ANIMATION

Nature is an essential part of our story, and few artistic fields force us to examine and take notice of nature as animation. From studying the arch of the flapping wings of a bird, to the little jumps of the water in a rock, to the shadow of the Sun against the trees, animation involves both creativity and an attention to detail that immediately piqued our interest as a catalyst to tell "The Tears of Nerakhis". Following in the steps of animation studios such as Studio Ghibli, we aim to produce a hand-painted, traditional 2D animations to bring to life scenes and moments from our musical, so that the musical pieces can be expressed in multiple art forms.

The animation process is as lengthy as it is rewarding, and it involves several parts, any of which you can currently get involved in!

Our creative process

Step 1: painting the background

The first step involves designing the animations and establishing the shots. Once the composition and movement has been sketched in conceptual pieces, the painting of the backgrounds begins.

All backgrounds are hand-painted with gouache paints, a versatile medium that combines the fluidity and beauty of watercolours with the density of acrylics. These result in beautiful colour and texture contrasts that will bring the animation to life and give it a traditional, matte feel impossible to achieve solely through digital painting.

Step 2: editing in Photoshop

Once the backgrounds are finished, they are scanned and brought into Adobe Photoshop. There, we adjust the colours of the backgrounds and adjust imperfections of the original artworks. It is also at this stage that the objects are drawn, using gouache digital brushes that emulate the texture of the background. Objects are what is referred to any creatures or items in the shot that are going to be moving, and so must be added digitally.

Step 3: animating... in Animate

We animate our stories both through shot-by-shot traditional techniques and more advanced ones such as bone rigging or tweenings.

If you are new to these programs but are willing to learn and curious about the process, we would still very much like to have you on board! We are all part of a learning process and you will be amazed at what you are able to create in a short amount of time.

Step 4: rendering in After Effects

Finally, once the animations are ready, we smooth out any imperfections and help with special effects, lighting techniques, adding sound effects and music and the general rendering of the animation so that the final result looks both professional and enticing. Working with After Effects can have a bit of a steeper learning curve so we will be specially looking for students with some prior experience in the program or similars for this stage.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Do you feel that the learning curve is too daunting to undertake? Well, don't! The fun about animating is that it's a collaborative process. Everyone brings their skills and expertise to bring about a result that is better than the sum of their parts. Whether you're excited about painting mountains on paper, curious about animating the strides of a deer or interested in the reflections of the Sun between the leaves, you will certainly find something to do, all whilst being part of a community with one goal in common. Sign up now for the animation department and become a part of our team!

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