Without a doubt, this was the best project I made in my post-graduation course in terms of result, development, and also because it was a group project and I made it with my best friends.
For this subject, we had to pick between two styles of animation: Traditional and Stop-motion. Since we only had two weeks to work with, the group decided that it would be better to stick to traditional animation and try to polish it the best way we can.
After throwing some ideas around we got one that really interested us, we wanted to make some sort of short spooky animation that in the end had a big twist.
Logline
Oliver is walking into his home after a regular tiring day at work when he hears a strange noise.
Someone - or something - is in there with him.
Was it his imagination- after a long exhausting day- or does he have a reason to worry?
Plan 1 - Oliver walks into his house and proceeds to
do the most mundane things - drops his house keys
and take off his jacket before he hears the door to
the living room creaks open, jerking him alert.
Plan 2- A strange figure sweeps by in the darkness,
seen by the creak of the living room door.
Plan 3- Oliver sweats profusely in panic
Plan 4- He peeks through the door frame to scan
the living room, gasping with fear when he spots
something moves in the darkness, confirming he did,
indeed, have a reason to be scared.
Plan 5- He jumps in fear and backs himself up to the
opposite wall of the entrance. After quickly scanning
the room, he spots an umbrella on the other side and
shimmies his way close to the walls to get it. Once
he does, he grasps it firmly like a trusty weapon,
readying himself to go into the living room.
Plan 6- Last shot, Oliver slowly pushes the door
open, pops his umbrella, and hurriedly searches for
the light switch in the dark, missing it a couple of
times. After the light flickers on in suspense, Oliver is
spooked by a crowd of people celebrating his arrival.
Plot twist, it was a surprise party after all.
do the most mundane things - drops his house keys
and take off his jacket before he hears the door to
the living room creaks open, jerking him alert.
Plan 2- A strange figure sweeps by in the darkness,
seen by the creak of the living room door.
Plan 3- Oliver sweats profusely in panic
Plan 4- He peeks through the door frame to scan
the living room, gasping with fear when he spots
something moves in the darkness, confirming he did,
indeed, have a reason to be scared.
Plan 5- He jumps in fear and backs himself up to the
opposite wall of the entrance. After quickly scanning
the room, he spots an umbrella on the other side and
shimmies his way close to the walls to get it. Once
he does, he grasps it firmly like a trusty weapon,
readying himself to go into the living room.
Plan 6- Last shot, Oliver slowly pushes the door
open, pops his umbrella, and hurriedly searches for
the light switch in the dark, missing it a couple of
times. After the light flickers on in suspense, Oliver is
spooked by a crowd of people celebrating his arrival.
Plot twist, it was a surprise party after all.
Character Creation
Sets, Backgrounds & Frames
We decided to go with Mariana´s style for this project since it was the easiest to replicate and copy and because her soft lines and cute characters are very pleasant to look at and are capable of easily showing emotion.
Each of us had a different job for this project:
Me: Animation, Video Editing, Sound Design.
Mariana: Character Sheets/Creation, Animation.
Laura: Backgrounds, Character Animation, Music.
Ivo: Character Animation, Frame by Frame work.
Animatic
Animation progress
We all were super proud of the final result of our efforts, only having two weeks made it a bit more stressful since the first days are wasted drafting and getting the idea right, but we stuck to our vision and no one slacked, our teamwork made this project possible and I am very grateful to have such creative, hardworking people as my friends.