Reflection on My Graduation Film – Dex and the Disc

During the production of Dex and the Disc, I gained a lot of experience and learned many valuable lessons. I would like to divide my reflection into three parts: 1. Planning and Preparation, 2. Process and Challenges, and 3. Solutions and Reflection.

1. Planning and Preparation

This was the first time I worked as an independent director and organised a team project. Before this, I usually worked alone or as a co-director, so I had never fully led a production myself. Because of this, I was determined to prepare a strong script and story for my graduation film and take on the role of director.

At the beginning, the story was much longer than the final version. After finishing the animatic, I spent a lot of time cutting and revising the story until it was around five minutes long. I was also able to find team members who were interested in working with me, including Yuxiao Liu and Tianyi Li. During this stage, I completed all of the pre-production work, which I believed was an important responsibility of a director.

2. Process and Challenges

Of course, the production process was not always smooth. One of the biggest challenges was that my graduation film included a stop-motion animation sequence. As a 2D animation director, I had never worked with stop-motion before. Fortunately, both of my team members had experience in this area and helped me a lot, especially with deciding the visual style and making the puppets. Tianyi Li also completed the stop-motion shooting very successfully.

Another challenge was communication. I am not naturally good at communicating with people, and I often prefer to complete work by myself. However, I soon realised that the graduation film was too large for one person to handle alone. Because of this, I started to improve my communication with my teammates. Later, Tianyu Han also joined the team, which helped us complete the project more smoothly.

3. Solutions and Reflection

In the later stages of the project, we gradually found a better way of working together. As the team became larger and communication improved, I started to share more responsibilities with my teammates instead of trying to do everything myself. At first, I was not comfortable asking people to make changes or assigning tasks, but as the project continued, I realised that one of the most important responsibilities of a director is coordinating the team rather than completing all the work personally.

This project was also the first time I experienced the entire production process from script development to the final film. In addition to animation production, I was involved in recruiting voice actors, communicating with the composer, designing promotional materials, and preparing project presentations.

Looking back on the project, I believe the biggest achievement was not simply finishing a five-minute animation. Instead, it was the transition from being an animator to becoming a director. In the past, I focused mainly on my personal creative skills. Through this experience, I learned how to lead a team and complete a project together. This lesson will be very valuable for my future career.