11.18.2010

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I wrote this as a requirement, but I figure I should post it as a more concise way of telling the story and why I'm doing it.  :]


pitch  This animated film is about a little girl who tries to understand nature through an outing with her overprotective father, ends up experiencing it in her own way, but has that experience taken away from her through a violent end. 

Details  Separation through the breaching of trust is the main focus of my film.  It is about NATURE vs. NUTURE; an innocence in exploration of the world around a child, but having a guide that doesn’t practice what he preaches.  The protectiveness of the father figure seems natural, but his scolding character muddles him trying to instill nature into his daughter while hunting at the same time.  The daughter recognizes this protectiveness as a control net, and leaves to go explore nature for herself.  A snowstorm separates them, and 
we meet some of nature’s creations, the wild versions of “man’s best and loyal friend,” wolves.   

The daughter, at first frightened of the alpha dog, soon develops a relationship with him on her own.  They spend the night discovering things about one another, and try to stay warm.  The next morning, the girl wakes and excited that the storm has passed, she runs out to enjoy the white blanket that covers the grounds.  The wolf comes out and starts to play with the little girl, meanwhile the father is out looking for his daughter. He hears laughter from a distance and cautiously scouts the area while approaching the openness of the two playing.  He raises his hunting gun and is taken aback with what he sees.  The gun raises again and a shot is heard; only one of the two lives…   

concept   This film reflects the estrangement I have with my parents since I have met my significant other.  My parents taught me that having an open mind to everything was the best way to walk through life, but rejecting the person I want to spend my life with at the same time.  They don’t acknowledge that I am my own person, and fear that they can’t protect me if I don’t carve the same path in life.  This film results in a tragedy since my own situation is not resolved, and will not be solved in a positive way. 

Technique  Joanna Lurie from France was awarded for her film “The Silence Beneath the Bark.”  This style interests me because of the innocence that is conveyed in a child-like graphic quality.  The trees were photographs filtered so that it became an imprint as backgrounds.  The characters were done in 3-D but flattened to resemble 2-D with textured bodies.  I will not be using these techniques.  I am still experimenting with materials such as scrapbook paper, but the final animation is going to be digital in the 2D aspect.  Lastly, music and dialogue will be absent from the film so that viewers can be fully immersed in the ambience of nature and action.