Brief:
Animate a story that a song has inspired you to create: 1 x 1 minute 30 seconds - 2 minute animation. Everyone has a favourite song, album or artist. Songs are an amazing why to tell a story; lyrics
help us create landscapes or imagine scenes from the song in our minds.
Choose 1 song (or album) and interpret the story the lyrics are telling. This can be as abstract as
you like, or as obvious as you like.
Try to showcase the story the song is talking about in your animation. Creating characters, scenes
and landscapes inspired by the lyrics.
Remember to convey the story so the viewer sees a start, middle and ending.
This is your take on the song, the lyrics do not need to appear anywhere.
The song MUST NOT be used as a soundtrack to the animation.
You can use the song to inspire a story you create also. For example, a song you like about a
place might inspire you to create a story that takes place in that place. Feel free to expand and
interpret the song in any way you see fit.
Idea 1:
When I was presented with this project the first song that came to mind was 'On Top Of The World' by Imagine Dragons as its one of my favourite songs. So when I gave it another listen I began to conjure up of story in my head.
Lyrics that inspired my story:
"You can have it all but not til you make it.' = want adventure ? go for it.
"Cause i'm on top of the world, been waiting on this for a while now." = He's always wanted to travel.
"Been dreaming of this since a child."
"I've been waiting to smile, been holding it in for a while." = He is sick of being stuck in the cold.
Plot Idea:
We see a baby penguin who lives in a plain frozen land - Antarctica. His dream is to travel the world after finding a map and seeing that theres more than snow out there. As he gets older he is ready to travel the world, so he begins to pack the traveling essentials and leaves map in hand.
Walking through the deep snow and blizzard, Pete starts to find it hard to walk. Pushing through the harsh weather not paying attention he trips over a rock at the waters edge. The impact of the fall knocks out Pete, the ice breaks around him and begins to float away with him on it.
Opening his eyes, he wakes up in Paradise island. Shocked and amazed he finally smiles he finally made it. It ends with a montage of Pete traveling to lots of amazing locations such as; sailing seas, luscious green fields, scorching deserts and tropical rainforests. Lastly, we see him on top of the tallest mountain in the world, truly feeling on top of the world.
Idea 2:
When thinking of my second idea I found it hard narrowing it down to find a good song. So I shuffled my music and 'Kill Em With Kindness' by Selena Gomez was the song that came on. So when I listened to this song I initially pictured a bully picking on others but then he would change his ways and become a kind person.
Idea 3:
When listening to 'Empire State Of Mind' by Alicia Keys and JayZ there was one line in this song that stuck out to me the most and inspired my third idea. That lyric was "concrete jungle where dreams are made of." I wanted to take this literally and turn New York City into a concrete jungle (a city that used to be but is know all over grown and run by animals).
I decided to choose Idea number 1.
I felt that this idea was the most interesting out of the three and I am excited to create all the different locations that Pete will be traveling too.
I felt that this idea was the most interesting out of the three and I am excited to create all the different locations that Pete will be traveling too.
The Script: I'm On Top Of The World.
SCENE 1: ANTARCTICA – DAY.
We see a baby penguin named Pete, who lives
in the frozen barren land – Antarctica. *Wind
blowing* Looking all around him all he can see for miles is snow. Appearing
bored he *waddles* into his icy home
and notices a piece of paper underneath some books. Lifting the books, he grabs
the paper and begins to unfold it. Amazed Pete’s face lights up as he reveals a
world map. [Fades to black] A time lapse of the sun setting in the sky.
SCENE 2: HOUSE – NIGHT into DAY.
Sleeping, Pete smiles as he dreams. Fading
into his dream we see him holding a map and literally standing on top of the
world *Happy soundtrack*. Fading back
to Pete sleeping in bed (he is older
now) it’s bright outside. *Adventurous
soundtrack*Pete’s eyes burst open ready for the day ahead of him. He jumps
out of bed and starts packing his bag filling it full of travel essentials. He
takes his map and circles certain places that he will visit. Pete puts the map
into his bag, puts the backpack on and leaves.
SCENE 3: ANTARCTICA – DAY.
*Howling
winds* Walking through the
snow, Pete finds it tough to walk due to the blizzard pushing him back.
Fighting it, he keeps pushing his way forward determined to make it Paradise
Island. Getting closer to the water’s edge he trips on a rock, falling fast he
hits his head off the hard ice. Unconscious, the impact of the fall makes the
ice surrounding him begin to *crack*. The ice cracks into a circle around him
leaving him to float away on a piece of ice.
SCENE
4: PARADISE – DAY.
As the ice starts to melt Pete feels the
trickle of water casing him to wake up. Slowly opening his eyes, he begins
squinting at the bright sun shining in his face. *Happy soundtrack* Once his eyes adjust to the brightness he is
engulf by the beautiful vibrant sky, palm trees swaying in the *breeze*, *birds singing* and the warm
rays of the sun giving him a huge to welcome him to paradise. Overwhelmed he
jolts up and attempts to take in all the wonders this island has to offer.
Jumping off the remanence of the ice block and onto the warm sand, Pete wonders
over to the giant trees. A coconut falls and hits him on the head *bonk* and splits in half. Shaking the
pain off, he picks up the coconut and takes a drink *slurps*, he lets out a
“Ahhh” in satisfaction. Setting down the coconut he takes off his backpack and
takes out his map to tick off paradise Island. [Fade to black.]
SCENE
5: MONTAGE OF DIFFERENT
PLACES – DAY.
*Happy soundtrack* We see a montage of him
traveling to lots of different destinations. Pete is marching all happy
remaining in the same spot but the background location is changing with every
two steps. Locations such as: sailing the sea, luscious green fields, scorching
desserts and tropical rainforest. Lastly, Pete makes his final stop at the top
of the tallest mountain in the world - Mount Everest. Feeling on top of the
world he ticks it off his map and screams “WOHOO!” raising his hands in the
air. Zooming out Pete is on top of the glorious mountain range -fading back to
him dreaming about being on top of the world when he was a child.
The End.
Artist Influences:
When researching I came across animator Aaron Blaise '7 Steps to a Great Character.'
[2014] Helium Harvey- Daniel Savage.https://vimeo.com/206373573
Daniel Savages work is beautifully done. 'Helium Harvey' is about a curious boy exploring his backyard. After breathing in helium to change his voice, he turns into a balloon and goes on an airborne adventure around the world. I love the use of bold and complementary colouring that helps his stunning geometric landscapes and characters stand out. The simplistic drawings that he has created are very effective, I would love to create a similar vibe and style in my animation.
[2009] The Secret of Kells - Tomm Moore.
The secret life of Kells is very intricately designed with its texturised landscapes. What inspired me after watching this was the style of animation the fluidity throughout this film really inspired me to try and animate to the highest quality and achieve fluid movement.
[1994] Lion King (Hakuna Matata ageing sequence) - Rodger Allers and Rob Minkoff.
When writing my script I immediately gravitated towards this scene, I love how each background changes with every step. I really wanted to achieve this in my own animation for the end scene - When Pete is traveling all over the world and checking off his destinations as he goes, he will remain walking in the same spot but the landscape will change every time.
Belfast Zoo - observing the Penguins:
Life Drawing.
Belfast zoo housed two different types of penguins - The Rockhopper Penguin and the Gentoo Penguins. The penguin that I was more interested in was the long-tailed Gentoo Penguin, I loved their distinctive white markings on their head that reaches from eye to eye. I learnt that Gentoo are many found in sub-Antarctic islands. When observing these amazing creature I wanted to see how these animals typically stand, waddled, ate and relaxed. Even though my character is not based off of this specific breed of penguin, I still wanted to go to just observe their mannerisms and behaviour.
Progression shot: Making the backgrounds to my animation.
My first attempt at creating Pete.
Examples of some of my backgrounds being made.
Final Character Design:
Baby Pete.
Overall, I really enjoyed creating this animation even though it took a lot of time and effort to complete. However, when it came to working with After Effects I struggled a lot at the beginning as I had never used this programme before. Although, once I finally figure out how to work it, it became so much easier to navigate things and find short cuts when moving the characters. I really enjoyed the process of creating new places and characters as I have never done this on a graphics tablet before. If I had more time, I would have done more map sequences to ensure that it was clear to the audience that Pete had traveled and reached his destinations. But overall I am happy with how it turned out seeing as it was my first time using this very intimidating programme.
Belfast Zoo - observing the Penguins:
Life Drawing.
Belfast zoo housed two different types of penguins - The Rockhopper Penguin and the Gentoo Penguins. The penguin that I was more interested in was the long-tailed Gentoo Penguin, I loved their distinctive white markings on their head that reaches from eye to eye. I learnt that Gentoo are many found in sub-Antarctic islands. When observing these amazing creature I wanted to see how these animals typically stand, waddled, ate and relaxed. Even though my character is not based off of this specific breed of penguin, I still wanted to go to just observe their mannerisms and behaviour.
Progression shot: Making the backgrounds to my animation.
My first attempt at creating Pete.
Examples of some of my backgrounds being made.
Baby Pete.
Pete all grown up.
Summary.
Overall, I really enjoyed creating this animation even though it took a lot of time and effort to complete. However, when it came to working with After Effects I struggled a lot at the beginning as I had never used this programme before. Although, once I finally figure out how to work it, it became so much easier to navigate things and find short cuts when moving the characters. I really enjoyed the process of creating new places and characters as I have never done this on a graphics tablet before. If I had more time, I would have done more map sequences to ensure that it was clear to the audience that Pete had traveled and reached his destinations. But overall I am happy with how it turned out seeing as it was my first time using this very intimidating programme.
