To start off, we were given a big word cloud which consists of a diverse number of words. We had to choose five words from the word cloud or to think of our own words. We agreed on extracting five words from the cloud and got an interesting list:
- Dolphin
- Space
- Shadow
- Light
- Diamond
Mind-Mapping on Story Development:
Upon brainstorming for the plot, we came up with two groups of dolphins, which are the light and shadow dolphins. The light dolphins are always happy to an extreme while misery is always in the heads of the shadow ones. The two pods are basically polar opposites and we wanted the two parties to find balance between them.
Creating the Storyboard
We devised a preliminary tale based on dolphins in space using the words we chose: The narrative is set in outer space, where debris rocks float aimlessly. Perhaps an old space battle created the current debris. As the massive rocks float away from the background, a gleaming diamond appears in the centre of the screen. This is followed by a brief entrance, or the so-called introduction scene of the light dolphins. They whirl around in a delighted manner, swimming towards the diamond, which first drew them to it. A shadow dolphin appears behind the diamond. The cheerful species are afraid by its alternate form due to its dissimilar traits to light dolphins. The joyful dolphins swim towards the unhappy dolphins in the direction of the diamond, and the shard swiftly vanishes. Ignoring the sparkling object, the light group shifts their attention to the dark group and begins to advance towards them. One dolphin from each pod steps out, and their rostrums contact. The brief touch makes them switch colours. They quickly become shocked and pull away a little to take in what has transpired with a tiny contact between them. When they combine or fuse together, they see they might become something more. They rush together and swirl in a circle. With a large explosion, the two fuse and achieves balance and oneness with their opposing form. It becomes transparent. The translucent dolphin then exits the scene by swimming away.
Revised version:
After receiving feedback from our instructors, we recognised there were several problems in our concept that needed to be addressed. At first, we intended the diamond to be the only reason the two groups met, and its presence would be overlooked afterwards. We discussed how the shard should play a larger role in the tale after receiving helpful input from our tutors . Instead, we kept it in sight, just below where the two dolphins merged. Perhaps part of its reflecting light energy contributed to the two becoming one. We also deleted some extraneous sequences so that we could devote more attention to the most vital aspects in our animation. The feedback session was very informative and it guided us on a better way in telling our ambitious tale!
Designing Moodboards
To have a better and clearer picture of what we are hoping to see in our animation, each of us created a moodboard for a specific region of our 20 second video. In our moodboards, the categories include character design, colour design of characters/scenes, camera position, and backgrounds/ atmospheres (from left to right).
Character Design of Dolphins
We studied the exact colours of light and shadows in real life while deciding on the colours of both pods of dolphins. We picked colours that were noticeable in terms of highlighting their look. I think that colours may reveal a lot about a character’s personality, how they feel, and how they behave. Colours surely play a huge role in animations.
Character Reference Sheets:
It goes without saying that as a group of four, we all have various yet distinct art styles. As a result, we needed to construct a character reference sheet so that we could maintain a consistent style throughout the 20-second animation. We didn’t want our varied art styles to be obtrusive in our film.
Light Dolphins (Happy Dolphins):
Shadow Dolphins (Sad Dolphins):
Animatic of Story:
We thought as a group that doing a preliminary animatic to evaluate the timing of each scene would be a good idea before animating. It is also an excellent technique for us to assess which portions need more attention/screen time than others; in other words, the animatic assisted in determining whether further changes were needed. Furthermore, the animatic assisted us in selecting and contemplating various composition and camera angles. The main lesson from this brief animatic was that I could see the usefulness of creating rudimentary animations beforehand. It taught me that animation cannot be rushed, and that good works require patience and time to make.
Textures and Colouring:
We created some simple textures for the two groups of dolphins to serve as clipping masks when we add the colours. We also gave the shard a diamond texture and gave it a little amount of sparkle and shine on purpose.
Dolphin References:
Obviously, I am not a dolphin specialist, and drawing dolphins is not something I do on a regular basis. It was challenging to get their anatomy correct, especially from certain difficult angles. The struggle prompted me to look for resources online, which are only a click away. Being able to look at references benefited me tremendously in drawing dolphins better and faster.
Sound Design
We created music using the Garage Band software. We were able to create a soundtrack that fits our space atmosphere by merging several electronic music instruments. We were pleased that the audio sounded precisely as we had hoped: tranquil, mysterious, and a little hypnotic.
About the title name:
We wanted to be create yet funny at the same time, so we put the two words- ”Stellena”(dolphin) and ”Stellar”(star) together. Since our main themes were dolphins and space, we thought the combination of words would be quite fitting and definitely make a good title!
Final Product:
Key Frames:
Finally, we finished by applying a vhs filter and experimented with camera motions in After Effects. I think the entire thing had a nostalgic feel to it because of the grainy texture. I really like how the space textures and motion flow turned out. Also, the fact that we have finally completed our project brings me joy, despite us being coated in our own blood, sweat, and tears. Everything was really worth it. However, I am aware that our narrative is not entirely clear. This was our biggest struggle, especially because we only had 20 seconds to tell our story. Despite our inability to adequately communicate our message, I appreciate the full process over the finished product, and I have gained so much from this wonderful experience. I am thankful for such great teammates to. I look forward to creating more works in the future! : )