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Passing Through
The brief for this project was to conceptually explore divergence within a 2 minute animation. This opportunity was used to explore the concept of individuality being a product of our heritage, our memories and the various people that are encountered throughout life to the extent that these individuals become an integral part of defining us as unique individuals.
The visual treatment uses both hand drawn and photographic elements to create a subtle interplay between the artificial and the real; additionally this treatment has been used to accentuate the juxtaposition between the butterfly and the rest of the desolate surrealist dreamscape. Overall, a minimalist approach has been taken, aimed at accentuating the metaphorical significance of the individual elements of the work and to allow for conceptual clarity.
There are 6 separate key elements that have been used to create this animated work; the brail, the clouds/fog with the gusty audio track that accompanies it, the repeated form of an individual character, the butterfly, spinning fans and finally the auditory treatment of the gun shot. All of these elements represent significant contributions to establishing the works full meaning.
The following sections provide a partial post-mortem but primarily focus on dissecting the designed meanings within the animation, though we would prefer people explore their own interpretations before reading on.
The significance of the Brail is to provide a somewhat universal language that isn’t instantly recognisable as being a part of any specific culture, which additionally by its design isn’t intended to be seen. This made for an ideal method to represent people’s true voices, even though the characters are clearly visible they remain obscure to most. Some people will overlook these signs, misinterpret them, some may even go to the trouble to decipher their true meaning and others may be able to read them with clarity as they appear on the screen. Within the animation brail has been used to introduce the title and acts as a sign off at the end. It’s also used on the plinth that the repeated form of the individual character is stacked on that translates to ‘Starry Starry Night’ a homage to Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings by the same name with their swirling skies, and massive glaring stars that fill the sky.
The fog represents the haziness of the mind, in the opening of the animation it sweeps in covering most of the plinth that supports the stacked characters. The Plinth represents both an inherited history that rests as our foundation unable to be changed, a monument metaphorically set in stone, with all the cultural significance that a pedestal instils in the importance of the object that’s set on it. Stacked on top of this monument is a series of repeated characters only varying from this solemn template at the start and finally at the end, creating two distinctive metaphorical bookends that signify the start and end of life. The figures are all the same character and are meant to represent a single life, unable to change or be changed as his story has been written and can no longer be altered this is initially signified by the gun shot heard at the beginning, even though no discernable reference to the source of the distinctive sound is established, its cultural significance posses a resonance that is universally understood as a noise that signifies death, war or pain. In this instance it denotes death and release; (represented through the literal release of the butterfly) it becomes a sound that reverberates though the characters history. The confrontation of the significance of the gun shot is established more literally from the posture of the final figure with his hand representing a gun held against his head. This can be interpreted in a number of ways, the first of which comes from observing the position of the last figure, on his knees and the appearance of the hand position acting to represent a third party holding the gun against his head; imagery that figuratively represents the stage of an execution. Secondly this could be interpreted as him taking his own life, releasing himself from life. Or alternatively taking a less literal interpretation from the representation of the gun, where the gun represents the sheer suddenness that life can end, the instantaneous transition from a once living state of being to joining the departed. Most importantly there is no single correct interpretation of the gun’s significance and was designed with that intention.
The meaning of the portraits that fill the mouths of the repeated figure act as mementos of the most significant characters that shaped this individual’s life. Similar to the meaning of the plinth, their significance contributes towards how we are defined by our heritage and those around us. Exploring the notion of true individuality being a product of others rather than people being inherently unique.
The spinning fans each represent the bubbles of individual memories that continuously turn in our mind throughout life. Even though we have the artistic means of expression to describe our memories to others they are only caricatures of our true memories, impossible for others to be able to experience. Which is why even though the fans posses a clear distinctive silhouette, their internal structure is comprised of only faint lines and a lightly textured surfaces, representing how we can only interpret the experience from the little details that are available to us however, are able to understand the experience as a part of the larger whole.
The Butterfly represents the soul/our nature/character or essence depending on the viewers own philosophical interpretation of such things and as such is so familiar a concept to us all, almost to the point of being mundane. This scene of familiarity was critical, within the animation the species of butterfly can be easily identified as the Monarch butterfly, specifically chosen for its familiarity, over the years this specific species has had a strong cultural representation within the UK. Additionally, the Monarch butterfly has become a symbol of the anti-genetic-modification movement, becoming synonymous with nature and the natural, further imbedding itself into our cultural fabric. It’s one of the very few spices of butterfly that can be identified by most people, being the reason this species was chosen over one of the more exotic varieties.
As described above the butterfly emerges from the base character lying on the plinth shortly after the gun shot. After it emerges from the characters mouth and takes flight, travelling up circling about the characters, revisiting his life and memories. This represents the moment that’s said to precede death, where your life flashes before your eyes and the butterfly passing though these moments taking the viewer on that journey.
The butterflies’ animation was designed to represent a closer affinity to a natural movement rather than conforming to the light, fluttery representations that seems to have permeated most contemporary interpretations. Its bold coloured wings combined with its somewhat erratic movement juxtaposes the deathly desolate treatment of the rest of the world. The character remains still and unchanging while this little butterfly, the embodied personification of the ‘soul’ flits about unrestrained to the confines of the shot, occasionally breaking out of view entirely, until finally it reaches the top where it breaks free completely, from this tower of repetitious form. Flying out of the shot and finally gone, While were able to discover what defined someone as a unique individual during their life, we can’t see beyond that boundary and as a result the rest of the butterflies journey off into the undefined darkness isn’t one the viewer can follow.
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