We started off by filtering the topics given and listed out words that we think that are interesting to work with, this served as our mind mapping process. We highlighted words that we both find potential in then decided on the topic “climate change” using the words “change” and “irreversible”.
Inspirations
We first wanted to do something with water as I mentioned about the dripping effect, we also took inspiration from the universal symbol of non-violence, the twisted gun.
I have also created an Pinterest Board to gather more ideas.
Definitions
Irreversible
not able to be undone or altered
Change
verb
make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.
replace (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better; substitute one thing for (another)
noun
an act or process through which something becomes different.
coins as opposed to banknotes.
initial sketches
We then discussed our approach on the animation, we came up with the idea of limit and time and wanted to represent it by somehow integrating an hourglass. We also explored ideas like melting and twisting to transform the words from one to another. The words chosen contrast with each other, after our first critique, instead of putting “irreversible” first, we reversed them, in order to clearly communicate our concept. We have also figured out that we want the draining effect on “change” so that it shows the hourglass figure.
Holly’s Sketches
Gladys’ Sketches
StoryBoard+Style Choices
The storyboard we have for this project was not super refined, we did most of our thinking by communicating online and video calls.
The typeface Baloo was chosen because of its roundness, for the word “irreversible” I have modified the edges of the typeface and flipped the “E”s , initially the “I”s are also extended but after critique, we noticed that they are distracting so we dropped the idea and shortened them. For the colour choices, we tried out purple and blue as it remind us about water and melting, but we worked in black and white for most of the projects and decided on the final colours in part B.
We have developed a few approaches from our storyboard:
From CHANGE → IRREVERSIBLE
Drain down a small hole like an hourglass
From IRREVERSIBLE → CHANGE 1
Spinning of word to represent flipping the hourglass and goes back to first word
From IRREVERSIBLE → CHANGE 2
Words separate
Breaks apart to represent breaking of the glass and goes back to first word
Sketches and notes on project 1
Test Sequences
This is the first time we both tried to use After Effects, we searched up some tutorials and tried out some revealing effects for the word “change”. We wanted the word to eventually drain and vanish then it transforms into “irreversible”.
Stop Motion
Holly worked on Illustrator and created the stop motion sequence with 5 frames per second. This stop motion clearly shows the idea of an hourglass.
Project 1A
Project 1B
After the critique we received from our first version, we did some refinements to the animation to reinforce our idea. As the longer" “i”s are distracting we shortened it to the same x-height of the other characters. Other than that we have changed the sequence of our animation, we decided to put the stop motion with the draining effect first and added the “flipping motion” that represents flipping of the hourglass by stop motion, then melting the upside down word back into the first word. We did not make further sketches for this part of the project but rather communicate and elaborated our ideas. For the final deliverable, a light blue and orange added as they are in contrast of each other, while representing ice melting and the heat from global warming to fit our theme.
Black and White Version
Coloured Version
Be sure to change out our Instagram post for this project at @rehareka