shadow-puffer

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Final version of animatic

The animatic is done and it took a while. In the last part of animatic I showed how main character is working together with his alters to be more efficient together or to protect themselves. The animatic turned out well, but in the end it came out a bit sloppy. That is because I started running out of ideas. To be fair I am not proud of the ending part before the guitar frame, but now I dont have enough time to change it. When new semester begins that will be the first issue that I will address

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Clothes and mood board for characters

Since the animation is more than half way done, there is some time for me to think about how the characters gonna look like, how they are gonna dress. Ironically all of them has their own style of clothes. Left one prefers to dress in bodysuits and goth punk clothes. Right one prefers casual, baggy style, wearing hoodie to sometimes use the hood if the wants to hide from people. And the last one is a softie, preferring sweaters and fluffy clothe

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

2 part of the animation

It is done, the second chorus has been animated. Here we see that character grow up and starting to try and learn anything about his condition. If when he was a child he was just ignoring the problem or running away from it. But now he is all grown and hit the books to find something about his condition, accidentally stumbling across the needed book. The character learns as much as he can and makes firs contact with his alters.

In the childhood par we can see that characters vision saw constantly darkened to not let him see. He and his alters were in disarray, so he wasn’t able to see. However now we learn that the ponytail figure is not really evil, just overprotective and likes to joke a bit. It also turns out that he has 2 alters and they are both incredibly friendly with him

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Hair test for characters

Since we are testing character designs and character hair, why not try making some more references for main characters. The hardest one to decide was the left one. You can see how many tries it took me to find something interesting. Some of his hairs is just combination of other hairstyles that I already had drawn. On the other two I tried as much as I could, however with the bottom right one, I couldn’t think of anything interesting and went with just his usual hair with which I drew him firstly. All of this hair is yet to be judged and decided on which one will become the constant one

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Kids sketch reference

Finishing the first part of animatic with kids showed me that I have no idea on how to draw them whatsoever. If I have at least rough understanding of how their adult versions looked like, I have no idea how they look like as children. The main problem is mostly the hair. In adult versions they can style it as much as they want but as kids everything probably should be very messy. Also it shouldn’t be hard to draw for the future when I will animate this

I want to leave the second angry character with a ponytail. Since in childhood episode he only appears as silhouette, he must be distinguished from others by something like that. He is evil, angry and very tired all the time

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Changing main character look

After finishing the first part of animation, I started to think that maybe it would be better if I switched from the character that I already have to another

Technically speaking this character is the youngest out of all 3 characters that I have drawn. I think he would have been the perfect one to be main, however after some consideration I decided to leave the first part as it is, because in childhood he didn’t cover his eyes with his hair, being carefree and happy child, so for now I can leave it as it is. But in the future I will have to draw characters a bit better, and think about how they are going to look like

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

First part of the animation

For now I decided to put any character development aside. The most prioritized part is to get the skeleton of the animation. In later stages I can change everything as needed, but for now I need a basic understanding of where goes what

Here everything is kinda following the narrative of the lyrics. Sean said that it is not a good idea so in the future i might explore this a bit, but for not\w it will stay as it is. I tried not to complicate things and didn’t even sketch any backgrounds, since for now I really need all the time I can get to finish this animatic as soon as possible, so I can start working on more development

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

New better looking storyboard

Finally after getting the music done, I could work on better storyboard. I hope this one is better and more readable. I changed plot a bit and how it is shown, however in general everything stayed the same. I decided to not make it all literal, even though the first part is still following the narrative of the song. Also here characters are kinda consistent and not random like they were in the previous storyboard.

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Making music with help of AI

Savior for the music came from somewhere i lest expected. Usually I am standoffish to all AI made things, but this time I decided to give it a try. To say the least I was amazed by capabilities of this AI program. I started generating songs, changing their genres to find something that was suitable for me.

In Total I generated 50 different songs. Some of them were good, some not so much, because AI voice was faltering. I even thought about removing voice and just singing it all myself. However I am too self conscious about my voice (previously I was planning and ready to sing this song myself, I don’t know why now it was an issue)

Out of all those 50 songs I chose 5 which I liked the most and started revising them. One of the songs was sang with a female voice. Everything there would have worked perfectly since it was exactly what I needed but my main character is male, so I don’t want viewers to be confused. Knowing AI i will never get the same song twice so I decided against that one, choosing the one I liked

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Trying to make music on my own

For some reason I thought that making music would be really easy. Previously I already made couple of songs. However this time for some reason I decided not to use samples that the program provided, but instead make everything myself. I managed to make something, however then was disappointed. It took hours to make a very bad attempt which I will not ever show to anyone. I do need to find some other way to make music. Yes I can ask musical students that are on campus, but I think they have their own assignments and I don’t wanna bother them. Since it would probably be free labor which is not cool, at least for me

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Lyrics part 2

This time i decided to make lyrics in general, without constraints of time. This song doesn’t focus on one episode from a life of a person with DID, it tells the story of confusion, research and acceptance of this disorder. Yes some can say that it needs to be treated, however when I talked to my friends about their thought, most of them said that having DID made their life a tad bit easier. If their system is healthy and doesn’t dammage each other, why not let it be

Variant 2

*verse 1*

When I was little I remember

Very strange thing happening

When I was loosing my temper

I blacked out sometimes I think

My friends told me I was different

How can’t I remember it

They told me I was so dissonant

Like I’m slowly loosing it

*chorus*

What’s happening what’s going on

It seems I’m out of it

One second here, than next I’m there

Are my personas split?

It feels like I’m not only one

Who’s living in my head

I want to understand it all

Is it a blessing or a threat

*verse 2*

After some time I start to wonder

What’s really going inside my head

After some time of digging under

I found a tiny little thread

Its seems like I am not alone

The thread lead me to someone else

My head and body not just my own

There is someone who tries and helps

*chorus*

What’s happening what’s going on

It seems I’m out of it

One second here, than next I’m there

Are my personas split?

It feels like I’m not only one

Who’s living in my head

I want to understand it all

Is it a blessing or a threat

*verse 3*

I figured how we can exist

Sharing my body together

I do my job they will assist

Although we have to do it clever

Sometimes the troubles still reach us

Its not a problem guarantee

We just have to plan and discuss

Ans switch the front if necessary

*chorus*

What’s happening what’s going on

It seems I’m out of it

One second here, than next I’m there

Are my personas split?

It feels like I’m not only one

Who’s living in my head

I want to understand it all

Is it a blessing or a threat

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Making lyrics part 1

From the beginning when I decided that this animation is going to be a music clip I decided that I will make the music myself. It is not that hard to make the lyrics since I am good with poetry. Here is the first variant lyrics of the song that I managed to write

Variant 1

*verse 1*

What a strange feeling in my body

Like the body isn’t mine

Start to feel like it’s somebody

Somebody else who’s passing time

They are out there doing something

Something strange I don’t know what

I can’t see what they are doing

I am stuck here in my thoughts

*Chorus*

Whats this Feeling

I cannot quite control

Staring at the ceiling

Of the place I didn’t know

Someone took the front line

And I was just pushed aside

Watching them control it

The body which is mine

*verse 2*

I am back inside my body

It is good to have control

But I feel there is somebody

Somebody else deep in my soul

I need the way to for the connection

With that someone I don’t know

I don’t wanna feel rejection

We will start this very slow

*Chorus*

Whats this Feeling

I cannot quite control

Staring at the ceiling

Of the place I didn’t know

Someone took the front line

And I was just pushed aside

Watching them control it

The body which is mine

*verse 3*

There indeed was someone different

Different from me in all ways

Now i am in the predicament

Predicament that last for many days

We found language with each other

Now we both can understand

It was better to discover

Because now we both are friends

All in all I like how it turned out, however the story in the seems to be long and slow. I somehow need to make something that can tell a story showing few years not just one. I will need to think a bit more on that

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Storyboard explanation

I know the storyboard that I am showing here is confusing to understand since it was made only for me, so I will explain it row by row

In the first row will be the first verse where the person is accidentally getting in a fight. He is getting beat up, but then suddenly becomes a bit stronger and punching the bullies, so they run away. However at this moment person who's body is doing that is like a ghost watching this spectacle from the 3d person view. Person panics and flies back into his body, gaining control back and being scared

Second row shows how the character looks around and gets a strong headache. Then one of his persoanities takes control and doesn't want the person to see so he is left in the darknes waiting and trying to get back.

Third row shows the person studying and trying to understand what is wrong with him. In the end he figures it out and manage to get into headspace (technically place where alters are when they are not fronting). I used red yarn because it sometimes symbolize fate and conection

Forth row starts the same way as second, by person looking around. However instead of a headache behind him appears two shadowy figures which represent his different identities. They are shadowy because he doesn’t know who they are yet. After which he goes in his headspace and meet them

Fifth row shows his daily live where if there are any problem he can switch with someone who is better. Like when the study is hard he switch to get help, or when he is jumped by bullies he switches and fights back

Sixth row shows the same looking around but then we see how all 3 personalities appear and then viewer is transported in the headspace where we see them switching

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

What I wan to make animation about

After some time of consideration I decided to make an animation about life without other two DID(dissociative identity disorder) or as it previously was known as MPD(multiple personality disorder)

I know medical and disorder theme is not a good choice and can be really risky, however I really want to talk about it. Some of my friends have DID and told me a lot about it. I also observed it from the side, noticing how they change and everything. To be honest the whole theme about DID is very interesting to learn about.

Although DID is not a fun disorder because it started due to childhood trauma or any other traumatic moment in your life. To somehow cope with this problem the brain can make another identity or as they usually called alter. This alter can switch with you back and forth, by fronting(becoming the one who controls body). Sometimes alter take over completely and prevent any other alters seeing what they are doing, so that can cause memory lapses. Person can be confused not knowing what they did in that moment of time and what even happened, but no matter how hard they try, they will not be able to remember unless that alter allowed it

This theme is so big and interesting, so I can talk hours on the matter. I wan to include this into my animation and probably even make a song about it, since there are not many songs on this theme. People prefer to write about love instead of something like this. Although it is understandable since the theme might be hard to comprehend by others if they don’t know anything about it

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Last idea abandonment and new idea

After talking to tutor i learned that trailers are not allowed to be made, so I will have to figure out something new. I might be able to make a music video with couple of my oc.

Technically speaking these 3 are one of the same and can change with one another places. I might be able to make an animation about each of their life without other two knowing that one does. It can be entertaining, however I do need to think about it a bit more. Because I might just make an animation of character singing and playing guitar. But that is not alowed since the animation must tell story, and just playing guitar is not a story even if the words in the song are.

[shadow-puffer]

FMP Proposal

Thoughts and preparations

I heard about final major project for MA Animation last year when I was deciding on which masters program I should go. Learning that fmp is making your own animation interested me from the beginning. I watched last year students work and already knew what I wanted to make

My idea was to make something like trailer, where I can showcase like a trailer to film. I had the idea for a very long time. I have many dreams logged into my notes, and I thought it would have been interesting to make a trailer showing adventure of the character jumping from dream to dream. They can be either a random person who got stuck in a dream, or he enters dream world deliberately or maybe he is some sort of helper who tries to protect people in dreams. I think this story will be quite interesting and action packed. That yeah will add a bit of a challenge, however a very good learning opportunity

Maybe later I can use it as a trailer to the film that i might make in the future on my own time

[shadow-puffer]

Thoughts about recent work in animation industry

Another really cool animation I wanna talk about is one of the songs from Epic the musical - warrior of the mind. This was a graduating project of group of students.

Animation itself looks stunning, and reminds me a bit of Disney style, however in some places you can see frames changing because some movements are not smooth. It is now a problem, just an interesting observation. The play of perspective between goddess and mortal is also interesting, because we see Odysseus looking up at her when he is calling her name. We get the view as if we are watching from Athenas eyes.

I hope that more and more animations like this will become more popular. I hope that 2d animation will make a strong comeback and become popular again

Reference: ANIMATIONSCHOOL (EU). (2025). Epic: The musical - warrior of the mind | работа студентов . Available at: https://youtu.be/Q3RZnOI4sYM?si=pZtcp6eniolk-75L