Metamorphosis: Final Animation

Authors own

This is the final animation of my story, which I entitled 'Gregory's Soul' that explores the concept of metamorphosis through life, death and the spirit world. Overall, I am pleased with my outcome as it evokes the emotions I was aiming to strike in the viewers. I think the choices I made during production, e.g.  choosing to make it in black and white, the music I chose, the idea of inverting the tones once we entered the spirit world, were the prime reasons the mood of the piece was so well received. If I were to improve this animation I would of taken care to include more frames and movement, as in some places it does seem a little static and incomprehensible. However, these are points I can take on board and carry forward for my next animated projects. In order to avoid this happening in future projects I could make animatics before I start final production, making sure all transitions and keyframes work accordingly. 

I made the animation by hand using a lightbox to aid me. I then scanned each image into Flash and put them into sequence.The inverted colour frames where scanned into Photoshop, where I edited them and then imported them into Flash. Once this was done I add fade out transitions and small movements, such as blinking and the bug sprat entrance, using Flash. I then exported the file into iMovie where I added a glowing effect on the second half of the animation and included rolling credits at the end. 

I was surprised at just how time consuming the animation process is and how much there is to consider. In order to help my future animations, creating a check list would really help make things run more smoothly. 

Metamorphosis: Screen Shots

Screen Shots of final animation

Photos are authors own

These screen shots are organised chronologically to give a rough idea of the storyline. Evaluation of final piece is to be found on the next post. I have included these images incase you cannot watch the actual animation. 

Metamorphosis: Title Card

Title card development

Photo is authors own

I really enjoyed this part of the project as I was able to focus my attention on what the animation was all about and try to portray that in one still image. I was working with the idea of foreshadowing, and how I could use that term literally. I worked with a few different view points and also thought about how I could produce visual meaning behind the shadow cast by Gregory as he prepares to get into bed. The last image on the page seen above is my final design, which I believe to be effective. The large shadow cast by Gregory creates a daunting atmosphere, as it haunts the space, towering over him. I included a mouth on the shadow to suggest it being a separate entity, although a part of Gregory, just as death will be.

Metamorphosis: Final Storyboard

Section of final storyboard

Frame-by-frame (left) and experimentation (right)

Photos are authors own

My final storyboard includes Gregory the caterpillar sleeping in his hammock, snoring, when suddenly a can of bug spray enters the frame and sprays him. Gregory dies, shrivelled and black. We are then taken into the spirit world where Gregory "awakens" as a butterfly in his room. He is confused at first, flapping his wings in an attempt to make sense of this new world. Gregory notices that he has antennas, pushing him into further confusion. Then he sees the caracas of his dead body and is fearly shocked. He looks forward and gulps as he fades into blackness. We leave him in his most fearful state to evoke the strongest emotional response from the audience. The process of rectifying the storyline was quite stressful, as it was hard to walk away from my initial idea and think afresh, but it was rewarding to put together something that made more sense and in turn produced a more effective narrative. I am still wary of whether the ending is as effective as I hope it to be, but that is something I may work on after the final showing and critic.

The experimental stage of the project was very helpful in finding a medium that best complimented the concept. I played around with paper cut outs, 3D stop motion and hand draw animation, and found hand drawn animation to be the most effective, because of how expressive and personal it is. It will also give me a chance to work illustratively within animation.

In order to make the production stage of my animation as smooth running as possible, I have created a rough frame-by-frame plan of my story, including different transitions and frame panning. 

Metamorphosis: Initial Idea (decided concept)

Initial storyboard (left), initial character design and research into concept (right) 

Final character design 

Layout/setting design

Photos are authors own

I decided to work with a slightly obvious idea, which is the metamorphosis of a butterfly, but including the idea of death and afterlife. My initial working story was that a caterpillar awakens from sleeping in the form of a butterfly and is first confused, but the fearful as the shadow of the former caterpillar tells him the he has died and entered the spirit. I left the story as a cliff hanger. However, after attending a critic it was brought up that the story requires the viewer to erase what they already knew about the natural life cycle of a butterfly and it was clear they I needed to include some representation of death into the story. 

Before going on to make a final storyboard I proceeded to create my final character and layout designs. I decided due to time keeping that I would create the animation using grey scale (no colour). However, this seemed to work well with my concept with black representing death and white life. The colour choice will also create a more obscure, eery mood. My final storyboard will therefore be made in black and white, using the polished character and layout design.

Metamorphosis: Initial Idea

Photos are author own

My initial idea was based on metamorphosis as a super power, looking at examples like, The Hulk, Ben 10 and Megamind. I made a storyboard (first image) that included a boy who was teasing his sister and in order to avoid the consequences he turns into a rock. However, whilst he is still in rock form a man walks by and kicks him across the ground. When the boy turns back into his rightful form he has a huge dent in his head. This worked as a good starting point, but the story needed to be developed more. Most people felt as though the struggles the boy is put through should be elaborated and more extreme. So I expanded the story to include him getting kicked into a river and having to battle through numerous obstacles, whilst getting pushes down the current. I found the process of developing my story challenging because I had to make sure the audience was able to empathise with the character, but still find his experience comical. This is a hard thing to master. 

I then went on to designing the character using illustrator (second image), which was a very fun experience. I was able to create a character that before only existed in my mind and visually express the temperament of the boy. I think my initial character design was successful, but I found myself loosing interest in the concept I had chosen for the project. I want to create a more metaphorical, in-depth representation of metamorphosis. 

Metamorphosis: Primary Research

Authors own photos

These are some observational sketches I made whilst on a trip to Brighton. These drawings where the basis of my primary research for the project 'Metamorphosis'. I found it to be a really relaxing exercise and some aspects of the drawings turned out well e.g. perspective, although it was really hard to capture. It also got me thinking about framing scenes and what was necessary to include/capture in an image. I asked myself, what is interesting about this setup? Why does it catch my eye? How should I frame it? What materials should I use to record it? What is essential to keep its appeal alive in 2D form? These questions could then be translated into my idea development and final animation.

Whilst at Brighton I also collected some items such as leaflets and pebbles from the beach to trigger further ideas.

I then displayed my findings on an A1 sheet, which helped me organise my ideas and develop on them. A helpful exercise, which I will surely use again. I also displayed examples of other artists work that have played with the idea of Metamorphosis, such as Jan Švankmajer (of course), Salvador Dalí, the Quay brothers and Stefan Pazcowsky.