This week, we had our soft opening, a valuable opportunity to present our work to the faculty and receive their feedback. We earned a lot of positive remarks, such as compliments on the smooth flow of the visuals, clear guidance on where to focus, a highly praised warp transition, appreciation for the “aha toast moment,” and confirmation that the opening iris effect effectively directs the audience’s gaze.
Some critiques pointed out a few visual inconsistencies. For example, several people noticed that Oliver appeared to be walking on his tiptoes, which may be due to our dancer’s professional habits. Additionally, Oliver was too dark in the first scene, and some found the photos on the wall too sharp and distracting.
There were also suggestions that we simply cannot address within the remaining time. For instance, some viewers wanted more backstory, but since this is a one-semester project, we can’t produce a fully developed narrative beyond our given scenario. Similarly, addressing feedback like “the story is too cliché” isn’t feasible at this stage.
Beyond visuals and storytelling, we received other helpful advice. For the final presentation, many suggested we highlight how improvisational dancing benefited the project, discuss how the environment evolved, and explain why we chose this particular space for the story. Regarding festivals, we were encouraged to think about marketing and branding ourselves, possibly by printing business cards and stickers—an idea we find appealing and plan to try.
We also discovered a technical issue related to the cavern itself: there’s a visible line where the three projections blend into one. We never noticed it before, likely because we’ve been staring at it every day.
We are grateful for all the suggestions and feedback, as they help us determine our next steps in polishing the animation. After some discussion and decision-making, we wrote down the tasks we need to tackle on two large poster papers and hung them on the wall. Since the remaining work consists of many small refinements, having a visual to-do list helps everyone keep track, add new tasks, and cross them off as they’re completed.
With Thanksgiving approaching, we’d like to wish everyone a happy holiday. We hope our team members enjoy a well-deserved break and return ready to prepare for the upcoming ETC festival.