I am generally content with the outcome of the animation in terms of its look and feel. However, the process itself posed significant challenges and stress. Initially, I formed a team to assist with tasks such as compositing, sound design, and creating posters, but unfortunately, they withdrew their support merely four days before the submission deadline. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side as I also fell ill during this period. To compound these issues, I encountered numerous technical problems, including multiple crashes on my laptop.
Consequently, I lost compiled files, and my teammate, Hani Qureshi, experienced a problem with their iPad not charging. The fact that my team and I were located in different countries also introduced avoidable challenges that could have been resolved had we been working together in person. As the workload on my end grew, I found myself falling behind the schedule outlined in my Gantt chart, ultimately resulting in a delayed submission. Despite enduring a range of emotions, I managed to gather my strength and am relieved that I persevered instead of giving up. I acknowledge there are scenes and transitions that I could have enhanced had I possessed more time, but certain segments remained incomplete.
These include the transition between the children’s imaginative world and reality, as well as the scene featuring Debra Joy’s use of the slingshot. Regrettably, due to time constraints, I had to omit several scenes from my original animatic plan. I resorted to watching multiple After Effects tutorials to devise a lava effect that would digest Soby. While my execution fell short of my initial aspirations, I did manage to acquire new skills through this process. I’m proud of this animation because over the past three months my work has improved quite a lot. I was able to make the characters recreate the synergy with their voice actors. The learning process was tough, but it was fruitful as it developed and polished my skills. I believe that both children and adults will resonate in this narrative. The diverse and captivating settings, as well as the well-developed characters, should maintain the audience’s engagement. The interactive campaign concept, involving the audience by encouraging them to contribute their memories to shape an episode’s concept, promises to sustain their interest. I invite you to view the final product and hope you like it.
Arsalan Awais 