Animated narrative week 2

By Xipeng Niu (Xavier)

This work is inspired by the premise of week 2 which is “What if giraffes were carnivorous?”. I tried to use storyboard to develop a concept of a short animation exploring that idea.

It uses the contrast between different animal sizes to give audience a reverse. It shows audience the part of the full scene. Then a zooming out shot can be used to reveal what is going on which introduce a reverse to audience.

In the “Shapes of Stories” by Kurt Vonnegut, all shapes and curves of stories are mentioned which all have a reverse of audience’s emotion. It makes me think about the importance of a story’s reverse and how it could happen. Thus, I decided to explore reveal the reverse by using camera angle. The TV show “how to get away with a murderer” implemented a great use of that technic. In each episode it reveals a part of a crime which makes audience curious about the full story.

By examining that idea, I found out that the using of camera could also conveying information in animations and films. And also hiding part of scene is a good way to attract audience in the beginning part. If the giraffe was in the scene since the beginning but due to its size audience wouldn’t know what it is, it would make it more dramatic when it moves and eats the bird.