Jihyun Park
Professor Nakmura
Core Seminar 4D
12 March 2017
Animated project proposal
For my animated project, I would like to experiment with my artwork titled, “The ant and the Grasshopper.” I would like to create a 2-minute-long animation, which takes the audience around the ant’s house starting from exterior to interior. I would specifically like to use voice-over for conversation between the ant and the grasshopper. To make the scenery more animating and engaging, I wish to translate background images. By translating background images, I want to make the image seem like it is snowing, and thereby exemplifying the coldness more vividly than the original 2D work attempts to portray.
In terms of technology to execute this, I would have to use a combination of stop motion photography, digital painting, and rendering using Photoshop and Aftereffect. The animation will move along at 12 frames a second. After converting the still image to animation, I would like to incorporate the elements of virtual reality by recording motion of the characters one at a time to build scenes up by using software like Skybox in After Effects. The audience will be able to look around the scene and feel like they are out in the snowstorm with the grasshopper.
The general concept of the project will be as following: There will be a total of 9 scenes. Opening scene will, first, include the main title of the animation on a black screen. Scene 1: the ant is working while grasshopper is playing the guitar. Scene 2: the ant comes over and asks the grasshopper why he does not prepare for the winter. Scene 3: camera angle shifts to a close-up shot of the grasshoppers’ face, to show laziness. Then, the screen slowly fades out. Scene 4: It’s winter and there will be snow to depict the weather. Scene 5: The scene zooms into the ants’ house from the exterior. There will be a shift in lighting (dark to warm) and in music (hustling sound of the wind to bosa-nova music). Scene 6: the scene fades out and fades in to a scene where grasshopper is walking in a snowstorm. Scene 7: camera zooms into a close-up shot of grasshoppers’ crying face. Scene 8: grasshopper walks towards the ants’ house and ant welcomes the grasshopper. Scene 9: shifts in lighting and back to bosa-nova background music with grasshopper and ant eating soup together.
