First time animating.
The assignment was to make a short video in After Effects. Free pick of topic but with focus on the storytelling.
I wanted to use simple shapes to communicate and portray the story of a complex proces in our body : stress.
Stress is an automatic bodily reaction to a threat.
Short-term stress is actually a good survival instinct that will help you, when you're suddenly threatened. A release of hormones rushes through your body and makes you ready to fight or flight.
Long-term stress is the same bodily reaction - but never ending. It builds up over time, where you are constantly put under pressure or "threatened".
You might not even notice you're stressed until everything else around you becomes quiet.
STRESS
- WHAT ABOUT IT?
This is the story I wanted to tell.
How constant pressure and responsibilities - threats - fill us up and end up breaking us if not recognized and caught in time.
Told with balls.
How does a ball doing a shrug look?
How does a ball impatiently waiting look ?
How does a ball taking a deep breath look ?
Above you see pictures from my proces including my frame-by-frame work and storyboards.
The questions above are starting points for my work approach.
Each one leading to the research of a human movement and afterwards tests of transferring that to the shape of a ball with only four "corners" to move around with.
Last part of the proces was to record my own sound effects and cut it all together.
Below you see my final animation.
