Story Boards

Here is the story board for the very VERY rough animatic:

Very First Animatic

This is a very first iteration of the animation.

References

Animation Reference

For animation style, Dissolve will use forced and sometimes abstract perspective.

 

Clip from Aeon Flux

Like Aeon Flux, when the action and/or emotional intensity is heightened, the animation will become more and more abstract .

 

Clip from Afro Samurai: Resurrection

The motion of the animation will be very fluid with several unsettling moments of jumps between intense close ups and extreme distances.

 

Video Breakdown of Satoshi Kon's video editing style

To help offset the abstract nature of the animation and story line, the editing style will implement many matching cut shots, and other such techniques utilized by director Satoshi Kon in his films such as Perfect Blue and Paprika.

 

Character References 

Character design will be simple with several gritty details, such as in the images of Tank Girl below.

 

 Music Video by The Line for Mat Zo & Porter Robinson

 

Close Ups of the comic Tank Girl

There will be complex settings, so simplicity of characters is crucial.

Texture References

Character textures will be mostly flat colour with hard shadows.  Backgrounds will be more complex, with noise and gradients to help separate the subjects.

 

Afro Samurai: Resurrection 

Dissolve might have either sketchy outlines or heavy, solid outlines.

  Music Video for Blockhead's The Music Scene

This is an example of the outlines Dissolve might implement.

 

Story References

The story of Dissolve is bloody and psychological, pushing the limits of love and selfishness and obsession.  There will be a noticeable shift in stability of the characters through out the piece.  This is reminiscent of  Satoshi Kon's work which explores how people cope with multiple personalities a person creates to navigate through their life.

 Clip from Perfect Blue

Colour Palette 

Lighting is going to be very harsh and darker the more the story progresses.  Most of the setting is inside and in a dark environment with limited light sources.

Music Video for Caravan Palace's Lone Digger

 

Possible colour scheme

Project Overview and Treatment

Click this link to view project schedule.

still of the cartoon Aeon flux

Project treatment

TITLE: Dissolve (work in progress)

WRITER: Kelsey Grier

LENGTH: 1-5 minutes (work in progress)

DATE: 10/31/2016

The goal of Dissolve is to use fluid motion and movement of animation to tell a complex narrative in 1 to 5 minutes.  The main draw of the piece will be the fluidity of the movement of the animation so that the unsettling and psychedelic, fast paced imagery has continuity.

For example:

In one scene, the professor comes into his lab to see his creation.  The previous shot is a calming, horizontal composition of the professor comforting his creation as she falls asleep.  In this scene, he comes back to the lab to see her curled against a wall, smashing her face against it.  The tranquillity of the previous scene is lost as the camera and the professor rush to the creation.  The camera tracks around the creation to show part of her face to the viewer.  The professor is now in the background and a warped perspective makes him appear to be towering over the creation almost menacingly.  His hand comes from far away until it is impossibly big on her shoulder to turn her around to face him.  The camera turns with her, and the viewer is given an intensely close shot of her face which is mutilated beyond recognition.   

The next shot shows the professor struggling with her limp form to put her on his table to fix her, and the camera becomes shake-y, the textures seam to float around their anchor, and the colours become harsher, all to evoke the tension and unrest in the two character's psyche.  

Visually, the animation will be driven by the style of both the animation and of the characters.  The project will be entirely 2D, with hand-drawn keys.