03 – Abstract Animation

Annotated Bibliography

Beyer, Catherine. “The Symbolic Meanings Behind Simple Geometric Shapes.”ThoughtCo, 12 Oct. 2017, www.thoughtco.com/geometric-shapes-4086370.

  • This website provided me with guidance on which shapes to use. My initial shape is a circle because it implies unity, which I was going for with the deeper story of life and death of the shapes. I wanted this to be a joyous rebirth, not a solemn one. The square similarly represents rigidness, which I thought to be a bad trait and one that allowed that shape to grow into a triangle, which itself indicates represents stability and its upward pointing direction shows ambition.

Brydge, Wendy. “The Lost Art of Animation Backgrounds.” Seeker of Truth, 20 Mar. 2017, wendylovesjesus.wordpress.com/2017/03/20/the-lost-art-of-animation-backgrounds/.

  • This article really made me struggle with my animation because of how important it said that background was. In all of the images in the article the backgrounds are extremely complex and it discusses how important this intricacy is to the animation itself. However, with this being an abstract animation project I had no idea how to incorporate that. However, I did not like that my initial background was a static black throughout. Eventually I came to the realization that I could alternate between a solid white and solid black background depending on the mood, which would keep things abstract but allow me some complexity.

Conti, Lisa. “How Light Deprivation Causes Depression.” Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2008, www.scientificamerican.com/article/down-in-the-dark/.

  • I needed to find some way to indicate the move from happiness to sadness, and I thought there to be no better way than the fact that darkness can literally cause sadness in humans. However, I also wanted to contrast this with a dark background during happy moments, grounding the shapes into the “real world” and the heavenly white, which would indicate that happiness is around even if it is not found within the shape itself.

Gremillion, Allison S. “How Color Impacts Emotions and Behaviors.” 99designs, 99designs, 10 Mar. 2018, 99designs.com/blog/tips/how-color-impacts-emotions-and-behaviors/.

  • I’ve always had an affinity for teal, but for this project it also is indicative of more. Green, according to this article, “symbolizes… new beginnings,” which is the fundamental theme of my video. Blue “evokes feelings of calmness and spirituality as well as security and trust,” which lend itself to the joyful feeling I was trying to create in this rebirth. Because teal is a perfect mix of green and blue I believe it accurately shows both sets of emotions.

ThatHairyCanadian. “An Optical Poem – Produced by Oskar Fischinger 1938.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 Nov. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xc4g00FFLk.

  • After watching this short film in class I immediately saw in my mind’s eye this finished project. I even determined the song used while this video was playing. It seemed to me to be the perfect example of interesting abstract animation. Through its clever use of the shapes it was able to make the come alive and seem to tell a story, like an abstract Fantasia. It was that essence that I hoped to have in my own video.