Where do we start with this? This project has been very difficult. Not just Major as a standalone; the entire process from Premise, to Minor to Major. None of my projects have remained the same throughout this experience. I have written countless narratives, designed many things and I've come out with three animated models. Am I thrilled? Well, no. It's not at all the project I set out to do. 

I would have liked to have walked away from Major with all 6 characters under my belt, animated in a scene together. However, I started this project at the end of March. I have designed 6 ready-to-model character cars in 2D and planned them all for modelling, as seen in my Art of. I modelled 4 cars and fully animated 3 to roll along in a simple scene. I created an entire Major project in 2 months, and that- I am proud of. No, it's not everything I wanted it to be, but I had some fun doing it. Willy Wonka is a very exciting world, as I'm sure Alan would agree- we've had some fun creating these characters as vehicles. I may have got sidetracked at times with going too far into cars- I collected 75 Hot wheels in the process... But it has been a lot of fun to see these character cars come to life- I am happy with them. 

This project to me did feel quite rushed, as it probably should, going from a project that was supposed to take just under two years, to doing it all in just two months is quite a shock to the system. 

I feel since Premise, my modelling skills have improved- I did model a whole dog before the cars after all. So modelling the cars in Maya was honestly a smoother ride after doing something so complex beforehand. I have also learned just how much I appreciate the toy world and figures, as well as how much I'd enjoy working in something like that. There's a lot of thought that goes into the product, to the packaging and it's something I could be very passionate about doing.

The main thing I struggled with for this project was the rendering and lighting. It's something I really can't get my head around. It's a lot of numbers and words and files. The rendering process has been messy for me, there are a few glitches within my work due to this, like how some of the cars don't re-loop properly, which ended up in a restructure for the final clip, but this could be fixed with proper rendering. Computers at the university crashed out overnight and took up to 20/30 minutes a frame. They also corrupted the odd few frames throughout the Wonka render? How this happened, I am unsure of. Which has caused multiple complications for me, for a few days straight, along with a lot of stress and frustration towards technolgy. Rendering is probably the main thing for me that causes issues and confusion- which sadly is visible in the final product. There's a couple of things I would do differently if coming back to the Major project again- a better plan for instance, and maybe more support with rendering.

I am not 100% satisfied with the outcome of my work, because it's not what I set out to do last year, and it's less work than I wanted for Major, even with regards to starting over. But, it's the best I could do for myself- and for that, I am happy, more happy with the demo reel than the final clip though. Alan and myself agreed that this project would be achievable and fun- to see me through to the end of this project. Thank goodness.  

Which it did, Willy Wonka on repeat has done strange things to my brain. 

I won't bother to go into detail about other circumstances that have put extra pressure on the work, like COVID and personal things- yes they've all been contributing factors, but they don't matter. I did everything I could to product the most I could in this final push.

All in all, I am glad it's over.

And to Alan, Thank you for all the help. I wouldn't have got as far as I did without it.

As for whether I'll ever model the remaining characters- maybe. But for now, I'd like to go back to my Dog model from Minor, so I can bring him to life with rigging and maybe a 3D print. Which was always my intention. I am looking forward to doing some of my own things in future, without time restraints and stress.