RAY OF LIGHT
Digital Animation
97 seconds
2018
My first fully-fledged animation project, where I followed a full process, from a storyboard concept to completed animation. This project explores the theme of light, and it does so through a story of progress, space exploration, and inevitable decadence with a soundtrack that further highlights these themes.
INTRODUCTION
This was an animation project for Unit 4 for the first year of the Graphic design course at UAL. For this project, we were tasked with creating a full-fledged animation, with a story and a soundtrack, which lasted between one and two minutes. The only real indication for the animation's subject was that it had to revolve around the concept of light.
FIRST DIFFICULTIES DURING DEVELOPMENT
This was a really complex project for me because while I have created small trial animations before, I never created a complete animated short movie composed of hundreds of custom drawn frames. I started with creating a couple of different storyboards for different animation concepts, each with a different look and message. In the end, I selected the third animation concept which I felt had the strongest imagery and story overall.
THE STORY OF THE ANIMATION
The animation revolved around the journey of a "lightship" named RAY, as it's sent into space to colonize new planets for humanity. As the journey progresses, the animation shows imagery of light's past, starting as the outcome from a simple source of heat (fire), until it became a symbol of hope and progress. The animation then sees the spaceship powering off as it's battery expires, and the viewer follows RAY in its last instances before it's sucked in a black hole, effectively killing the light. The animation's message revolves around humanity's fear of death and the pursuit of immortality. It also focuses on how no matter the progress we think we made, everything which is alive, from organisms to light itself, inevitably dies.
THE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE VIDEO
After I created the story, I proceeded to work on the animation itself. We were told to use any animation method we deemed most appropriate. I chose to use digitally drawn stop motion frames for two main reasons: first and foremost, it allowed me for additional control on camera positioning, color, and light control, and secondly, it's a technique which while long, it's easy to learn and control. After having completed and enhanced the animation with the use of color, it was time to work on the sound aspect of the video. This was an important detail, as I intended to find an iconic song which was connected to the imagery of light, and had a similar mood as the animated aspect.
FINAL DETAILS AND CONCLUSION
After brief research for the song, I selected "In The Light" by the Led Zeppelin for it's contrasting lyrics and upbeat instrumentals, which perfectly brought out the bittersweet message of hope and the illusion of immorality which I was trying to depict in the animation. In conclusion, this was a challenging but yet satisfying project, mainly because it opened my eyes to the possibilities of animation, making me want to further experiment with different techniques and stories.