Animation Project: Classical Elements // Idea Generation

We were given a brief based on the classical elements; earth, fire, air and water and asked to produce an animation around 20 seconds long at 12 frames per second. The deadline for the brief is the 13th of January, so we have a lot of time to plan and make this as good as it can be. The things to consider initially about this brief and study are how things move over time and motion and how different substances move and act. As well as these we were also told to plan out time carefully, I think this is quite an important point, since we have around two and a half months to produce the animation we need to manage our time properly so as to not spend too little or too much time on a certain aspect of the creation of the animation.

In summary;

Consider motion

Use one of the four classical elements (earth, wind, fire, water)

Present in 1080p, Quicktime, H264 at 12fps

Study animation of all genres and types

Plan time carefully

Workflow; pre-production, production, post-production

Deadline; 13th January

The first thing I did for idea generation was search 'classical elements', and look at some results online to see if anything inspired me straight off the bat. I found some interesting information about the classical elements and historically how they've been interpreted and viewed in different cultures. Some interesting examples I came across were the way they were considered in Greece which looked at the elements in terms of their properties and described them differently to how I'd considered them at first;

Fire primarily HOT secondarily DRY

Air primarily WET secondarily HOT

Water primarily COLD secondarily WET

Earth primarily DRY secondarily COLD

Considering the properties and traits like this of the elements gave me a new perspective, and to remember to think of them as not just objects or 'elements' but as materials and substances with physical properties. I then researched further and came across an interesting perspective of the classical elements that's used in Buddhism and Hinduism, which also gives certain elements connotations based on their properties and their uses. The themes and elements they associated with the basic classical elements were interesting to me, because it once again broadened the amount of information I had to work with and made me look at it the entire brief from a new perspective. Overall it made the four elements seem less closed off and more possible ideas could be generated.

Sahasrara (Crown): Time/Space/Balance/Gravity/Cosmic/Universal/All-Elemental

Ajna (Third Eye): Nether/Darkness/Shadow/Death/Poison/Black MagicVishuddhi (Throat): Aether/Light/Life/Lightning/Electricity/Energy/MagnetismAnahata (Heart): Air/Wind/Magic/Sound/MusicManipura (Navel): Fire/Heat/Flame
Muladhara (Root): Earth/Rock/Nature/Soil/Metal/Wood

Svadhisthana (Sacral): Water/Ice/Snow/Steam/Fog/Mist

'Elemental Magic, Volume I: The Art of Special Effects Animation'

The book looks at creating animated effects using the four classical elements and demonstrates how they move and how they should or can be animated, it gives information on a range of different approaches and techniques. He breaks down effects into four broad categories' 'water/liquids, fire/smoke, props/solid objects and magical effects', and lays out the principles needed to bring them to life on paper. Gilland breaks down the behaviors of different types of matter and the methods needed for an animator to be able to replicate the dynamic essence of an effect created by say a water droplet or a stray ember. The book is proving to be very useful so far at giving me insight into how to approach the generation of element based animation and I will continue to use it throughout the brief as a reference.

'Elemental Magic, Volume I: The Art of Special Effects Animation'

Brainstorming

Fire Dance, very energetic using fire in the shape of a person ✓

Ice Warriors, brawling, demonstrating the brittleness of ice and water as they melt ✓

Earth summoning mysterious creature, powerful scene, lots of secondary movement

The effects of wind on objects and how destructive it can be, trees, house etc.

Forest fire, demonstrating how you can't control fire easily

Story of two characters made of separate elements, how they interact, e.g water, fire ✓

Earthquake, devastation it can cause, could show a tsunami, water involves

The winds effect on say, an arrow fired by an archer and how it manipulated movement

Natural disasters, hurricane, forest fire, earthquake, tsunami, flood ✓

Ice covered lake, cracking and showing material properties when frozen ✓

Ice melting over time, like a time lapse, attention to animation here due to lack of story

Fire burning wood, attention to animation again due to lack of story

Animal getting stuck in mud, showing the properties of earth when it's wet and how it changes

Fantastical battle between wizards using elements as primary spells, could be fun

Mythical creature, water based for example hydra or kraken ✓

Fire sprite, of my own design interacting with the world and moving ✓

Scene involving a bath or shower, water level rising, movement of water

✓ = preferred ideas