STORYBOARD SKETCHES
In the above video I am showing a reanimated scene previously displayed in my workflow. I have also experimented with green screen, the snake will travel though the blue ending up somewhere among birds. This way making an introduction into the flying fauna. The role of my snake character is to take the viewer into a journey showcasing wildlife beauty.
After the snake traveles through the sky he arrives in a jungle area where he comes across a leopard. He continues his journey between leafs and into the deep sea.
The begining displays a bacteria representing the firstsign of life on earth.
This is the scene that I will use at the end on my movie, as a simetrycal yet antithetic ending.
I need to mention that there are a lot of scenes missing from my project.
1) showing the begining of life on earth, the first bacteria evolving, connecting it to how everything is based on that
2)/3) zoom in and out
4) showing a varaiety of animal species with a change of light
5)/6) focusing on the snake moving, (camera starts moving from the tail until it reaches the head) oncewe have the head shot the snake starts moving, showing different species. As an introduction to nature s beauty.
7)/8) bird, ghepard and underwater
9)/10) the snake travels until he meets with a spider, his golden web represents nature s web, being bombarded by human activity (change of music and light)
11) (human web taking over) hands touching the spider as he turns black (zooming into white)
12) white cotton cloud disappearing and a penguin on ice is presented as the ice melts
13)...
The work Ophelia, by the duch artist group Idiots (Afke Golsteijn Rubrn Tanjera and Floris Bakker) is a taxidermi of a lioness ment to express how peoples obbesions and attraction ovecame nature in this capitalist era. ‘Ophelia is about the old power of nature and the new power of money and gold that consumes everything’. Aloi, Giovanni. Art and Animals, I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=903284. Created from ual on 2020-05-03 06:50:58. Along with this interpretation stands the analysis of the name Ophelia being a character by Shakespeare that drowned herself using the weight of gold jewlery. I found this work highily relateing with my current project while reading Art and animals by Giovanni Aloi. A book that explains the presence of animals in contemporan art and their meannings.
I inspired my compoition for this scene from old encyclopedia books illustrations. Pictures where all different species are crowded togheder on the same page, and they all stare at you in quite a disturbing way. I choosed this kind of arangement as I feel like it s a suitable introduction to nature, it s species, beauty and diversity.
For my moth character I researched Gandy, Matthew. Moth, Reaktion Books, Limited, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=5398124. where I found all different tipes of moths and the fact that the worms from which some of them methamorphoses are silkworms. This is why I decided to use silk as a base material for my character.
Beside that I foud inspiration in the way their wings mimic eyes.
I have also been amazed by a time lapse transformation of the Puss Moth. https://youtu.be/xix6MPHQRa4
After I finished sewing it I introduced different wires so it can be manipulated easier.
A very fast and sloppy try out in which I am trying to exemplify how the wires used in the construction of my chararters will help me better animate them.
spider web
As I returned home I started focusing on nature more, for two main reasons. The first one is the are I live in, it s really isolated one in a rural area and the second one, is, of course my project. Looking at the things around me, something that really got my attention were spider webs. They are such resistent and interesting structures. Due to this new fascination I decided that I really want to try and make one which I will include in my animation.
For the process I pinned the wire down so I can manipulate it better.
I found myself surrounded by my porcelain figurines depicting animals. Those are a symbol of communism in Romania. You can ask any romanian teenager, and they will say how they used to want to play with them but they grandmother wouldn t let them. By using those as materials I can create an emotional connection with my target pubilc.
I used clay in order to shape my elements, they are inspired from frills so I was aiming for a porcelain aspect in the end. In order to atchive that, I spray painted the first layer, on top of which I used colored acrylic paint. To finish up I varnished each one and waited for them to dry.
Each element is a metaphoric symbol. The heart illustrates nature s heart, the dolphin as the endangered species, the dice makes the connection between how our attitude upon the future of our planet is just like gambling. Throwing the dice and hoping for the best, with absolutely no certainty that the worst won t happen. Brands, gold and money as elements of capitalism. The crying flower symbolises nature s cry for help.
In my narrative all of those small parts will get caught up in the spider web and slowly take over. Then human hands will replace the web with a wire structure.