Supervision meeting Notes 0325
- issac zhang
- Mar 24
- 4 min read
p.s. All the words and sentences are just ordinary, everyday notes without adding literature references （have no time）, but the authenticity of the content is guaranteed.
Basic Logic
Exploring aesthetics within Chinese Art is one of my aims at the period of Phd journey. Woodblock prints have a long and uninterrupted history that has been well inherited(), which can date back to the Tang dynasty(). So, Traditional Chinese Woodblock prints are a suitable object for analysis of what Chinese aesthetics is.
Exploring or utilizing AI abilities to distil Chinese aesthetics without being limited by people's intrinsic knowledge is one of my methods. It is an ideal tool for transferring aesthetics and style.
As I mentioned in our last meeting. Qigong is a great topic to tell stories because it mixes traditional Chinese beliefs about the universe, philosophy, martial arts, health notions, superstition, and modern science into one fascinating fantasy（）. These features are suitable for the content of animation.
visual style
Just like "Dreamcore captures nostalgic fantasies about the past, keeping only the beautiful or imagined parts， is about remembering and re-imagining the past（）”, Dreamcore is basically about cultural and technological nostalgia, recalling the shared memories of people who grew up during the same time, shaped by things like policy, technology, and environment. Qigong animation can also be about remembering and re-imagining the past（）. So, I want to use Dreamcore methods, with a funny, surreal style, to help modern viewers imagine ancient times. There are the following aspects.
A retro feel connecting past and present, making viewers imagine ancient times.
A handmade look, yet blurred lines between human-made and AI art. For example, visuals featuring ink dots and imperfect prints（materiality） and unpredictable and unprecise results of AI.
Objectives of this animation
I want to achieve these things:
Try to animate the traditional medium - traditional woodblock prints (remediation).
Turn experiments into a complete work.
Observe and learn how to collaborate with AI
Challenges:
except for the technical problems and lacking a high-performance computer.
This topic of animation is a new type I've never seen before, and it's hard because there are no similar（basically） animations to get references. It's not a traditional story with clear characters and lasts one minute. It's more about expressing a vague feeling, so I can't use story-based animations as references. Regular motion graphics are too energetic and not retro enough. I can only get references from old animations, vintage TV commercials, and experimental animators (such as...).
1.AI is an ideal tool for transferring aesthetic and style
Considering AI is a constantly evolving technology that is used in the Art area especially, It is critical to keep pace with updated developments in AIGC to find a suitable tool for creating animation with Chinese aesthetics because not all AI tools fit with this unique style(SEE some examples in previous pages), which requires me to learn not limited to LoRA but also other cutting-edge AI animation tools. So, I will continuously test and learn new AI tools for better and quicker animation production.
See the huge difference in the final result by using different AI tools， images generated by my personal Chinese aesthetic LoRA
After lots of failures and experiments. I trained several Loras to get more precise results.
I will omit this training process on this page for time-saving. For more test results and progress, please refer to my previous pages.
1.1 universal concepts Lora.
This guarantees its generalization for producing various objects with Chinese aesthetic
1.2 main character Lora
This Lora guarantees the character's consistency
1.3 Fonts Lora
Fonts that look like they're purely carved by a knife will be one of the essential components to form Visual style（see the style frame）.
2.Style frame V2
The style frame should be the final visual result of the animation after print. and all visual details will be improved while this making process is going on.
Figure0-1. layout reference and draft
Figure2. without any Lora
Figure3. With the universal style Lora
Figure4. With the multiple Chinese aesthetic style Lora
Figure5-6 final processed style frames
3.Storyboard
The story idea is based on martial arts and Qigong books I've read and is divided into two parts. the storyboard logic can be divided into two sections or parts.
3.1the storyboard logic
Section 1: Basic Principles
The universe is made up of Qi (energy) and physical matter. Qi is the source of all life energy (image of Yuan Ying).
With the "information pot", we control the energy flowing through our bodies.
Make cells resonate with universal energy.
Achieve harmony between humans and the universe. We receive and send universal energy.
Section 2: Achieved Effects
all five senses open (brain, eyes, nose, ears, mouth), improving intelligence, vision, and hearing. We can even communicate mentally with English-speaking friends through Qigong.
3.2 the storyboard and mood board
Cilk to download this high-res storyboard👇
4.What I will present in the next meeting？
I‘ll collaborate with my friend considering its workload.
Next, I’ll create one complete printed animation shot in woodblock print style and a revised full one-minute animated storyboard with retro-style AI voiceover.
5.Questions
What are the graduation requirements? If I finish my PhD paper, complete this one-minute animation, and win an award, can I apply?
How can I become a true artist? How should I document my creative process? any book recommendations?
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