The Classical Elements

        For the Classical Elements project we are required to produce a 20 second, narrative driven animation based on either earth, air, fire or water. The only other stipulation was that the animation should in some way use a digital animation program such as Photoshop or Flash.

        After writing down several ideas for each element, I selected two ideas which I felt had the most potential, Icarus for fire and a Golem for earth, and wrote down a brief plot outline for each. This process gave me the opportunity to see that the Icarus story would be more visually dymanic and exciting to work on.

  

        As the Greek tale of Icarus is relatively in depth, too in depth to fit into 20 seconds, it was necessary for me to edit the narrative, showing just the flight from Icarus preparing to take off, to his wings being destroyed in the sun's heat. To an an extra dynamic, I wanted the sun to bust to life in the form of a phoenix, a creature traditionally associated with the sun, I felt that this would be more dramatic and interesting that if the sun were to remain a passive and inanimate object. Once the storyboard was completed I was able to construct an animatic which would give me an idea of how many frames each shot should last when I begin production.

        In terms of visual style, as both characters and the story are taken from Greek mythology, I wanted to keep the style sympathetic to that era, for example by using a pre existing image of Icarus or a suitable classical/renaissance painting as a cut out model.

A quick mock up of how I envisage the character of Icarus.