“Little Things” Animation
Software:
Date:
April 2023
For this project my goal was to make a meaningful story that could be universally understood. The message I wanted to convey through this piece was that if you focus on the little things, you may realize there are many things to smile about.
I began by asking people what are some small everyday things that make you happy? This was hard for numerous people as a lot of times we don’t take the time to acknowledge these things. However, some answers included birds chirping, butterflies, the smell of rain, the first sip of coffee, hot showers, and sunsets. I then developed the story based off which answers I could make a full scene out of and what would propel the story forward.
For my animation I wanted to make it a flip book style, due to time constraints, yet I attempted to make it smoother by using opacity changes and overlapping layers. I also wanted to make it a perfect loop which I accomplished as it fades to black when she is going to bed and fades back in when she is waking up.
Story Boards:
I began with the black and white versions to develop the character and what her everyday life looks like. I also wanted the message to convey that you don’t need to change your life, a simple shift in mindset can make you realize all the reasons to be happy. This is why the second day goes through the same scenes and actions, however, she acknowledges something in each scene to make her day a little better. This is how the color begins to come in as everything that makes her happy is in color along with a corresponding part of her character.
Below you can see the storyboards of each scene along with most of the additional layers. Since I did a flip book style animation I drew out every different position she’d be in which is why there are overlapping illustrations.
