Animated Narratives - Week 2 'What if...'

In response to this week’s theme of creating a ‘what if’ question, I have decided to create a mind map creating responses to ‘what if my cat…?’. I have attempted to illustrate how my life and my cat’s life would change depending on different circumstances. 

By using a mindmap and accompanying illustrations, I am able to tease possible interactions, and determine if each ‘direction’ would be interesting enough to be produced into an animatic. 

Similar work is seen in the series ‘Simon’s Cat’ from ‘Simon’s Cat Ltd’, in which the animations capture cat behaviours that cat owners can relate to. Emotions of the cat is clearly conveyed despite very little narration and the cat’s inability to talk. To make the animations even more interesting, dramatic and human-like behaviour is sometimes added (e.g. packing a bag to run away from home in ‘BATHTIME’).

Whilst making this piece, I made a realisation that animals don’t really need the ability to speak to convey their feelings. They are a strong study material for animations with no narration.  A lot of the time I can understand my cat’s needs just through body language, and her actions. The level of interactions already pre-existing me and my cat is also deeper than what I originally thought. When asking myself ‘what if my cat was a king of the household’, I realised that she already is so, and this is not limited to only me. Everyone in my family feeds her, talks to her in an unusually gentle voice and tries our best to entertain her.