Cutout

Here are the characters that have been cut out with paper. After using paper and finding it quite difficult to move the characters we have decided to use thicker card to cut out or characters from and to make them larger so they aren't so fiddly, otherwise the limbs are quite small and hard to control

Experimenting with Cut-Out

We trialed some of our character designs with cut-out animation. The doves cut out worked well and we are pleased with the outcome, however the character's limbs looked very disjointed and still. It was difficult to move the character's arms and hands as the parts were just to small and delicate.

If we decide to make our project using the cut-out animation method, we will have to make the characters larger. This will make the parts easier to move and work with. Also, we can tread the limbs together to keep them connected but still allows the freedom to move.

Below is the out-come of this experiment.

Characters in a Little More Detail

Here we have come up with some more detailed concepts for each of the characters. The characters also have more of their characteristics added to them, such as with the wind. It's more chilling and has sharp edges to represent its evilness and chilling factors. We've come up with several different angles and facial features for Annabel Lee for when she appears within the animation. Also we decided to use silhouettes of doves to represent their love for one and other without revealing the narrators identity

Analysis of Poem and Early Planning of Characters

This is some of the brainstorming we did to come up with the characters and their characteristics. We also started sketching some ideas about how our characters may look

First we pulled apart the poem line by line in order to figure out what will happen in our animation. This will also help in the drawing up of our storyboard

 

Brainstorming

To begin we chose a poem to base our animation on, the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe is a famous poet and this poem was the last one he wrote before he died. The poem was written in 1849 and is a tragic love story.

The animation will have a narrator that reads the poem as the animation goes along. We are currently hoping to create a cutout animation based on the style of The Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) by Yuriy Norshteyn.

From reading the poem we have developed a few characters that are mentioned. The characters we have decided to use that are mentioned in the poem are:

Annabel Lee
Wind
Angels/Demons
Wisemen
Kinsmen
Narrator

 Some character traits we have come up with for each character are:

Annabel Lee
-beautiful
-shy
-passive
-dreamer

Wind
-chilling
-aggressive
-cold
-angry
-evil

Angels/Demon
-dark
-sneaky
-jealous

Wisemen
-old

Kinsmen
-travel in groups
-loyal
-hardworking

Narrator
-impassive
-sad