REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
(screenshots on my blog)

I have currently been focusing on the practical side of my work which includes
creating animations, before I create my final ones, I decide to have a practice on
creating a few different examples of a prince or princess so I can form together
how I want my final animations to turn out like. I have 3 different examples and
didn't complete them as I didn't like my outcomes as much as I thought. For this I
used dino pixel this is a website I used beforehand when I was completing my
other example PowerPoint this was my favourite website because it is a simple
one to follow and not get confused with.
As this work was just a practice for me so then I have a better understanding I
don’t feel positive with this work, however this is something I can include within
the process of my animations to achieve the best outcome. I think the specific
elements I don’t feel went well was where I've placed my pixels these parts aren't
equal on each side of the princess face (for example). My colour schemes also
don’t really match to how I had explained in my planning. As I wanted colours
which represent a princess and I hadn't yet included a necklace which is the
focus.
The main success to this work was my ideas of the cape on the prince I focused a-
lot on this and that was something which I liked the outcome of and how it
looked was very realistic. The coordination's of the colours worked well with
greys and blues which are colours which represent a prince. Another success in
my work was how I planned out my animations before completing them, I decide
to think of ideas in my head of different styles of princesses and think how I could
produce that. Drawing out ideas beforehand is a successful way on a piece of
paper so I can then create this as an animation because then I can reflect on my
planning to make sure my animations don’t turn out completely different.
The less successful parts were my outcomes because I had a-lot of difficulty with
using dino pixel as I think a week point of mine is animations, as I completed half
of the animations and decided I didn’t like them and would screenshot and move
onto my next one. This is something I can work on by not always rushing ahead
and making sure I spent time on things for a better outcome. Other elements
which I believe was less successful was pixel numbers for example parts of the
princess's hair wasn’t equal and all different lengths, one of my main priorities
when focusing on animation is that it must match on both sides because an
uneven outcome can look unrealistic and less like a person or what it is meant to
be.
the main thing I could have done to expand and improve this work would be to
have finished the animations and finished the body as I focused more on the
faces, this is because I wanted to see if I liked the face outcomes which I decided I
didn’t .I could have also collected more screenshots, screenshots are something I
forget to do, and only managed o get three. This is something I know now for
work next; I can make sure to remember to take them so I can explain about
more of the work in detail. I also want to now plan specific colour which I will use
for my final animation, therefore I don’t spend to long deciding or picking the
wrong colour schemes which won’t match.
My next step for this project is to get my animations completed (the final ones)
and then look back on these to make sure I like the outcomes. I will then move
onto the other aspects of the game for example the menu part and creating my
music which I will be using beatbox for, I've had practice on these so I shouldn’t
spend as much time because I struggle more with animation and needed a-bit
more time for this. I also thing have my animations complete first makes it much
easier for my imagination to know how the outcome would look for everything
else.

I have been focusing on the demo level for my game which I’m using pixil art to
create so far this is my production part. Finding new ideas to fit onto my
background of the demo this is my second day of focusing on this and I prefer
taking my time with my work for a better outcome. I have also been looking into
the the frame's part to add a few of these when I am ready to include my
character pixels which I am still on with animating them.
Overall, so far, I am happy with this work and I can see a clear outcome of how
well I think my work is going even if sometimes I struggle, I seem to complete it in
the end. I think this part of the work brings the life to my background and I am
happy with the way this looks. Although I am still getting used to the different
type of ways, I must produce my work I feel I am still managing well with this
work. I also think this work wasn’t going too well because I focus my time on one
main thing and this work took longer than it should have.
The main successes in my work are that I found a new tool “frames” which lets
me add as many as I like and with this, I can place my animation characters in
different spots in each frame and then play this at the end this will be my demo
level, I am glad that I looked through the different tools and learned how to use
this it makes it easier within my work. Another success was my colour schemes
and how well I was able to match colours together which appeals towards both
my audiences of a younger age. Colours such as blues, purple, white and red.
My main element which seems to be what I’m struggling with is the different
layers because most of mine aren’t in a specific order and I must find which is
which this leads me to adding pixels or creating something on a completely
different layer and forgetting to add more each time, which this will make it a lot
harder for me when I start moving around objects for the frames. Another part
which was difficult was knowing how to put the game together meaning what I
was going to do next and how to add my pixel of my princess in which I had
created on Dino pixel I seemed to not know how to add this in and it wasn’t
letting me which means I may have to make a complete new pixel character.
To expand this work, I could have added more into my background like trees etc.
or created different styles or patterns on the boxes to not make them look as
plain and simple. To improve my work, I need to start the frames section to make
my objects move around because that will start to look like a demo level. I could
also add in a castle, but I think I might save this part for my cut scene bits with
audio.
My next step is to get my pixel characters onto my background and set up the
frames and experiment and see what outcomes I can make. I will then move onto
looking into the cut scene and creating my own audio after this I think I can then
piece together all the parts using different forms of apps to look more into this
next.

In this process part I have been continuing to focus on my practical side to my
project and I am still focusing on the video game side. This includes my demo
level mainly which I have created more pixel characters (the prince) and I have
begun to animate these using the timeline icon which I add frames on, and this
can make my pixel move almost as if you are playing the game which is my
purpose. I was also able to add icons around my game such as a tree and hearts
which symbol how many lives you have, I added this as improvements.
Overall, I am happy with this work so far because I feel I have added a-lot more
into the demo level and made it look a-lot more alive and interesting as before it
was quite plain, and I had forgot about the different icons I needed to include in. I
think this animation I am creating is definitely not turning out as well this is
because of the COVID situation which means I am unable to use certain apps
which I know how to use, however r the work and my outcomes I think are going
well especially because I am taking my time to make sure I don’t rush with my
outcomes.
The main successes within my work were my pixel of the prince this is something
which I practiced with a-lot and I was happy with how it looked in the end I was
also happy when I put it together and switched between the two pixels, so it
looked like a walking animation which was something I had learnt when I was in
college. Another success which I learnt to remember was my layers I always
added a new layer for another object or icon of pixels I would add in, so it was a-
lot easier for me when I began to animate. This is also my first time using the
frames on pixilart and I managed to get the hang of this quite easily with moving
the character for each frame and changing the speed of this.
A lot of thing became less successful when completing this work these where
when I added all my frames in, I decided to add more to my background this
meant I had to add that change to all of the 26 frames the change was (adding a
tree and icons). This became very time consuming, so I had to delete all the
frames and start again with creating an animation. Another thing I found difficult
was with my pixel character when the pixel character wasn’t in the frame and
when I brought it back in for example half of its body had disappeared this meant
I had to re-create half of it all over again. I also got confused a-bit with my layers
and struggled to find which layer was which as they had all got mixed up which
also takes up time to find each one.
I think to improve my work and expand this I could have made the game more
challenging and add another character which is against the prince, but I haven’t
been able to get to that point. I could also have added things that could be
thrown at him to stop him from getting the pixel diamonds this could attract my
audience a-lot more because it can look a-lot more exciting this is something I
will be looking to add if I can.
my next step is to finish up my demo level and maybe add some more to improve
it I will then move on my cut scene and then be able to put all of these together
using I movie and add my sounds in. Once I get to this point moving onto my
other advertisements such as magazine cover will be next.

Today I decided to keep focusing on my practical side to the project and today I
finished up creating the demo level this is because I felt like it wasn’t very
entertaining and was quite boring and basic so I added another character in
known as an (enemy) as i feel this will want my audience to engage a-lot more. I
then had to restart my frames again and delete the previous ones and so far, I
have my final demo level I decide to just save this now incase I come back to this
if I have free time to improve.
I feel a-lot better that I was able to improve my demo level as it gives it more
danger and makes the game look a-lot more interesting. My enemy character I
think turned out very well and looked evil especially by me using the dark reds
and purples this give of hints as to what type of character this is (evil).The
framework also turned out well with different objects moving at different times
with the character jumping onto the enemy.
The main success where how my pixel turned out because this was a last-minute
idea which I decided on therefore I didn’t have time to plan or draw this out. I
decide to try out different shapes and finally created this enemy another good
success is that it didn’t take as long when I made the pixel because it was a small
one and I didn’t have to add it onto every frame. Lastly another success was that
by adding in an enemy this made my frames go up into the 40s which meant my
demo will be a lot longer than before.
I believe I had more less successful parts because I began to have a few problems
with pixilart, which is when I create my frames and move characters sometimes it
cuts off half my character and I must restart this each time. I also had to delete
my previous frames to re-add the pixel and did the animation all over again this is
what took up most of my time because I found that using pixilart has become a
weakness of mine and I do prefer to use photoshop it also is a lot more time
consuming when focusing on the little things.
To expand and improve my work I would have added some flames which would
come out of the pixels mouth because this would make it more of a challenge and
show what type of power this pixel has. I would have also added more into the
background and even maybe more than one pixel but now I don’t want to over
crowd the game and will come back to these points if I have time.
Next, I will move onto my cut scene and I also have a proposal planning part
which needs completing and I can focus on these parts in tomorrow’s lesson.

Todays work I have been still focusing on my practical video game and I
managed to complete my men screen for the game I also looked over my
sound I made when I was in college before we broke up for Christmas as
when I made that song I decide to keep it because I think it will match for
my demo level (when I get a preview of my game) this was a bonus for me
because I have a music ready but I can still look back on beep box to see if I
can make even better sounds. I also looked back on my demo level
background which I still need to complete but mainly focused on my menu
level today.
My work outcome for my menu screen so far, I am happy with this because this is
how I had planned my idea out and I was able to re-create this. My main priority
was the fields for the background because I was unsure on where to start with
them but looking over at ideas and pictures of fields, I was able to create a layout
using the tools on pixil tool (line tool) and then filled in with colours I think this
really makes my work stand out and was a good idea which I chose to create. I
decide to not add too much to the menu because I didn't want the game to come
across confusing and because it is aimed at a younger audience, they will prefer a
simple and easy access to a game. My song for the game was also a good
outcome and I think I mixed sound effects which matched well together although
I still have time to look back on beep box and see if there's any other sounds, I
can create which are better or fit better.
My main success which I had with this work was definitely my outcome because I
didn’t expect my background to work out as well as it had turned out, I used pixil
art which i have been using for my other backgrounds too and I have now got a
good idea of how to use this. I think my song was also a successful part because I
created this when I didn’t really know how to use beep box and I picked my
favourite sound effects which would match my type of game and moved them
around to make a catchy fast song which would go well. My time management is
something else that is being more successful within my work because I am not
rushing through the game video parts and taking time with each part for example
the menu screen, I made sure to have a simple but effective background
the part I struggled with the most was was my background for the menu screen
because at first, I couldn’t get the type of shape of fields correctly and they
looked less like fields and didn’t fit well with how I wanted them too this took a-
lot of time (most of my day) which was also something which I was less successful
with because this part became very time consuming as I wanted it to look right.
Another part which I struggled with was my text I created this my self and wanted
to add a shadow colour I did attempt as best as I could, but o was unsure on
where the shadows needed to be placed this caused me to mess u[p a-lot and
sometimes it wouldn’t let me press the undo button. Layers where a difficult part
for me because I kept forgetting to add layers with each different prop, I was
creating this meant I had to delete and restart with specific bits for example parts
of the text.
To expand my work, I could have explored a-lot more different sounds on beep
box for my song and definitely tried to not spend as long as I did on the menu
screen because this took up most of my day. I think I could have added a-
bit more into the menu screen with other bits around the text and added more
shadows and put more into the title but with spending a-lot of time I was happy
enough with my outcome. To expand my work, I could have added in animations
in the menu screen for example the castle moving.
next I want to be moving on the demo level and creating my animations or firstly create the audio
which will explain the game and what will happen if I struggle with these I may also start my other
production parts such as my magazine because I have a better understanding with this.

I have been focusing on the practical side of my project which includes creating a
pixel of one of the main characters in the game (the princess). I have also begun my
game background which I have started and is not fully complete yet. For my pixel I
used dino pixel which I used for my previous pixel examples and practicing and for
my background I use pixil art, this is new to me and I haven’t used this before but
once I got the hang of it it became easy to use.
I think so far, I am happy with this work because it is turning out the way I
planned. I like the turn out of both these things and I think using other sources to
create the pixels and background isn't as bad as I imagined because of covid not
being able to access photoshop. As the work isn’t fully completed yet except from
my princess pixel which took a while to make because I wanted a certain outcome
and it turned out just how I wanted for this I had to try different techniques by
trying experiments first until it was perfect. I also had to estimate with colour
schemes and try quite a few different colours until they would match well.
the main success in this work is that I had practiced pixel examples before
creating a final one because this helped me to find out new techniques using
these different apps and helped me to not get lost or not know which tools are
which. Another success was that I didn’t rush when using pixels because
sometimes you need a-lot of patience because pixels can take a-lot of time and
detail for a good outcome. However, I took time and my outcomes where just
how I expected
whilst having to be at home and using different types of apps I did struggle with
understanding which part I am creating is for what element in my project for
example when I was creating my background, I got confused whether this is for
my menu screen or for the actual game. Also, with pixil art it is something I am
not used to and some tools where confusing to use and I did end up not using the
tools which are quicker instead I took the long way of completing for example I
would colour a whole section in without knowing I had a paint bucket tool. This
made it a-lot more time consuming for me. Another thing I struggled with is when
I tried to create hills (for a field) for my menu screen I messed up a-lot and it
didn’t look right at the end so i decide to focus on my game background.
Due to the fact I haven’t yet finished the game background my main focus to
expand that is to add more onto it for example trees are something I want to
scatter around the grass and in-front of the blue sky. I was also thin king a Castle
this will improve the background because it will give the audience a much better
of what this game includes. Diamonds, jewels and boxes are something I am yet
to add in for the game and have animations on the pixels tis will bring the game
to life and improve it. To expand the amount of work I produced I could have also
created a prince character which I will be doing I just had spent a-lot of time
creating the princess to how I wanted.
My action plan is to complete both my characters and the background to
the game then I can move onto the menu screen and creating all the game
parts separate therefore I can then put it all together this also includes
beep-box for sounds. For the prince I need to create three different pixels
so that when I animate, he will be walking and jumping. I am looking to
create the game first and then move onto my magazine cover and
billboard this is because the thing I struggle with mostly is my game and I
think its better to get this part complete first then I have time for my other
two.

In todays lesson I have been focusing on my planning side which involves my
proposal and I also made sure my blog was up to date with my reflective journals
and screenshots of my work so far .I did complete most of the proposal but still
need to finish of parts of the planning for example when I move onto my
evaluation.
I feel this work is going well because I preferred to complete my proposal at this
stage because I have a much better understanding on what my game is called and
specific audiences as before I was still unsure. I am happy with how I will also
evaluate my work and completing this has given me a much better idea of what I
need to make sure I am including in my work for example make sure the audios or
sound effects I use worked well together and that my game doesn’t look hard to
understand for my younger audience.
As I said beforehand my understanding from the proposal is a success because I
know what to look out for and make sure I don’t make this simple mistakes. I also
think using the planning grid below the proposal is helping me out a-lot because I
can type things into a list so I don’t miss out on what work needs completing
which makes me more organized .Also explaining my game out I think is a success
mainly because I can get this idea into my head and also make sure I don’t miss
things out when creating the products.
Not completely this was less successful because I did struggle with understanding
about what the bibliography meant as I didn’t know if I had to complete surveys
or not at first (which I think I don’t have to).When uploading to my blogger some
of my screenshots hadn’t saved onto my laptop so I had to retake a lot of these
which was very time consuming, but I managed to do this. As well as putting
together the PowerPoint for the reflective journal took a lot of time.
personally, I don’t think I could add much more detail in my proposal because this
was written about my story and I couldn’t add parts which wouldn’t make sense
or relate to this. However, to improve this I would have made sure to save my
screenshots and completed my full proposal in one.
my next step is to finish off the proposal and move back onto my production
once I do this, I will just have my production and evaluation to get through then I
will be finished.