉), they stick the狀元who wear the official
clothes. If they want to have babies, they stick the drawing which have many children(童子) on the door of the
bedroom. Some animals which has good and lucky meaning also can become the door god, such as chicken,
tiger and monkey. But the major objectives is blocking the monster. The famous characters are秦瓊,敬德,魏徵
and鍾馗. So, many legendary or famous characters, the children(童子), even the animals will become door god.
Nowadays, the major people also stick張飛and關羽most.
In the drawing, it also has something props, such as Ruyi(如意), flowers, birds, coins and bats. It has the meaning
of coming lucky.

Door god drawing of狀元,童子,animals, 鍾馗 and the door god noadays.

 Summary of research and review studies
Different characters of door god have different staging. Most of door god is standing up, or riding the animals.
Little door god is sitting. Some drawing shows the activities and event. For example, the general is fighting in the
war, or a god is giving you a baby.

Door god drawing of standing up, riding the animals, sitting, fighting in the war, and a god giving you a baby.

China, Japan and Korea also paste up door god. In China, difference places of door god have different color,
proportion and style. In Beijing, the door god has more royal style. In Yunnan, the minority nationality affects the
style of door god. People in order to let the door god look more sturdy, they exaggerate the door good body
to 1:3. It can let the audience more concentrate to the eyes of the door god.
 Summary of research and review studies
8-Diagram Glass(八卦鏡)

The 8- diagram glass is a convex lens. It has reflective and distortion functions. In Feng Shui, it also use these two
functions to 沖煞. It must be placed on the outside. You can put the 8-diagram glass upon the road, cusp, rock,
etc. But don’t put it in front of your neighborhood. It is not good for them.

People always put the 8-diagram glass on top of the door.

 Summary of research and review studies
Motion style

Since one of the Door gods is very brave and has some fighting motion in the story, so I find the motion reference.
The first one is《神畫》Magical Painting animated by Chiu Yi, Hsun. One part of the story is 鍾馗use a brush to fight
with a monster. It is useful for me to animate from observing his pose and the rhythm.
 Summary of research and review studies
Art style

2D Door god
In the story, the main characters, two door gods, will base on the art style of Chinese traditional drawing, which
has high intensity. It always use some contrast color, such as red, green and yellow, to let the characters more
outstanding and warm. The characters also have black borders.

About the composition of the drawing, the characters also put it in the centre. It occupies the major of the
drawing. The drawings haven’t three-dimensional. It also has some patterns on the clothes.
 Summary of research and review studies
3D environment

Beside the Door god, the environment make by 3D in the story. Due to door god has many decoration and
colorful, so I want to make a simple style environment. The color tone is not too bright and attractive. So audience
will not confuse in the scene. I find an animation, Alma, to be my art reference. It written and directed by: Rodrigo
Blaas. The art style is comfortable and simple.
 Approach and sketches of creative design solution
Storyboard
Approach and sketches of creative design solution
Approach and sketches of creative design solution
 Approach and sketches of creative design solution
Environment design

The story will happen on the corridor in the estate. The door god and the 8-diagram glass will stick and hitch on
the door of the corridor. The corridor of the estate will have some water pipe, fire water pipe, electric meter, light
and miscellaneous objects of the neighborhood.
 Approach and sketches of creative design solution
Character design

The story has two characters which is 關羽and 張飛. They are also Door god. 關羽, he is a brave and loyal general.
People called him關帝,關二哥. People said he is enemy of everyone to express his capacity. He has美鬚髯. Also,
the relationship of 劉備,張飛and he look like brothers. Based on the Chinese opera, the mask of 關羽 has a red
face, 丹鳳眼. People will add a black spot in his face. It is because they don’t dare to fully copy關羽. 張飛also is a
brave and loyal general. But he is more irascible. He always help關羽too. Based on the Chinese opera, the mask
of張飛 has the shape of black butterfly. It means張「飛」「翼」德.

The mask of 關羽 and 張飛.

 Approach and sketches of creative design solution
Concept art

I draw a simpler Door god and redesign the clothes of the Door god. It is because the real Door god is too
complicated. Also, I use the color tone from some Door god drawing to color it. This is the first draft concept art
of the story.
 Work schedule
Week Detail

Week 1-5 Pre- production

Research
Story development (Storyboard)
Scriptwriting
Character & environment design
Concept art

Week 6 Interim presentation

Finish a concept shot

Week 7-10 Production

2D hand drawing
3D animation

Week 11-12 Post- production

Compositing
Sound-editing

Week 13 Fin tone

Process book

Week 14 Final presentation

 Details of technical approach
Software applications

Pre-production & presentation

Microsoft Word 2007
Adobe Illustrator CS4
Adobe Photoshop CS4
Adobe Flash CS4 Professional

Production
Autodesk Maya 2010
Adobe Flash CS4 (Tentative)
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended (Tentative)

Post production
Adobe After Effects CS4
Pro Tools

Resolutions/ frame rate

HD – 1280 * 720; 25fps
Duration: 1-2 mins
 Reference list
薄松年,(1998),《中國門神畫》
王樹村,(2005),《中國門神畫》
維基百科Wikipedia, http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E9%96%80%E7%A5%9E
衍瀧風水術數館,http://www.masterlung.com/course05.html
漢光教育基金會,《神畫》,http://www.hanmine.com.tw/anime_detail.aspx?vd=10
Alma,http://almashortfilm.com/