Metamorphosis
concept, illustration, cel animation, music composition
Does anyone else’s dog shed a lot.. like really a lot?! This animation tells a tale of the cycle of life and death, of a coat infinitely lost and regrown.
Featuring my dog, Ruby, who now can add Animation Reference to her resume.. also, speakers on for some original sound design inspired by house music.
Made as part of the Monday’s Challenge Theme: Metamorphosis.
Each week, participants are given a new color palette and theme to make a 5 second animation before the next week.
See below for a full process breakdown!
Featuring my dog, Ruby, who now can add Animation Reference to her resume.. also, speakers on for some original sound design inspired by house music.
Made as part of the Monday’s Challenge Theme: Metamorphosis.
Each week, participants are given a new color palette and theme to make a 5 second animation before the next week.
See below for a full process breakdown!
Concept
Metamorphosis has been close to my heart throughout my life, beginning with a childhood interest in Greek/Roman mythology and later Ovid’s Metamorphoses, carrying through to a devotion to internal growth and transmutation of my experiences. However, I had a feeling that this was not the time to make something somber and serious!
I love a good brain dump with a pen and paper. Immediate ideas included more archetypal concepts and symbolism like the butterfly, moon phases, and changing seasons. This was a necessary place to start but I wanted to keep digging.
It was important to me to show not just a material/physical transformation but also consider storytelling with an emotional arc. The Masks of Tragedy and Comedy came up and I began to think more about story structure.
What could be sad, funny, and experience significant change in a matter of only 5 seconds? And also begin and end with a seamless loop?
Then, I fondly recalled a couple days earlier - Kristen and I were joking about how our dog Ruby seems to have infinite amounts of fur to shake and shed, causing us to always have the vacuum close by. During our conversation, I made the gesture with my body of hunkering down and expanding to “poof” out a new coat of fur.
The idea for the character animation was born and I set off into a fresh Photoshop timeline to draw each pose.
Many thanks to Ruby, who isn’t afraid to clown around and encourage a silly sense of humor, and is always such a lighthearted sweetheart.
Challenge-assigned color palette
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I love a good brain dump with a pen and paper. Immediate ideas included more archetypal concepts and symbolism like the butterfly, moon phases, and changing seasons. This was a necessary place to start but I wanted to keep digging.
It was important to me to show not just a material/physical transformation but also consider storytelling with an emotional arc. The Masks of Tragedy and Comedy came up and I began to think more about story structure.
What could be sad, funny, and experience significant change in a matter of only 5 seconds? And also begin and end with a seamless loop?
Then, I fondly recalled a couple days earlier - Kristen and I were joking about how our dog Ruby seems to have infinite amounts of fur to shake and shed, causing us to always have the vacuum close by. During our conversation, I made the gesture with my body of hunkering down and expanding to “poof” out a new coat of fur.
The idea for the character animation was born and I set off into a fresh Photoshop timeline to draw each pose.
Many thanks to Ruby, who isn’t afraid to clown around and encourage a silly sense of humor, and is always such a lighthearted sweetheart.
Challenge-assigned color palette
word association, thumbnail sketches, unfinished ideas
Photo References
Animation Process
I’ve been hanging out with Ruby daily for about 8 years now and through observation, I have developed a strong mental library of her personality, mannerisms, and quality of movement. This was very useful in acting through her emotional journey of metamorphosis and feeling her experience of comedy+tragedy to develop the poses and timing.
Character Qualities
Intelligent
Alert, Aware
Joyful
Playful
Loyal, Engaged
Determined
Effervescent
Agile
Dynamic
Internal Monologue & Story Sequence
Loyal Waiting, watching
Playful Urge to shake
Anticipation Shaking intensifies
Joyful POOF, the itch is scratched
Alert Is there something wrong?
Aware AH! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!
Determination I’ll take care of this
Anticipation Compression, summoning strength
Effervescent POOF, Regrowth of fur
Resolution The cycle is complete, let’s do it again. What do you think?
Approach to Motion
Keep it loose, don’t take it too seriously. Ruby seems like she always has a joke to tell you and can also be a bit unpredictable at times.
She communicates a lot through eye contact and is very present with us and her environment.
Exaggerate secondary motion while keeping it crisp. Another dimension of her personality includes the ears and tail for full body emotional follow-through.
She is usually rocking the “one ear up, one ear down” look and they can be a bit floppy.
Emphasize squash and stretch. Ruby is quick to move and her movements can be explosive, but she also has a bouncy fluid-like quality.
Humor must be evident, suspension of disbelief, surprise.
Rough (Ruff) First Pass
Favorite Still Frames
Original Music Composition, Sound Design
The audio had to bring the cool-factor to balance such a silly animation, because we aren’t completely mocking Ruby, more like having an affectionate giggle together.
A dynamic music-driven component felt like a good match for Ruby’s dynamic and colorful personality. In Ableton Live, I laid out a bouncy house beat with a subby kick for weight, genre-characteristic cymbals on the backbeat, and rolled percussion elements that move as one. Mystical chords and sparkly arpeggios are layered with shakers to match the shaking motion and add an element of magic. The drums drop out when the fur is expelled, leaving a tone that resonates with delay. The textured percussion enters again as the action continues while risers help build anticipation to the fur poof.
Ableton Timeline & Shakers Effects Chain
Low Pass EQ, Wide/Side Mix, LFO, Tremolo L/R Auto Pan
Midi Notation, House drum beat
