MILESTONE ONE

Pre-research Questions

What are fears?

Fears are the internalised responses of our brain to external aspects that may seem dangerous or threatening, they can form as irrational or rational, such as an irrational fear of something innocuous that couldn't possibly hurt anyone, or a more rational fear of heights or the deep ocean. Fears can be overcome through mental strength and an acceptance of logic.

What fear you would like to explore in this project?

• Fear of the dark

• Fear of numerous staring sets of eyes (possibly in the dark)

• Fear of water (and what lurks below it)

Fear of the Dark:

The fear of the dark can be seen as a rational fear as it is a natural thing to be afraid of the unknown, which is where where anxiety is common and a number of fears are derived (fear of deep water, fear of space, fear surrounding what happens after death, etc). I feel that this fear is more something that can be incorporated into all of the animations through the background being at night, this would reduce the amount of drawing and would also allow for more interesting lighting choices and spooky shadows.

Fear of the Eyes in the Dark:

This fear relates to a fear of the dark however changes it as it provides a certainty that something is in the dark, it is simply unknown what it is or it is clearly something to be feared. This fear could be represented in my animation with something in the dark, with its eyes glowing, then it could reveal itself (maybe a frog hopping into the spotlight of a street light)

Fear of Water:

The fear of water, or fear of what lies under the water, largely relates to the deep ocean or water where something could be hidden (like a swamp or lake). This fear could work with another idea to have a pool of water where something approaches from underneath, perhaps creating a ripple, before revealing itself to be harmless (like the frog in the previous example). This can also work with the previous example as the creature coming towards the camera in the water could have a set of eyes above the water, glowing.

MILESTONE TWO

Milestone Deliverables:

Introduction:

• Project Outline and Description: provide a brief project outline and project description.

• The project creative outline should provide a succinct articulation of your proposal concept, including title of the work you have chosen and broad idea of the animation (50 words).

• The project description should explain the overall scope of the project, the form the work is likely to take and an explanation of the subject, themes and ideas (500 words). This includes details of any anticipated artistic or technical requirements and collaborations.

Animation Treatment:

• Write the 1 line synopsis of your animation

• Write the animation treatment (half a page)

StoryBoard:

• Storyboard of animation (completed with panels and camera movement descriptions).

• Create one panel with a clear sample of graphic style and light direction

Visual Development:

• Moodboard 1: Show references for the visual style of your animation

• Moodboard 2: Show the feel you are going for. -With colour chart-

Character development - For each character:

• Write the treatment for the characters:

• Character Moodboard: character type and visual style

• Character Model sheet with a colour chart

Environment development:

• Describe the environment in a few lines and provide:

• Environment Moodboard: show references of environment

• Lighting and Atmosphere Mood Board: Define the lighting/time of day and atmosphere

Project Plan:

• Technical specifications: indicate what technology will be used in the production of the project, and where it will be sourced.

• Role distribution: outline the crew, their skills and responsibilities

• Production schedule: applicants are required to provide a timeline that outlines key dates in the project production plan it can be in the form of:

• Marketing outline:

Project Idea Description and Plan

Introduction:

• Project Outline and Description: provide a brief project outline and project description.

• The project creative outline should provide a succinct articulation of your proposal concept, including title of the work you have chosen and broad idea of the animation (50 words).

• The project description should explain the overall scope of the project, the form the work is likely to take and an explanation of the subject, themes and ideas (500 words). This includes details of any anticipated artistic or technical requirements and collaborations.

Project Plan:

• Technical specifications: indicate what technology will be used in the production of the project, and where it will be sourced.

• Role distribution: outline the crew, their skills and responsibilities

• Production schedule: applicants are required to provide a timeline that outlines key dates in the project production plan it can be in the form of:

• Marketing outline:

Treatment and Storyboard Development

Animation Treatment:

• Write the 1 line synopsis of your animation

• Write the animation treatment (half a page)

StoryBoard:

• Storyboard of animation (completed with panels and camera movement descriptions).

• Create one panel with a clear sample of graphic style and light direction

Frog in Water Idea:

This idea involves the camera panning over to a small darkened pond with a set of glowing eyes emerging, swimming closer to the camera while making faint ripples. It can then be revealed that the glowing eyes belong to a harmless frog, who can gently hop out of the pond into the light.

Treatment:

Camera pans sideways to show a pond shrouded from the moonlight by the surrounding trees

Small ripples can barely be seen coming from the back of the pond, where it is darkest

Suddenly a pair of glowing round eyes can be seen staring into the camera from the darkness, which have clearly emerged from the water

The eyes begin moving towards the camera, staying at water level

As the eyes move into the moonlight it is still unclear as to what they belong too, just that they are eyes coming from the pond with now visible ripples as they move forward

The glowing eyes pause in front of the waters edge, before the eyes close in preparation for the creature's next move

A frog then jumps out of the water where the eyes were, causing a ripple behind it before it lands on the ground in front of the pond, illuminated by the moonlight

The frog jumps around a bit before the camera moves on to the next scene

Visual, Environmental, and Character Development

Visual Development:

• Moodboard 1: Show references for the visual style of your animation

• Moodboard 2: Show the feel you are going for. -With colour chart-

Character development - For each character:

• Write the treatment for the characters:

• Character Moodboard: character type and visual style

• Character Model sheet with a colour chart

Environment development:

• Describe the environment in a few lines and provide:

• Environment Moodboard: show references of environment

• Lighting and Atmosphere Mood Board: Define the lighting/time of day and atmosphere

Visual Moodboards:

Adventure Time:

A simplistic style using flat coloured line art. This style is a common one and is a large inspiration for my personal background style. I believe the simplistic and cartoonish style would work well for the general style of the project, as the line drawn simplicity can contrast aspects of each of our ideas, like the highly detailed butterfly, or the shadow on the wall. It even works for my project as the object of fear is hidden in darkness, the reveal that it is just a frog is better if it looks cuter and more cartoonish.

Character Development:

The frog:

The frog is the only character in my animation and goes from being a scary set of glowing eyes in the darkness to a cute harmless frog.

Name: Frog (Green tree frog)

Personality: curious at first as it swims towards the camera, then uncaring as it hops around

Background: A green tree frog who lives in this small pond

Character Moodboard:

MILESTONE THREE

Milestone Deliverables:

• After gathering your reference you can start animating the elements of your animation.

• Submit process in Learning Journal and in class for feedback and revision.

[Extra]:

• Develop the background and finalise the drawing

• Develop the character and finalise the drawing and animation

• Edit them together and share with peers for feedback and for compositing

Dark Pond Background V1

Frog Pose Assets