This weeks focus for Animated Narratives was on character, specifically on the External Manifestation of the Interior State, and how this can be expressed both through a characters appearance, and through their actions and reactions.
I started with one of my premises from the premise exercise, which was ‘ Tired of running on the same piece of track, so it derails itself,’ The image that came to mind for me was of a train jumping free from its track, and sliding down an incline to a beach, where it came to a stop, just enjoying the waves and the sunshine. I focused on mind mapping for this exercise, fleshing out the character’s desires, and how these desires can be expressed through its appearance (focusing on the characters colour in relation to the other characters and its environment), and through the actions it takes across the course of the story. Through this process, I developed a plot synopsis, as follows.
A train is going through the motions of its daily life; waking up in a cold grey depot, surrounded by other trains; travelling its route through a dull urban landscape, and then returning home to rest before repeating the cycle. Its one daily highlight is when part of its route takes it briefly out of the suburbs, and across a cliff that gives it a view of the ocean. One day, the train’s controller assigns it to a new route, one which has no such natural views, or any respite from the dullness of suburbia. After one day of working this new route, the train decides it can’t just go on like it has been. The train travels out to the sea, and derails itself, sliding down the cliff to land on the beach that it had spent so much time wistfully gazing at. The story ends with the train content in its new environment.
The piece explores the themes of escape, and breaking free from the monotony of everyday life. It’s suited to the medium of animation because it uses anthropomorphism to give character to an inanimate object, as a metaphor for conveying the theme of the work. Animation also makes it easier to use the environment to help set the tone of the piece, as the urban scenes would be close to monochromatic, and the scenes taking place in the seascapes would contrast this by being vibrant and full of colour. Similar themes, of breaking free from a monotonous life to find something that’s more fulfilling, is present in the farm life simulator game Stardew Valley, developed by Eric Barone / ConcernedApe. In the intro to this game (found here), the player character is depicted working a soul-less desk job for a mega corporation. When the player discovers their grandfather’s will, and is given an opportunity to escape the confines of their current life to move to the eponymous Stardew Valley and inherit their grandfather’s farm, they jump at the chance, setting the events of the game in motion.
