A project reflection by Marcelo Rocha
Capstone Project Spring 22
Working on A Decree From the Stars has been a very fun yet stressful process that I would love to go through all over again. My main goal with this short was to do some type of animation using experimental methods in some fashion. Whether animating with non-traditional materials or using unconventional digital methods, I wanted to work on something experimental. I mainly did this because I wanted to challenge myself and work on a project that would have a unique style and look to it, but also because working with experimental methods is something that I have always had an interest in.
Animating using paper cutouts was super fun and almost felt relaxing. Drawing and cutting those drawings took up a lot of my time on this project, but I think it was worth it overall, and the style was just about what I was aiming for with the short. The part that I felt needed more refining was the digital animation and effects that came up for the monster’s portions. I’m still satisfied with how it came out, but I feel like I could’ve made the monster look more striking or ominous.
My original intention was to find a way to incorporate real paint into the animation. If I were ever to go back, I would try and take the time to incorporate that paint in with the digital animation. The tests where I used paint gave the animation physicality and had a real-world presence that I loved. When thinking of the story and message for this short, I wanted to focus on an environmental message because it was starting to frustrate me at the time, as well as something that I could easily fit with a giant monster story that I always wanted to write. Looking back, I would change the story to make this message clearer and possibly even bring up more pieces of climate change and environmentalism that I didn’t bring up.
When I look at the final product, I feel like I treat myself too harshly, only paying attention to all of the flaws or small things that make it hard for me to view my work all the way through. However, looking at all of the work that I have done for this short, writing and scripting, animating, editing, and putting it all together, I think I accomplished what I originally set out for and enjoyed the time I spent working on this short even if it was very stressful at certain times. Being proud of my work is normally hard for me to do, but when I look at the work I’ve done for A Decree From the Stars is something that I am definitely proud of.
Discover here the behind the scenes process for the creation of this project:
https://deecrefromstars.weebly.com/the-proccess.html