Experimentation: Animating with Paper (27/9/21)

 

Day one at animation school and we're already animating! We looked at some very interesting resources using paper and simple stop-motion to create animation. See below:

Studio Nos Paper Horse - https://vimeo.com/8323228

Rowena True Origami - https://vimeo.com/9289607

Parkour Motion Reel - https://vimeo.com/8332956

Tonko House "Acorns" Animation Test - https://youtu.be/eIw03xFPz7c

Carlton Kutz Paper Houses - https://youtu.be/B6N7oTBMn-8

The task was then to use plain white paper to create something animated. I had really enjoyed in Rowena True's Origami & Paper Animation, the way figures would emerge from the paper, interact with one another, and leave this negative space behind them. 

Rowena True - Origami & Paper Animation (2010)

Rowena True - Origami & Paper Animation (2010)

As I was limited for time and materials, I knew I could do this small scale, but I experimented creating work in this way with an animation of some sunflowers. See below:

I'm interested in the sunflower as a symbol of strength, optimism and healing. In the animation the sunflowers emerge from the paper, sway a bit, get crumpled up, and unfold themselves again, reborn. 

This method of animation could be a fantastic tool for experimentation and planning of a more fleshed out work. It's cost-effective, easy and quick to create, and there's not much at stake. I can experiment with lighting, motion, camera angles, the direction of my work. There's no risk of ruining hours of work or worse, wasting hours working only to discover that my animation is flat, or doesn't make sense, or looks completely wrong. Instead, I can try again and again, using the 3-dimensional aspect of the paper to my advantage.