Overview
Hiraeth (n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return.
I have a passion for crafting narratives that are profound and emotionally resonant, stories that leave an audience with a distinct and impactful experience. “Hiraeth” served as my avenue for mastering story progression without relying on dialogue. The goal was to depict two characters with contrasting natures discovering common ground, leading the audience through suspense toward a heartwarming conclusion.
The meaning behind hiraeth tugged at my heartstrings, as I often find myself longing to relive the simple and warm days of my childhood. This bittersweet emotion was what I wanted to capture within the animation.
These two characters must oblige by what nature intended, however after meeting again in undesirable circumstances, they recall the past where life was less demanding and more forgiving.
Programs Used
- Clip Studio Paint Pro
- Adobe After Effects
Project Timeline: 15 weeks
Awards & Recognition
This project was awarded 3rd place in motion graphics & VFX in the GIT Awards hosted by Arizona State University.
Background
I adore animals, and as a child I grew obsessed with memorizing dog and cat breeds and I often read books involving animals.
After my family got a puppy, I noticed the peculiar relationship between an old cat and a young dog.
I noticed how young animals have an openness towards different species, while older animals tend to stay more cautious. This brought in my idea of creating the story between a wolf and a rabbit using two timelines – when they were young and when they are full grown.
Journey
Character Creation
Wolf: Using a dark brown base, I wanted the character to have minimal coloring while playing on the imagery of a yin yang. Wolf is known as the Yin – the good inside the bad. It represents a negative and cold personality, with the white being the intuitive and soft nature highlights. Wolf has many harsh and sharp lines to play on an intimidating image with less expressive eyes that leave the audience wondering what it’s thinking.
Rabbit: Rabbit is the opposite of Wolf, representing the yang portion of the yin yang. Yang is known as the bad inside the good, while positive and active, yang is also known as hard and logical. I wanted rabbit to be more expressive, and used rounded lines to further separate the juxtaposition between the two characters.
Storyboard
Starting big picture, I began with experimenting with characters and the dynamics between two characters.
This storyboard highlighted a longer retelling of the final product, where I would delve deeper into the younger versions of the two characters. Time constraints caused the end to be scrapped, but allowed longer time between scenes to create a better paced story.
Music
Ribs by Lorde was a song I absolutely adored growing up. Music often played a large role in my life and each time I listen to certain songs, I begin to imagine worlds and stories that go along with them. This particular song always held so much meaning for a past that once was, and I found it worked perfectly with the definition of Hiraeth.
While I was brainstorming ideas for this animation, I replayed this song to help imagine multiple ways the story could be paced or changed to meet the overall meaning behind Hiraeth.
Portfolio 