Write a 800 word semester evaluation about my learning in elemental project and the final major project based on the following content using same level of vocabulary, the evaluation needs to•Analyse the situation: interpret what happened, how and why
 •Evaluate what I learned:•The effectiveness of my approach, what could have been done differently, what I have learnt and what I'll do differently in the future. Does the experience reflect theoretical ideas? Can I apply theoretical ideas to the experience?•What went well > with reasons and judgements, •What did not go well/what difficulties did I experience? Explain the difficulty > what was My solution? > Did the solution work? Why/why not? What would I do differently in the future if I did the project again or if I had more time? How would I develop My work? Which aspects specifically do I think will be useful for my future studies?, use the tone of first person:


Feb 2 

This week I had a preview of the elemental project, I tried to gain an understanding of the general idea of the project and figure out how I can complete the project.
I studied a selection of practitioners who used environmental materials, I found Marina DeBris work amazing because it is a unique blend of environment protection idea and fashion. For example, his fashion show at the beach really blew up my mind. So I sketched my initial idea inspired by his work.
I came up with an idea of using willow leaves to dress the model. I looks great because I like this feeling of fusion with the nature. However, it did not echo our environment theme since although willows are natural but some may argue that we should not use willow leaves to dress ourself as it may border on ruin other plants.
Then I came up with another idea of using fallen maple leaves to dress the model. I love the idea because it shows a way to recycle things on the roads and a connection with nature.
And on EAP classes, we reflected on our last semesters’ summative works. We did not learn much new things during the session.


Feb 9 
This week, Susan has suggested me to research on Mandelbrot Fractals, Madhubani, Landian, flout, lentils and pigments. These concepts led me to a new world of patterns. I researched these unfamiliar terms and found so many new patterns of fractals and lentil art. Among the myriads fractals, I’m mostly obsessed with the fractals in natural, so I experimented it and found the river pattern best.
I also have experimented other things that looks to be perfect for a dress, and I found the looking of the terraced fields looks best as the lines perfectly match the shape of the dress. I think although both of the above ideas show a connection to nature and it looks fancy but I don’t see much echo with our climate crisis theme.
On the Feb 7 mesh printing course, I tried it and came up with an idea to experiment the detailed pattern of it. And it looked surprisingly beautiful on a dress, but has no connection to the nature.
And on the EAP class this week, we learnt how we are going to write our essay. And we will have an artists’ statement as well. Although I found it challenging of writing 2500 words, but I will try my best to use the technique it suggests to make it. The most useful one I think it’s the brainstorming technique it introduces.

Feb16
On the Feb 14 screen printing workshop, I delved further into the world of fractals, the tutor printed out a result with four different colours. I found the purple colours looks good to be a garment. Although he grey coloured one looks good with the aspect of contrast, the colour of purple gives a feeling of mystery and elegance.
And I tired black colours, too. Although purple garments has the best contrast. The black one looks most mysterious and elegant. The weakness of it is the contrast is not very high so the pattern is easy to be overlooked.
So to balance the shape and contrast, I chose to go back to the nature and found the original colour most striking. The green colour also reveals a connection between human and nature.
Now it’s time to develop my personal narrative. I researched into the climate crisis and found an astounding film that stirred up public attention to the climate issues The Day After Tomorrow. I think if let people see the future will make people wake up, how about making something also showing the future? I love this idea. Although I cannot afford to make a film, but I have strong skills to make up photos which also can let people to see the future. So how about continuing the exploration of the models’ garments and make an album of her future. I believe a disastrous future will wake people up. 
And on the EAP class, the professor said Nick in the library will find us some useful books. However, I have a concern that he may not be able to find much book about the Japanese author. And I think animation is usually made by a company instead of a person, so I think it’s not very proper to attribute animation works to one single artists.

Feb 23
This week, apart from fractals, I also tried so many other patterns I found in my daily life. I find the dazzling patterns are not suitable for dresses since it draws vivewers’ attention away from the beautiful curves of dresses. So I decided to try something simple and aligned with the curves of a dress.
Then I tried curved clips with colours and small stone I found in my garden. I think they look better than the patterns from the newspaper. However, they don’t look strong an professional although can be a good experienment.
I research into the human being’s bad conducts to the environment and I found one of the most blatant one: wearing fur. And I think it’s a good start of the album to show the present day.
When the resources are depleted, the domestic animals will gone if we don’t have plants to feed them and we won’t wear leather. And I explore many other ideas like this, although I think these ideas might be too negative.
In the EAP class, we learnt more about how to write good artist’s statement. I think the example of Ms. Wahid is not easy to understand. Her work is not easy to comprehend as well, although she has good writing skills, giving us a good example in EAP.

Mar 2
I tried to refine my work and make it even better. If we don’t have enough wood, we won’t have fungus, too. And I got inspiration from van Herpen and think about using a similar way to let her wear fungus. I found the beautiful fungus I found is quite easy to made into a dress thanks to the inspiration of van Herpen (2021). And it looks gorgeous!
I learnt about the concept of a nuclear winter. I believe at that time people will cherish the left dehydrated plants. So I found a withered flower to dress the richest model at the time with a mask which should be common during the nuclear winter.
I decided upon my personal narrative. This is an album from the future and a model will record her life trajectory by taking a photo every ten years with the most expensive garment at the age she takes it. And from the most fabric we can found in each age, we can see how terrible the future time will be.
The good side about my formative elemental is the innovative way of presenting all my experimentation in one single work and make it a story that is alarming.
The weakness may be it could be too pessimistic, but I think only this way can make people wake up from the normal days.


Mar 9
This week, we started to working on the new final major project. I think the idea and requirements are quite broad, so I think I need to do more research to find my own way to development the idea.
I went through the brief again and try to find some clues. It suggested that we can also development on the formative work of elemental project. Therefore I went back to my elemental work and tried to find something valuable to build on. I got my initial inspiration from my first experimental sketch in the Elemental Project. A sketch of the elemental work reminded me of a poem my niece was reading to me during a video call. It is a poem by a famous Chinese poet Qing Ai depicting that the goddess of spring is bringing us. 
I started my research from it and found the western version of it, she is Ostara in the UK and Flora in the Roman myth. I have referred to the paintings of them and designed one of my main characters in referencing to such kind of appearance. I like the way it looks but I think my sketches can be improved by more innovative and more connection to the idea of climate change.
I have been reading articles on the effects of climate change on the environment and how it affects the growth of plants and flowers during springtime. It has given me a new perspective on the project and how I can incorporate the theme of climate change into my work. 
I feel that this connection will give my project a deeper meaning and make it more relevant to current issues. I am excited to see how my research and ideas will develop in the coming weeks as I continue to explore this theme.
I am still in the early stages of this project, but I am excited to see where it will take me and how I can develop my skills as an animator through this process. I think this project will be a great opportunity for me to explore my creativity and challenge myself to think outside of the box.
In the EAP class, we learnt more about the introduction. I have learnt more ways to write about it. I think it’s easy to write the latter part but I need to spend some time to figure out how to write the beginning of that. I think it’s hard introduce something new to the readers.
I realized that the beginning of a piece of writing is like the front door of a house, it should invite the reader in and make them want to explore further. I found it helpful to think about the audience and consider what they might be interested in or what they might not know yet. By doing so, I can find a way to introduce the topic in a way that is engaging and informative. I still have some work to do in order to perfect my introduction, but I feel more confident now that I have learned some new techniques to use.

Mar 16
I continued to research on my final major project. as a continuing research from the elemental project, I read more articles about the future of human beings. Then I came across some articles about the terraforming of Mars. One article from NASA said it is still not possible to terraform Mars using the present technology. Therefore, I imagine what if the goddess of spring can help? Although maybe the idea is bold.

I found myself getting more and more excited about the possibilities of this idea. I started to sketch some preliminary concepts and ideas, trying to visualize what the world would look like if the goddess of spring could indeed help terraform Mars. As I continued to work on these sketches, I began to see how the concept could be turned into an animation that would explore themes of human survival, adaptation, and hope. I also started to research more about the goddess of spring and her origins, hoping to incorporate her story and symbolism into my project. I am eager to see where this idea takes me and am looking forward to the creative challenges that lie ahead.
Then, a story emerged in my mind, as a continued story to my elemental narrative. After human beings ruined the earth, the goddess of spring gave humans a second chance to help them rebuild their home on Mars. 
So eventually, I found the theme of my animation: A Second Chance, which tells a short story about the humans being given a second chance to live on a planet but still ruined the planet again in the end. It tells us if we don’t change our way of living, we will destroy the planet in the end even if we are given another new one. I like the story, but I have concern if I can really finish the animation before deadline.
In the EAP class, I finally finished and presented my introduction. I think it’s good to introduce my essay by talking about the longest running and famous animations which are known to most of people. It’s great to find the sources that are backed by Guinness records. However, there are weaknesses. I think my language is not so advanced, so I need to check the thesaurus more to find out some more high-level expressions.
Moreover, I received some useful feedback from my peers, and I found that incorporating their suggestions improved my introduction significantly. They suggested that I add more information about the background of the author, and also to highlight the importance of animation in our modern world. I also realized that I need to work on my public speaking skills as I was a bit nervous during my presentation. Therefore, I have decided to practice more and participate in more public speaking  to improve my skills. Overall, I am pleased with the progress I made in the EAP class this week and I am looking forward to learning more about academic writing in the upcoming sessions.

Mar 23
I had a tutorial with the professor, she said she has confirmed with the faculty that there is not enough time to make a complete animation so that I could make some still drawings and supporting work to submit. However, I’m willing to challenge myself in this, so we agreed finally I will make a short animation with some drawings and supporting work to accompanying. The professor also questioned about the animation software I’m going to use. However, there a lot of animation software I have used such as Adobe Animation, Opentoonz and Aftereffects etc, so I’m still considering about which one I’m going to use this time.
Therefore, I decided first to develop my storyboard and then determine my software after this. I’m happy to hear that the professor liked my character of the goddes of spring and the idea of her saving the humanity. And I also like it but I think the story might be too simple, so I will spend more time to develop the story further.
To further develop my story, I decided to do some research on similar myths and legends from different cultures to gain inspiration. I found some interesting stories about spring deities and their roles in different cultures. I also read some literary works about spring and its significance in human life. These sources gave me a lot of ideas about how to expand my story and make it more complex. 
I spent several days creating a new storyboard with more developed characters and plot points, and I feel much more confident about my project now. I am excited to start creating my animation and see how it all comes together.
Last week in the EAP class, the Professor wanted to see my notes of writing but the notes was store in my computer, so I promised to show her this week. So yesterday I brought the computer and showed her my notes and some pages of books that I used. I still think I need more sources to write about my mise-en-scene part although there is enough information about the first two parts. Maybe the better way is to watch more of their real animation works to observe the techniques they are using. 
I plan to visit the library to see if they have any books or DVDs that can help me gain more insight into the techniques used by animators. It's always helpful to have a variety of sources to draw from when working on a project. I also realized that taking more detailed notes during my research will be beneficial, as it will help me keep track of the different techniques and approaches that I come across. I know that collaboration can be a great way to learn and grow as an artist, so I'm eager to see what insights others might have.

Mar 31
I presented my storyboard to Professor today.  She asked me if I really wanted to create an animation. I said yes I would use opentoonz. She suggested me to start spending the Easter holiday to make the animation by using it. I think my characters will do not very much moving and will keep the movement simple and focusing on the idea, implications and scenery.
The Professor said I have marked what I have done but I have not said what I'm going to do next and when I'm going to do it by but actually I have write this part in the table although I have not planned much for the holiday in the table.
The professor suggested me to finish my background drawings during the holiday with no distractions. And I can do more with my character design after I come back from the easter holiday, because there is no much time left and the animation creation is time consuming. Therefore,  I changed my plan to do more work during the Easter holiday.
After the meeting with the Professor, I realized that I need to make a more detailed plan for the animation production process. I also need to set some specific goals for myself and create a timeline for completing each task. This will help me to stay on track and ensure that I am making progress towards completing the project.


April 20
Thanks to professor's suggestion, I have finished my scene 1 and 2 animation making during the holiday. I finished the background for scene 1, 2 and 3 and the character designs as well.

On Monday, there was something wrong with my computer so I was not able to show the profesor the animation, but I updated Professor with my progress and showed some pictures I took from my production process before. I have designed a baby and the scene 1 of garbage everywhere. And I promised to show the professor my animation on Friday after my computer repaired.. And I have got about 2 weeks to finish the rest of my scenes. 

And in EAP class, we have a review for the essay writing. The good thing I have done in my current part of the essay is that I have used a good range of references and some topic sentences. However, I have several things that needs improvement such as a good title. Although I think a good title is not essential, it will be very important for my future essays. And I can improve further on my essay organisation by a detailed essay plan. And I had a tutorial with the professor, there is a reference issue which is Skoble wrote an article individually in a book edited with other editors and the professor wanted to check book herself and she asked me to bring her next week.


April 21
I have fixed my laptop and able to finally show my animation to the professor. Although it was short only comprising scene 1 and 2. My plan was still 8 scenes and did not change. I have a destroyed scene on earth. Barren scene on Mars and a lovely scene recovered by the goddess of spring. Although some of my scenes are still black and white but I will do the colouring after I finish designing most of the scenes. Professor said the beginning of the production is good see. Although the beginning is slow but it will get easier and faster. The professor suggested showing a “the end” at the end of the video, indicating the end of the world and the end of mars and then there will be pause and start running again.

And I started to plan my exhibition and I have presented my exhibition plan to my peers. I will need a TV screen. And I will put some of my drawing and illustrations exhibited on the wall. I will put a table there and putting my sketch book and other works I have done during the pre-masters year. I’m also going to exhibit my storyboard, character design and scene design. Although I have designed most of my characters, I think I will not be able design characters with much depth within the limited time. However, I will try my best to gain depth of characters as possible.

In the EAP class, I brought the Skoble book to the professor as required by her. I asked her to check the individual article written by himself but the book edited with 2 other editors. She said she was not sure about a part of the formatting in the reference should be italicised or blocked. She went to her office and checked the right format. So all my problems in my referencing had been cleared. However, I still need to develop my content further. I still think my content of mise-en-scene should be richer.




May 4 
As I decided to exhibit my elemental final outcome ‘An Album from the Future’ and the Professor suggested me to make it on a heavier paper, instead of just printing it again with new paper, I chose to utilise a booklet I received during a previous gallery visit as a material to make the album, which is closer to our theme of environment protection.

And I need to consider more about the size of all my prints and TV screen. Although I wanted a 55 inch TV Screen but it may not available. If all the prints are too big, they may be not easy to exhibit together.

May 11
I have showed my scene 1 to 5 to the professor along with my background design, character and colouring for the scene 5-7. Although the computer failed to function well, I managed to show most of the work I have done in the limited time when it functioned properly. The professor said she like the way I draw the background. She also like a spirit way of presenting the Goddess of Spring. I also like that but I think I need improvement on my colouring and the depiction of my characters. Although I have limited time, I have already finished most of my work.

And I have also done with my sound design document for each scenes to add more feeling to the atmosphere of my animation piece.

I tried to figure out the size of everything in the exhibition, but it was hard for me without going to the exhibition place. And during the week, I have been in the exhibition venue and using A4 to measure all the place and then I got the idea of the sizes of everything. And it was hard to preset the height. After I went to the exhibition place, I managed to get an idea of the height I would like it to be. What I learned in the process is that, next time I need to first gain a better understanding of measurements and the exhibition venue. And I had better plan my exhibition in the venue instead of on a paper.

And during the exhibition installation week, we helped each other and gain a deeper understanding of teamwork. Next time, I will first pay more attention to what my teammate said and then take the action instead of taking the action immediately and then found we misunderstood each other.