Assignment 3 animation

ANIMATION STORYBOARD

Narrative – 300 words

The concept behind this animation is the questioning of our current inefficient and non-sustainable methods in the built environment and its negative effects. Overall this animation will convey a dark and sinister tone. It begins as we start to zoom out from one single object. While zooming out, several of these objects soon come into sight floating in space. Immediately these objects begin to form a series of stairs which then all unite to create a single but extensive spiral staircase.

We travel down these set of stairs which appear to be endless but nevertheless, we soon reach the bottom and everything fades out. We fade back in again and find ourselves at one end of a narrow hallway being assembled. Once completed, we then travel through this hallway which once more appears to be eternal. Whilst travelling, we slow down to and notice the walls begin to deteriorate and collapse. We continue to travel down the hallway in a faster manner as the hallway deteriorates and once again, as we draw closer to the end, everything fades to white.

This first part of the animation conveys the manner in which we previously believed our natural resources were endless and that our continuous building had no impact.

In the next sequence, we find ourselves in a quiet outdoor space. A sinister shadow takes over the skies and the area soon darkens. The entire district is covered in darkness and we begin to see small objects appear in the dark sky as lighting strikes. The amount of flying objects increase and hover over the land. Balls of energy also appear which then fuse together to grow larger and larger. They grow so large that it soon bursts out the energy contained within and everything fades out.

This sequence symbolises the potentially negative impacts which can occur if we do not take into consideration the issues of sustainability. The animation soon draws towards an ending through a more calming set of visuals and concludes.

150 words- First Ideas

My first ideas for an animation are based on the potentially negative effect of our current methods which are inefficient and non-sustainable. More specifically, in the built environment. The overall visuals will be dark and intimidating.

I will use the beginning of my animation to convey the common view that does not take into consideration the negative impact of continuous growth of the built environment on the natural surroundings.

If we do continue with this attitude, we will soon realise that nothing can be done to reverse our negative effect on the environment. The second part of the animation symbolises the harmful consequences of our actions through darkening skies and balls of energy which begin to fill the sky along with small particles hovering in the air.

These particles and balls of energy begin to grow larger and larger and it begins to fill the whole area conveying the mass effect of our actions.

Online Journal Article Review

An online journal article “Road to Conversion” had made me think further into sustainability and its potential for designers of the built environment. This article explored the designer’s thoughts on sustainability issues upon encountering them in her studies. Her initial view of sustainability was that it was a limitation to her scope of work narrowing her freedom of choice. While working on a project, the designer began to view sustainability from a different perspective resulting in her innovative approach taking into account the growing importance of sustainable design.  

In recent times, there has been growing concern for the environment and the impact our living can have on the limited resources available. As designers of the built environment, we have become more accountable for developing alternatives that have less impact on our surroundings.

As a result, we should not think of sustainable design as a restriction to our ideas but rather a potential to further develop our current methods as we gain more knowledge of our planet. Sustainability allows us to question and challenge our existing conventions to find ways which are new and improved. After all, this is the role of a designer and the concept of sustainability gives us the opportunity to advance ourselves.

Reference

http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20100928/the-road-to-conversion

CITYSCAPE SILENT VERSION

150 words - Narrative

A cityscape best describes the physical aspects of today’s urban environment and how far we have come in society. Today we see a consistent increase in density and population. There comes a point where we can no longer expand on a horizontal level, so as a result we begin to look to the sky. As we walk down the city streets, we see endless rows of soaring high rise buildings, one being superior than the next.

The music video presents to us the cityscape in the night sky. We view the high rise buildings all aligned with one another. Bright lights glow from within these buildings and from down below expressing the high level of activity. We are then given a closer look as we zoom in to examine the activity occurring through the windows. As we pan through the building we see shadows of people dancing with the music played. This expresses how all take part of the flow and organisation of the urban environment.