For my animation, I focused on the themes of female innocence, mystery, and death. However, as kept working, I realized that the innocence could represent innocence in general, not only that of females. To tie innocence with mystery, I used a simple white flower on a background of lurking shadows. Generally, we all have innocence in some sense because we do not have all the knowledge the world has to offer. The flower gradually shrinks and darkens, representing the awareness that we have gained from birth until now, contributing to the corruptness we see in the world. This is similar to Nina reading the book that she was told not to. Eventually, the flower returns to its original size but is discolored because of this new knowledge.
Sometimes, with too much knowledge comes death, as represented by the bare tree. Learning about Nosferatu ultimately led to Ellen’s death. In our cases, there are some things that we have learned but wish could have unlearned—tainting our purity. However, it is those things that open our eyes to making better choices in life. I added roses in increasing opacity to symbolize the life of those new ideas. As we grow and make mistakes, those experiences help us. Because the cycles of life and death are never ending, the roses die and return to the soil, where the process starts again.
Midway Point
I really liked how you used the animation to tell a story! I think that was really creative how you changed the colors of the flowers and made them drop to the bottom of the tree to represent a new idea. I think your title, The Cycle, really applies to your animation. I can see the change from life to death, and everything in between like innocence and mystery. The fact that the animation was looped also adds to a infinite cycle effect.
I love it. Before reading your explanation I made my own story to your collage. It was gloominess but rebirth. great job!
I really loved you animation. I think my favorite part was the beginning where the flower faded into darkness. I definitely see how your animation connects to the cycle of life.
I really like your idea of the continuous cycle of life and death into your animation because although those are both strong themes in the movie Nosferatu, I’ve yet to see anyone connect the two. Great job! Incredibly unique.
I really like the flowers attaching then falling from the tree. It felt rhythmic but had a very sorrow, truthful feel to it. Also the tree overlapping the translucent stop sign was a good touch.
Simple but straightforward to the point of life cycle. The mid-point picture is great. I like the flowers on the tree, which is so creative!