concept

this was initially assigned as a fifteen second piece which could include any subject under the sun, as long as it was somehow personal. i of course took this artistic freedom and jumped overboard with it. this is the first narrative short i've ever created and i was whole-heartedly up to the challenge. plus i had some time to kill, and after working as an interactive designer for two and a half years, i know flash like the back of my hand. so, what the hell, lets do this thing.

i've created this blog to kind of embellish some of those moments during the film that flash by (no pun intended, har har har) without a trace. i think what i'm proud of most about this film is the timing, but damn, i painted seventeen bloody backgrounds - i want to see them!! also, i did a lot of research of other artists and filmmakers while in the early planning stages - i learned a ton just by analyzing scenes and reading how other animators worked out certain issues - so i figured someone somewhere might get something out of seeing my approach...

i've recently been reading up on hindu and buddhist mythology and i thought "wouldn't it be great to somehow express some of these wonderful beliefs in a short film?" the problem there is that, these mythologies are so vast and so complex it would be impossible to convey even one myth in a quick orderly fashion. so... i made one up ;D

i love this character ganesha. he is described as "an elephant-headed deity, son of Shiva and Parvati. Worshiped as the remover of obstacles and patron of learning, he is usually depicted colored red, with a potbelly and one broken tusk, riding a rat. Also called Ganapati." how great is that?! so much potential for caricature and animation. i read somewhere that many worshipers believe ganesha brings good fortune and success. i then wondered "how would this ancient hindu god appear in modern times?"




these next images are early concepts for the look of the piece. i was using the hindu prints (above) as inspiration and tried to include the same subdued, kind of dreamy color palette. i also wanted another layer of texture which would hopefully keep the film from screaming out "i was animated in flash!" and also incorporate that hand-crafted aesthetic, so i scanned some old unprimed canvas and overlayed it.