Cut Outs

Here, we have cut out some silhouettes of the castle, trees and the kids on the swing. We wanted to have black silhouettes to give focus to the characters and Annabel Lee. The silhouettes add  to the dark tone set to the animation as the story has dark aspects within, such as jealousy and murder. The trees heavily represent this with the twirls and sharp, thin arm-like structure of the brunches. For the castle and the kids on the swing we have played with the negative space to build more details within the silhouette cut outs. The castle has a large top window and door for us to combine other cut outs with the castle. This means we can give effects such as walking out of the castle door and Annabel Lee brushing her hair inside the castle. To achieve this, we have cut out different sizes of the castle for different camera shot. For example = A small version of the castle, for wide shots. A mid version of the castle, for long shots/mid shots. A large version of the castle window, for close up shots with Annabel Lee in the window. Also, the kids on the swing act as a flashback for the narrator and Annabel Lee for the scene of "I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea". We have made several version of the cut outs to create motion within the animation when the child is on the swing. This is done with the child's legs folded back and her hair is pushed forward for when she is falling back in the swing. From here, we still have the birds, sea, sepulchre and moon to create, along with adjusting of characters.

 

Mid version Castle

Small version castle

Large window version of castle

Trees

Annabel Lee as a child on the swing

Annabel Lee and narrator as children playing on the swings.

Left: Annabel Lee on swing, falling back in swing with knees bent and hair pushed forward. Several step by step cut outs of narrator pushing child Annabel Lee on swing.