Week 3
Rationale
My research question isn’t concrete, but has developed into “how can metaphors of identity be expressed through the malleability of 2D animated bodies?”
This developed as I reflected on the focus of my project, as I considered the connection between the story of my film and the way I have chosen to communicate it. At first I wasn’t sure how the research inquiry should be framed. As I discussed it in consultations I found that I had multiple ideas for what was motivating what I was creating, but needed to synthesise them, which would help resolve the confusion of my project.
Context
As I developed my story and animatic, I found shadows and silhouettes had become the main visual motif for expressing the characters' duality. In consultations, I received feedback indicating that I should refine my work by clarifying the emotions I was trying to convey. This also needed to be done for the timing, as it moved too fast to take in the story. Fitting all these different elements in made the story more complex, and I needed to move beyond the visuals to think of the overall arc. After getting feedback for two different animatics, I decided to restructure the story and think about the timing as I make it.
Moreover, in researching my inquiry, I found the characters in ‘Song of The Sea’ (2014) contained interesting dualities. I found this helpful going forward with character design and movement, as well as the way these forms change with the story and emotion of the scene.
Methods
To develop this focus on shadows in my work, I animated the transformation sequence of the cockroach boy. I watched a lot of cockroach reference footage, and made tweaks after finishing the sequence to maintain the portions. I animated the body first than the limbs for the transformation.
I also made this animatic, changing the order of scenes, cutting some things out and adding detail to clarify other areas.
I’ve also been in contact with a Sound Designer, and discussing the sound for the film.
Outcome
Here is a link to the animatics:
Ver 1:
Ver 2:
After receiving feedback in consultations and from other people in Studio 2, I have begun a more final version of the animatics with a few changes in the story structure and other important edits. The story felt confusing to a lot of people, and I realised this was in part because I didn’t have a clear character arc in mind. I also started setting the scene more, by adding more scenes which gave setting or more context. However this expanded my scope a bit too far, so I have decided to reconsider the sequence of scenes, and examine why they were placed that way, as I cut back a bit.
A gif of the transformation sequence is attached. I also shared this with Studio 2 and 2D animation club, and found it’s overall an effective transformation sequence though I need to fix the sliding in the beginning.
Downloads:
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Download File: dd1a07e0-9d2a-4f6e-a792-407cee09cc50.gif
