The Background

*↑ Click here to watch the whole video on YouTube.* ↑

In early October, I took part in a Stop-Motion course as part of Bowie State University’s VCDMA program. The goal of one of our assignments was to create a cut-out animation video with a duration of at least thirty seconds. The professor made it clear that the video didn’t have to be anything too deep; it could be as simple a concept as spelling out your name. Considering how much I had put off the assignment before the expected due date, it was tempting for me to go with that option. However, as someone who loves visual storytelling, I decided to go all the way despite my limited time. Immediately, I began conceptualizing character designs and color scripts. What started out as a class assignment would soon become a passion project for me.

*Ruth watches cardinal fly off into the sunset.*

The Story

When coming up with a narrative for this project, I knew it had to be at least 30 seconds long, but still long enough to invoke emotion from the viewer. I couldn’t think of a more emotionally driven narrative than the theme of nature and its relationship to humanity.

In my animated short, the narrative revolves around a little girl and a cardinal. After days of providing loving care, the compassionate young girl, Ruth, releases the fledgling cardinal into the wilderness. The short ends with Ruth watching from a distance, as the rehabilitated red bird flies off into freedom. Hence the title, “Fly Away”. with no further explanation, it’s a short and simple plot that highlights the beauty of nature and the innocence of childhood, as shown through the bond formed between the two characters.

The Process

The animation was created entirely on my phone, via Stop Motion Studio, an animation software developed by Cateater LLC. Due to the shortage of time, I had to think fast about the design of the characters, how I would animate them, and how I would construct the scenery. But even after planning all three, putting this entire animated short together was no easy feat. It was especially difficult since I had to work with characters and props mostly cut out from flat objects.

Scenery

Since the setting of my short took place in a sunset-lit, outdoor environment, this made choosing a color scheme simple enough, as the scenery consisted of earth colors (green and brown) and at least one primary & secondary color. To give this two-dimensional scenery a sense of depth and contrast, — particularly in the first shot of the video — I used two different values of green cutouts for the trees placed in the middle ground, and brown foam, placed in the foreground, for the cliff.

Character Designs

When coming up with designs for the characters and props, I originally had the idea of incorporating an illustration style similar to that of Eric Carle; the author and illustrator of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. I ultimately decided to rely on my own method and keep my character designs simplistic. For example, when I look at the structure of a real-life cardinal bird, I see half-circles, triangles, and trapezoids. That’s how I decided I would simplify the character in my video. When coming up with Ruth’s design, I took inspiration from various black-female-character designs found across different art mediums. One notable feature I took from my research was the inclusion of Afro puffs, a hairstyle common among Young African American women. As is common for most animated cartoon characters, I decided to design ruth with large, exaggerated eyes. This helped give the character more appeal and draw attention to her expressions. In addition to facial expressions, Ruth wearing bright, colorful clothing goes hand-in-hand with her warm, compassionate personality. From there, my concept design for Ruth was finalized. Both characters were created on the computer, using Clip Studio Paint, then printed out on paper.

Sidenote:

If you've already seen the video, you may have noticed that Ruth is depicted with purple skin. This was unintentional. As an Afro-descended character, Ruth was meant to have a brown skin tone. Due to my printer running low on ink, purple was produced to accommodate for the missing pigment. With less than two days to finish this project, I opted to roll with the ball I had been given. Eventually, I began to perceive Ruth's unique coloration as a stylistic decision that I would prefer to keep.

Mechanics

To animate my characters, I started by creating them in an unassembled state. After printing both character sheets, I thoroughly cut each subject out piece by piece and assembled them according to their respective designs. To keep the characters together, I taped aluminum armature wire to the back of each movable body part. This also allowed me to bend my characters' anatomy in the way I intended. The only downside was that, due to the print paper's fragility, I needed to be cautious about where I attached the armature wire. For example, Ruth’s primary sources of movement were her arms and head. Using the armature wire, I carefully assembled her arms, ensuring that each joint was securely connected for optimal movement. However, since Ruth’s head was much broader than the wire's width, I didn’t want to risk her head getting dented by the wire’s movement. I therefore decided to allow her head to move freely when needed. This required me to keep Ruth’s head in line with the rest of her body every time I moved her. The cardinal was a little more difficult to work with, partly because its legs were cut too thin for me to attach the wire. Additionally, the character was made up mostly of replaceable parts. More on that later.

Tricks and Methods

Animation is in of itself a creative medium, yet there is always an opportunity to push the boundaries of creativity even further.

As mentioned previously, even though I had to work with a two-dimensional environment, I still wanted to give my environment a sense of depth. Camera movement and manipulation helped to accommodate me with that. For example, if you watch the second to last shot of “Fly Away”, you’ll notice the camera starts by showing a small-scale, in-flight cardinal as the focal point. We then transition to an over-the-shoulder shot of Ruth as she observes the same bird from a distance. To make this transition look more three-dimensional, I used what’s similar to the Ken Burns panning technique. I decreased my cameras zoom ratio by 0.3x, while simultaneously panning the entire scenery slightly to left between each shutter, until an over-the-shoulder shot came into full view. If I had only zoomed straight out from the first frame, I likely wouldn’t have gotten the desired effect.

One of the animation methods I incorporated into my animation process was replacement animation; a process in which objects are placed and replaced between frames to give off certain expressions or movements. This method was particularly useful for the cardinal, who — as previously mentioned — was made up mostly of scattered parts. If you watch the cardinal frame by frame as it takes flight, you’ll see it goes through a three-frame animation cycle. Between each frame, a different shaped wing is replaced over the bird. The cycle repeats itself after frame 3, thus giving off the illusion of flight. The replacement method was also utilized for Ruth’s blinking eyes, ensuring that the character appeared natural and lifelike, rather than come off as a lifeless cut-out figure.

Size and scale are among the most essential elements of design to incorporate in animation, and my animated short would not be an exception. Size refers to the default physical dimensions of an object, while scale compares the size of one object to another. When you look at a human and a small bird, obviously, the bird is going to have a relatively smaller scale compared to that of a human. Likewise, a human will appear smaller in scale when compared to the environment around him or her. In order to incorporate the principle of size & scale into my video, I created different-sized cut-out models of Ruth, as shown below. One was a standard sized model (in the middle). The other was micro-sized, which would make Ruth appear small in comparison to her outdoor surroundings. To make the cardinal look smaller than its human caretaker, I created a macro-sized model of Ruth’s hands, in which the Cardinal would be carried. since the essential focus was on the cardinal sitting in Ruth’s hand, A fully assembled model of Ruth was deemed unnecessary. To demonstrate some functionality in the hand models, I gave both of them moveable thumbs and wrists. This helped even their slightest movements look more natural.

Final Thoughts

This sums up my process in creating “fly Away”. From the design the characters to the various techniques incorporated, a lot of time and thought was put into bringing this animated short to life, despite having very little time. The entire short was animated at 12 frames per second and was shot to a total of 526 frames (not including the title card and end credits). In the end, it took me three days to complete the entire short, and the final results were satisfying. “Fly Away” can be viewed online, via my YouTube channel, aaromotive studios.

The Making of “Fly Away”