Just a hug
A short film about loneliness through the eyes of ages 5-10.
Narrative, Sequence and Interaction
This brief was to work in teams to create narrative, sequence and sound to appeal to our target audience. We had to work professionally and undertake tests of motion as well as finding copyright free sounds, building an animatic, with the end result a short motion film.
Impact of loneliness
Loneliness is an issue that many, if not all of us have struggled with.
As loneliness is a social determinant and can affect your mental wellbeing it can create bigger problems if this is present at a young age, if present, it can lead to mental health disorders including, depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and studies from the National Institutes of Health show 1 in every 8 people aged 5-19 has a form of mental health disorder, due to loneliness situated at a young age. This subject can push people to become more withdrawn to social interacting, leading to isolation which all of these factors can seriously effect how you function in society.
Research
When researching as a team we wanted to find an organisation that would best suit collaboration with our short film.
At first it was difficult to find an organisation that dedicates its self to the mental well-being of a younger audience, but with some digging we were able to realise that Dorset Mind does offer talks/workshops visiting primary schools to discuss mental health and the impact of loneliness, which suited our film completely, so we decided to collaborate with Dorset Mind with the idea that our motion graphic could be shown in these talks/workshops to grow a wider audience and understanding of loneliness.
First Storyboard
In the beginning my team had set the goals of the short film to be based with a fantasy style using fairy’s to portray the young children that we had agreed upon for our target audience.
However, after discussing with Tim Varlow an - award winning motion designer, as a team we had to ensure we were targeting a wider audience than what the style/characters would reel in, so from feedback we decided to simplify our story and use a more generic character style so we could attract a bigger range.
Feedback
After receiving feedback from our previous storyline/storyboards about having fairy’s as our characters, we were enlightened by the fact that it wouldn’t appeal to younger boys as well as only really getting the attention of young girls aged 5-7.
My team got together with Alice Steven’s to create a simplified storyboard using real life characters to build a sense of familiarity within our short film, which I believe worked out perfectly and made a stronger impression.
Final Storyboard
After re-evaluating with peer review and tutor feedback my team created a final storyboard which resembles the generic psychological story to hook a young audience of different genders and ages between 5-10.
Our storyline shows a young boy admiring other children playing football but is too nervous to approach. The young boy starts to feel overwhelmed and lonely, this is when our narrator comes in to suggest using the buddy bench - a simple but colourful aspect to help secure an obvious way to make friends - once on the buddy bench others playing football notice him, and decide to go over to introduce themselves and invite him to play football together. This fills him with joy and a hug is all that was needed to then go and play with the others relieving him from experiencing loneliness.
Sound
As a team in our sound workshop we were given the chance to capture our own sounds. Although not all sounds were used we were able to capture a walking on gravel sound as well as all narration being our own, featuring Alice Steven’s as narrator, sigh from Asher Bassford and “good to have friends” from Cream Likhitroekwit. Other sounds including the children playing noise and birds and bees sound to finish the short film were downloaded from a copyright free website.
Our Animatic
When we layered the animatic with our sounds it really brought to life such simple drawings and began to make the short film feel real.
Font & Colour
As a team we knew we needed a friendly but still professional typography and thanks to Asher we found the perfect free font called “Lilly” which worked great for our short film.
We didn’t necessarily have a story colour palette however we knew we wanted to use the same colour as Dorset Mind for our typography which was #1001B9.
Character Design
My amazing team mate Cream has a special talent for character design so of course we put her in charge to design them!
After feedback we all agreed we just needed four simple yet child like characters to present in our animation. Cream excelled in these designs! Making each unique, yet similar to build upon our story line.
Background & Prop Design
This was my sector where I was able to be given a rough outline of what we needed as backgrounds in our animation with room for a little freedom.
I needed to keep backgrounds to a school setting so that future audience has a better understanding of what’s happening, due to the younger age group that we’re targeting. In the beginning I over did the detail of the backgrounds and from feedback I resolved this by simplifying all of my drawings, as they mentioned the characters need to stand out, so having a simple background will ensure this.
I completed all of the backgrounds with the idea that they are on the school field playing football with a gravel path and hedgerow on one side to place the asset I designed of the buddy bench - a simple yet effective prop to keep younger audiences understanding - the backgrounds worked out great!
My Animation
My main role in our film was to create simple yet effective backgrounds to ensure our characters would stand out, I also designed the “Buddy bench” keeping it minimal yet effective, using the colour yellow to present the intended emotion of happiness.
My final role to maintain I’m hitting my learning criteria and following the brief correctly, was to animate the final text scenes using After Effects, where I was able to use this program for the first time, to animate the typography needed to explain and end our short film, as well as adding a little bee for entertainment - as it’s directed at younger ages.
Reflection
This project was a breath of fresh air, allowing me to collaborate with highly motivated and talented individuals who all contributed their unique skills in animating, designing, and editing. Our greatest strength undoubtedly lies in the teamwork we exhibited throughout the project, fostering an environment of creativity and support that propelled us forward.
While I recognise there is room for improvement in certain animation aspects and areas that could have benefited from further refinement, I firmly believe that our storyline and overall design encapsulate the essence of our short film perfectly. The addition of well-scripted sound enhances the viewing experience and elevates our narrative. By adhering to the project criteria and maintaining a strong narrative sequence, we created a straightforward yet impactful storyline. I am proud of how our team excelled in production, time management, and collaboration. This experience has also allowed me to identify specific areas for development in animation, providing valuable insights for future projects.
Overall, by adhering to the criteria and maintaining a strong narrative sequence along with a straightforward yet effective storyline, I believe our team excelled in production, time management and team work, while identifying areas for development in animation. Moving forward, I am excited to apply these lessons and continue to learn animation as although this has been a great experience, I need to gain more knowledge on motion graphics and animation to gain a better understanding of how to fully animate and bring my ideas to life.