AGI Studio 1: Week 6 Related Work

Week 6

The Tree (Gobelins)

1. ‘The Tree’ is a 2D animation produced by the GOBELINS that tells a story of an old man trying to plant a dead tree in a world of drought under the influence of his deceased daughter.

2. The animation depicts the dead tree as a way for the old man to reconnect with his dead daughter. He is trying to fulfill his daughter’s dream. After a sandstorm comes and destroys everything the old man has, including the poor dead tree, he sees his daughter sitting under the tree he plants in hallucination/dream. This animation just shows us a loving father and his never giving up attitude towards his daughter. It also shows us that the animation medium can be used as a tool of remembrance and fulfilling the impossible.

3. The animation uses transition really well to cut through the death of the man’s daughter and the death of the old man himself. The animation pacing is so good that it builds the story gradually to its climax. The changes in colour schemes before and after he sees his daughter is drastic, one using a desaturated yellow tone to represent the death and tiresome and one using a more saturated green tone to represent life and energy. Overall, this animation shows us the potential to convey a melancholic story through this medium.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppACa98KCXU

Island

1. ‘Island’ is an animated short film created by Robert Löbel that tells a story of the creatures living on an island.

2. The theme of the animation is about the daily life of the living creatures on an island. It uses the burst of the volcano as a metaphor for the huge impact someone powerful cast on those social statuses below him as it affects every living creature on the island. It also shows that after the initial change/ outburst, those living thing continues their life as a normal human would.

3. This work informs us of the potential of blending 2D with 3D by drawing on top of a rendered 3D animation work (or a stop motion piece). The sound of the animation is well-timed and forms a looping rhythm in the middle of the story. It helps in telling the story, giving the anticipation to the audience of what is going to happen next, hence, showing us the importance of having a matching soundtrack or SFX on an animation story.

Link: https://robertloebel.com/