A Decade: Animation

TreeHouse Studio for Jet Magazine

1.11.12 | R. Moore

1. Overview

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Post your movie to your blog.

Overview: Information What is it? Who made it? When? Why do I love it?

Answer the questions in your own words

An animation done for Jet Magazines exhibition about the changes in the average Hong Kong citizens life in the past decade.

The creators of TreeHouse Studio, Oscar Sheikh and Ray Wong. There are no names on the website beyond that, but there is mention of other Treehousers.

April 2012

It is heartwarming and tugs at the heart strings. The style of character animation and lack of intricate detail makes it very simple, but not childish. There is great atmospheric lighting, bright colors tempered with plenty of neutrals, and the music is very simple as well. It also addresses a problem that many who live in booming cities are coming across in the 21st century in a fashion that finds its way into your heart. There is no great drama here, but you feel for character nonetheless.

2. Form

Form: Board

Explode the piece into a series of key frames, at least one per scene

Form: Execution What does it look like?

Style, Palette, Imagery, Analogy

Decode the style of your piece

Soft, pastel and flat. There is absolutely no shine or bevel in this piece, just simple geometry and a shallow depth of field, which makes the corners fuzzy and softens the scene overall. There are fades and a prodigious use of the black screen. The level of detail is rather low, but not so low as to be minimal or boring - it is just enough to fill out the environment without being distracting. The colors are simple, but widely varied enough so that you can distinguish between one object and the other. The lighting is set to the mood - a cold pale blue glare for a dressing-down scene, a warm gold-yellow glow for moments of relaxation.

What does it move like?

Animation, Camera, Edit, Analogy

All the camera moves are slow and gentle. There is no rushing this piece - it moves along at a rather sedate pace. There is prodigious use of fades to black and crossfades. The characters themselves never engage in jerky, or even energetic movements; everything seems as though it is being played through someones mind while reminiscing on the past.

What does it sound like?

Music, Sound Design, Mood, Tone

The background music employs a single piano, and nothing else. Like the camera movement, it is slow and sedate, and sounds sad, as well as a bit haunting. It is also simple, playing the same chords over and over.

Form: Single Shot

One specific shot or technique broken out in frames

Form: References + Inspiration

Build a mood board of reference that could have inspired the designer

Form: Edit

Illustrate the structure of the edit

Break your piece into an AE timeline One layer per shot (or per cut) Use markers to show key animation within that shot Keep scenes (groups of shots that are related) the same color Build us a key with your frames Use your judgement, each case is different.

3. Content

Content: Concept

Decode the thinking behind your piece

Keywords

Ideas, tone, motifs, techniques, moods, imagery etc.

Melancholy Nostalgia Decline Recession Dreams Reality Graduation Corporate

White Collar Overpopulation 21st century Downsizing Pastel Flat Soft-edged Reminiscence

Crowding Society Loneliness Obscurity Displacement Poverty Social Bubble Real Estate

Theme Thesis

Pick one single idea that you think encapsulates the piece.

Decline
The bright euphoria of graduation slowly fades away into the dull reality of 21st century white-collar life.

This is a one-liner that sums up the entire piece

4. Form + Content

Form + Content
Could be typography, camera work, imagery, edit, animation, color palette, sound, anything!

Give 3 examples of how form and content are related

Imagery

There is a bit of cartoonish-ness in the sense that these characters have rather inhuman proportions. They are also devoid of the details that make a human face, human: eyelashes, nails, skin texture, etc. It is all very flat and graphic and there are few, if any soft lines, which gives it a paper-art quality.

Edit

With such slow camera moves and fades, the viewer feels reminiscent.

Animation

Since there is no dialogue and minimal background sound design, we can only see what is going on through body language. The jerky swiftness with which the boss slams his desk, the slight slump in the main characters shoulders as he transitions through endless days of paperwork, all the body movements are subtle enough to be realistic, but not so subtle that you cannot see them. It is cartoon animation for grownups.