Isica's Blog

Month: January 2026

Categories
1.2 Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

Week 3：Narrative Structure, Character and Meaning

Week 3 introduced narrative structures, character development and film theory approaches to meaning-making. The lectures clarified that narrative is not simply a sequence of events, but a structured system designed to guide audience understanding and emotional response.

Through concepts such as equilibrium and disruption, character arcs, and implicit meaning, I began to analyse how emotional journeys are constructed over time. This was particularly relevant to cooperative games, where emotional development often parallels the progression of collaboration between players.

At this stage, I started analysing It Takes Two as a potential case study. The game’s narrative of relationship breakdown and repair closely mirrors real emotional processes, making it an ideal example for studying emotional healing. I observed how character conflict, gradual reconciliation and shared challenges function as narrative tools to encourage empathy and emotional engagement.

Week 3 helped me shift from visual analysis alone to a combined narrative and emotional perspective, reinforcing the importance of storytelling in emotional design.

Categories
1.2 Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

Week 2：Formal Elements and Visual Language as Emotional Tools

Week 2 focused on the elements of art and formal visual analysis, including line, colour, space, form, texture and value. Through the lecture Animation, Art and Cinema, animation was positioned within avant-garde and experimental traditions, where form itself becomes a carrier of meaning. This shifted my attention from narrative content to visual language.

I began to understand that emotional responses are often triggered before a story unfolds, through visual atmosphere and compositional choices. Soft colour palettes, spatial openness, and rhythmic movement can all subtly regulate emotions. This perspective became highly relevant to my developing research interest in emotional healing within games.

During this week, I started observing cooperative games from a visual design perspective. I noticed that many emotionally driven games employ warm colours, stylised environments and gentle animation rhythms to reduce player tension. This helped me realise that emotional healing is not only embedded in narrative or mechanics, but also deeply connected to visual and animation design.

This week contributed to my research by providing a formal analytical framework that I later applied to visual atmosphere and animation language in my essay.

Categories
1.2 Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

Week 1：Introduction to Animation, Narrative and Research Direction

In the first week of this unit, the course introduced the overall framework of Design for Animation, Narrative Structures and Film Language. The lectures emphasized that animation, games and moving image should not be understood purely as entertainment products, but as cultural forms capable of conveying meaning, emotion and ideology. This perspective immediately shaped my approach to the unit, as it encouraged me to think critically about how design decisions influence audience or player experience.

At this early stage, my research interest was still broad. I was particularly drawn to the idea that interactive media, especially games, can influence emotional states and interpersonal relationships. I began to consider how collaboration, narrative and visual design might contribute to emotional engagement rather than focusing solely on technical or aesthetic aspects.

This week marked the beginning of my research journey. I started exploring the idea that emotional experience in games is not accidental, but designed. This initial reflection laid the foundation for my later focus on cooperative games and emotional healing, which gradually became the central theme of my research.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Final Showreel

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 11：Rendering and Editing

Render settings in UE

r.ScreenPercentage 150 (use with care, start with a small value 120 and increase if necessary)​

r.MotionBlurQuality 4​

r.MotionBlurSeparable 1​

r.DepthOfFieldQuality 4​

r.BloomQuality 5​

r.Tonemapper.Quality 5​

r.TemporalAA.Upsampling 0​

r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight 0.5​

r.Lumen.Reflections.MaxRoughnessToTrace 1​

r.Lumen.Reflections.Temporal 0 ​

r.Shadow.Virtual.ResolutionLodBiasDirectional 0​

r.Shadow.Virtual.ResolutionLodBiasLocal 0

Editing in AE

Importing Footage: I imported the exported 1920×816 EXR sequence into After Effects for post-production.

Color Adjustment: I adjusted the colors to create a more cohesive and atmospheric look.

Transition Effects: I added effects to some scene transitions, making the cuts smoother and more natural.

Subtitles and BGM: I added subtitles and background music to enhance both the informational and entertainment value of the video.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 10：Create Camera Animation

Multiple Cameras: I set up a total of 5 cameras in UE5 to capture the Earth from different angles.

Camera Adjustments: I modified the focal length and adjusted exposure compensation on some cameras to achieve the desired visual look.

Sequencer and Frame Rate: In the Sequencer, I set the duration for each camera animation segment and used a consistent 24 FPS to ensure smooth and natural motion.

Foreground Contrast: In the shot of the Earth sinking, the camera moves through tree branches, using foreground elements to enhance depth and visual contrast, making the scene of the Earth submerging more striking.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 9：Create Earth Animation

Earth Rotation: I set keyframes for the Earth model in UE5 to make it slowly rotate, adding a sense of realism.

Floating Effect: To make the Earth appear as if it’s floating in space, I animated it with vertical movement keyframes, creating a subtle up-and-down motion.

Sinking into Water: In the final shot, the Earth gradually sinks and disappears underwater, symbolizing it being overwhelmed by pollution, conveying an environmental warning.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 8：Creating Models in Maya

Maya was used as the primary software for this modeling process.

I first modeled a plate, creating a high-poly version by applying subdivision and beveled edges to enhance surface detail.

After completing the high-poly plate, it was prepared as a prop for character interaction.

I then imported a giant character model and arranged multiple giants in a row.

The giants were posed holding the plate while eating, forming a continuous action.

To achieve a stop-motion-like effect, each successive giant was posed with its arms raised slightly higher than the previous one, resembling individual frames of an animation.

Finally, the models were exported from Maya in FBX format and imported into Unreal Engine for scene integration.

In addition, I introduced several point lights to further enhance the overall atmosphere.

Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 7：Create Water Body System

  • The placement and visual appearance of the water bodies were refined to ensure they aligned with the terrain and the narrative concept.
  • I used Unreal Engine’s Water System to create and manage the water bodies in the scene.
  • Three rivers were created to surround the terrain and guide the flow of the polluted wastewater.
  • A lake was also added as a collection point for the water, enhancing the depth and structure of the environment.
  • Parameters such as width, depth, and flow direction were adjusted to achieve more natural-looking rivers.
  • The water color was adjusted to black to better reflect the theme of polluted wastewater.
Categories
Unreal Engine

Week 6：Modify the Vegetation and Rocks

Vegetation System Adjustment Process

  • I used Unreal Engine’s Vegetation System to modify and refine the placement of rocks and vegetation across the scene.
  • Additional elements such as dynamic grass, trees, and rocks were added to enrich the environment and increase visual density.
  • By adjusting the random scale settings, I introduced size variation across vegetation assets to avoid repetition.
  • The vegetation system was configured to allow natural randomness in placement, rotation, and scale, creating a more organic look.
  • This approach helped the environment feel more believable and visually varied while maintaining efficient scene performance.