Project Proposal 

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WWF Animation Proposal 2013

Overview:

My objectives for this particular animation are: to get the intended message across, to keep the audience captivated and entertained and to also allow the viewers to find an urge to want to protect wildlife and the environment and see what we, as humans do that effect the world.    

My aim is to produce an animation that focuses on the worlds most endangered forest/jungle species and use fine art to bring them to life on screen. The main characters that I want to use for this animation are mountain gorillas (one of the most endangered species in the world, with only 880 left in the wild) and a poacher. There are many animal welfare adverts that are shown on TV and I find them to always be very depressing and upsetting, however, they do get the message across.

I would like to take the depressing element out of the advert and make the overall animation fun but serious and get the same reactions from audiences that the current adverts get. This should hopefully allow younger audiences 3+ and adults to connect with the characters and remember the message of the topic in hand as well as the animation.

STORY:

The story is about a family of mountain gorillas thriving in the dense jungle, when out of the blue a poacher fly’s overhead in his helicopter before hovering and coming down to earth on his rope ladder, in panic the family runs away but forgets one of their infants. Like a rabbit in the headlights, cute and big eyed the infant’s emotion is shown to the audience, as it looks at the poacher a rumble can be heard in the very far distance, (just like distant thunder) slightly distracted the poacher aims his gun toward the infant to dart it, again the rumble is heard but much closer this time, rustling in the trees can also be heard until all becomes silent, and the gentle thuds of paws and hands start and various jungle creatures come out of the depths of the foliage accompanied by the jungle god. As the infant retreats back to his family, a ring of creatures surrounds the poacher and begins to enclose.

Trembling in fear the poacher raises his hands in surrender and a huge gorilla snatches the gun from his clutches. As the gorilla falls back into formation he aims the gun at the poacher and darts him. Falling to the floor passed out, bum high in the air and face in the dirt the surrounding animals place the poacher in the cage which he landed with, tie him to the helicopter’s winch and send him on his way out of the area as fast as possible into the sunset.

What I MUST include in the animation for the viewing audience:

·       WWF Logo (Clear and crisp)

·       WWF Web Address (Clear to read)

·       Statistics throughout the animation

·       Relevant Info throughout the animation

·       Strong Message

What I MUST remember to include in my animation’s pre production:

·      Character drawings, sketches and finalised drawings including turnaround drawings and proportions.

·      Character height chart (look at real life average heights)

·      Backgrounds

·      Concept Sketches and art

·      Models of animals and their character forms

·      Fully Animated walk cycles of all or main characters

Animation Guidelines:

·       Animation MUST be at least 1 minute long

·       Must be accompanied by story board and animatic

The animation will be completed using the 2D technique as I want to go into this area of animation in the near future and I also want to develop my drawing skills and gain a better understanding in producing 2D animation for industry. I also want to use 2D animation as I feel that it gives the whole animation a natural aesthetic that will suite the projects theme.

Presentation for animation:

8^th October, Initial development sketches, Timetable, breakdown of shots etc.

22^nd October, Animation Tests, character facial expressions

26^th November, Final Animation

I will be using a light box to produce the initial animation, I will then be using Illustrator to clean up the lines and make the characters a lot clearer and ready to be edited in after effects or premier pro.

I will be working on this project independently.

I aim to have this project completed by December 14^th ready to be handed in on 7^st Jan 2014

End

Jamie Price                               University of Portsmouth                             BA (HONS) Animation