Writing, Storyboarding, 2D Animation, Video Editing, Music and Sound Mixing
LEFT
Storyboarded with Adobe Photoshop
Animated with Adobe Animate
Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro
Narration by Michael Markman
This is my first-year film from University. I had to come up with a story to tell within 60 seconds, with no particular limitations to what we could do. Every role of production was by myself, from the ideation to the editing. Our ideas had to be pitched to the rest of the class. I originally had a more comedic idea for the short, but I decided that something more dramatic and conceptional was more of a challenge and something I had not previously attempted.
In addition to the visual side, we also had to record sound for the project. I decided to add narration to the project and hired a voice actor to read the poem that runs alongside the project.
Concept
My main concept, both stylistically and emotionally, for this film was to represent the different emotional reactions that we have to certain situations with life, through the use of colour and tone.
I knew that I wanted the character to be in a black and white world, with her colour choices being shifted throughout the film, as the events unfold infront of her.
Character Design
Full turnaround of character design and thoughts behind choices.
STORYBOARD & ANIMATIC EDIT
Set Design
In order to get the best possibly references for the perspective of my layout, I decided to design a 3D model of the set, constructing a basic layout based on my animatic.
The full 3D model is viewable here: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/fF6cJFMqUjI-left-set
I developed these backgrounds in a shaded black and white theme. I wanted to give this effect so that the colour presented by the protagonist will be highlighted, due to the fact that the hue will be altered throughout the film.
By keeping the background monochrome, I was able to adjust the whole hue of the film without the colour of the background altering.
Animation
I animated LEFT in Adobe Animate.
When animating the character, I kept her colour consistent, as to allow more control of the changing hue when brought in the editing process.
Music & Audio Editing
I composed the music for the film myself using Ableton Live. I tried to capture the minimalist feel of the background and story by producing a simple synth, which filters in and out throughout the duration. This is meant to represent breaking out of the situation, as the sound of the synth becomes clearer as it plays. Additionally, I added some simple piano chords on top, to add a sense of tension. However, the chords aren’t necessarily minor or negative, but rather are used to give a sense of uncertainty - which is one of the main themes which I chose to explore in my project.
I had one person in mind to do the narration for my film. Originally it was just going to be my own voice, but it really felt out of place. I wanted an older voice, potentially someone to represent the unknown male character that is alluded to throughout the film. I had been following the work of Michael Markman for a number of years, who is known for telling some great stories about his life and youth:
I was very lucky to hear that he would want to be a part of the project.
Pairing the narration with the music I composed worked great, and I began to experiment with the placement of the elements, in order to get the best blend possible between the audio and the visuals.
Video Editing & Visual Effects
I wanted to have the representation of the paper be symbolic throughout the whole thing, so I decided to overlay a paper texture on top of the video file.
I began to make the adjustments to the Hue, using the colour corrector in Premiere Pro. I cut the video file along the timeline at the various points of impact. The effect I wanted to make was that between some key frames, the colour would change. It wouldn’t fade, it would just snap - like how emotions jump all over the place sometimes, based on the situation.
From here, I then simply nested the sequence, put it in After Effects, added a subtle ‘wiggle’ effect, to make the footage feel more handheld.
