One thing I hadn’t put much effort into noticing before was that we can only show one mouth at a time, which means we can only have one sound per frame. I made some modifications to the X-Sheet and the animation later.
As for the 2D lip sync project, I found the primary challenge to be my first encounter with Toon Boom. Previously, I had only used Photoshop and Procreate for 2D animation. Learning Toon Boom was a step towards becoming more professional, and I gradually became more proficient with the software as I continued to learn. This sense of accomplishment was truly rewarding. Additionally, concepts like lip sync and xsheet were completely new to me. However, throughout the learning process of the 2D project, I gained an understanding of how to precisely match the character’s mouth shapes with the audio. In this process, I also had a more profound understanding of how the overall dynamics of characters change when they change their mouth shapes.
Regarding character design, the chosen audio only featured the voice of one character. However, having only one character speaking in the visuals would be somewhat monotonous. Therefore, I contemplated how to cleverly incorporate other characters. Based on the content of the audio, I decided to design a kid who interacts with the main character during their conversation. This addition would enrich the visuals and add an element of cuteness and humour. Furthermore, when the main character mentions her husband, I envisioned him appearing in her imagination.
When creating the storyboard, I pondered over two ideas. One of them was to have the main character’s husband physically appear in the scenes, interacting with the main character. However, I realised that this approach might distract the audience’s attention from the interaction between the main character and the kid. The focus of the visuals would be scattered. As a result, I made the decision to place the main character’s husband in an imaginary setting. When the main character mentions him, I envisioned him appearing in a thought bubble.
It’s regrettable that I did not have enough time to present all the scenes in the storyboard, such as the zoom in which the kid was crying at the end, and the husband in the bubble was originally making a series of coherent actions according to the protagonist’s description. I did not have time to draw it, so I just made a simple action switch. Of course, The original scene cut in the storyboard I thought was a bit abrupt, so I omitted this part subjectively; I’ll present all the ideas later that I didn’t have time to present.Meanwhile,I can enhance my understanding of cinematography and effectively enrich the visual effects of animation.I also believe that I should acquire more skills on creatively applying lighting to enhance the tone of my film.