Animated Narrative Week 10 - Movement

Synopsis:

The shadow of a boy builds something mysteriously at night.

Bullet Points:

• At night, the shadow of a sleeping boy starts moving freely at its own will.
• The shadow extends and opens the door leading to a suspicious basement
• There are a plethora of horrendous and scary tools in the basement, the shadow picks up a saw
• Close-up action of the shadow building something, wielding, sewing metal parts, it looks the shadow is scheming something bad
• Morning breaks in, the boy wakes up and sits at the edge of the bed, his back looks upset and lonely.
• Camera orbits to the front, revelation of the boy has both of his legs surgically removed.
• The boy stares at the shadow of the cut end of the legs for a long time
• Shadow kicks out the prosthetic legs beneath the bed
• The boy happily installs the legs and try to walks again
• The shadow is also happy to be in touch with the boy again (feet to feet)

Credits: Khatim Javed Dar, Chun-Yu Chen,Wei Chen, Cantug Sahiner, Peter Mavromatakis, Kin Kui Ho Izac

This story examined the concept of movement. By expressing the movement of shadow which is known as immovable presence, I am able to create the tension and curiosity about why the shadow is moving. With the unique quality of shadow, it's easily associated with something evil, so we decided to twist on that, designing the shadow is to help the host.

A similar work is Shadow, produced by Crystal Kung. The short film is a depiction of depression of a young lady. The lady is chased after by a moving shadow which is a manifestation of visualized depression and anxiety.

Through the feedback Kate, which the shadow might not only be just fixing the boy but also itself. So I decided to add another element of motion in the movement of the shadow. At the beginning, the shadow might move jaggedly; in the end it moves smoothly.

Kung, C., 2017. Shadow. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kctZ2a9LDxw> [Accessed 26 May 2022].