Making a showreel to showcase what I have done was not my main intention when creating my animation. The primary goal I wanted to achieve with this project was to improve my skills in Adobe After Effects and to showcase what I had created in the process.

To start, I initially sought a good sound to animate to. A requirement of the project was that all the content had to be copyright-free and royalty-free, so finding a suitable sound was more challenging than I had initially thought. After some time, I discovered the sound used in the video from a YouTube channel called "xDeviruchi" in a video titled "8-Bit Fantasy & Adventure Music." In this video, I found the 6th track called "Minigame," which I thought would be perfect to animate to in an 8-bit aesthetic, and that's exactly what I ended up doing.

However, before I could edit in an 8-bit aesthetic, I needed to determine if I had the skill to create retro-style computer illustrations. So, I opened Adobe Illustrator and began creating illustrations for the animation, all of which are displayed in the image below. After conducting research and finding inspiration on Google, I believe I captured the aesthetic well, and I was pleased with how the colors complemented each other to create this retro vibe.

Now, onto the animation process. This is where things became challenging. As someone who doesn't frequently use After Effects, my project document quickly became disorganized, and I wasn't entirely sure how to navigate After Effects to maintain a clean and simple workflow. However, after some time using After Effects, I started to get the hang of it. I deliberately kept my animations relatively simple to ensure that I could complete the project, and I have since continued to work extensively in After Effects after completing this project.

I've seen a few music videos and similar content with the same retro PC theme, which is what I was aiming for. I initially had a paper and pen to outline the plan, but I think I discarded that paper, so I'll just have to explain what I drew.

Firstly, I wanted to enter my desktop, which is also seen at the beginning of the video. However, that's one of the few things that remained from the original script. In the script, I also envisioned a trash can, a common element on most desktops, and I intended to animate throwing something into it. However, due to the limited duration of 30 seconds, I decided not to include this.

Another element from the script that made it into the animation was the coding segment, which is one of my personal favorites.

One valuable lesson I learned during this project is the importance of having a clear vision of what you want to achieve. This is something I plan to continue doing in my future film/video projects.

I wanted to retain a record of my personal reflections on this particular project because I received positive feedback from everyone I presented it to. However, I personally had some conflicting feelings about the outcome. Overall, I believe the aesthetic and creative process worked well throughout. Nevertheless, I think some of the movements in the animation appeared rather odd. This is an aspect I have since devoted more time to and have become increasingly proud of over time.

Creating the animation was genuinely enjoyable. It was a pleasure to navigate the intricacies of After Effects, and researching solutions to challenges was straightforward. Additionally, I took great satisfaction in producing illustrations that I truly admired to complement the animation.

However, it must be acknowledged that there were a few less than ideal aspects of this specific project. The way I organized everything and named the layers was chaotic during this project. I wouldn't wish the experience on my worst enemy because it felt like a form of torture. This is an area I'm determined to improve and enhance, and it's also something I've been actively working on as I continue to use After Effects.