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Seminar 1

This project is an animated short film exploring the personal journey of dealing with mental health struggles and self-discovery. The main character navigates the world through the lens of mental illness, depicting her internal battles. Symbolism is used to convey the story solely through visuals, allowing audiences to relate their own experiences. The film will highlight that life is an endless journey of self-improvement, as the character starts and ends in the same place but with a changed mental state. Inspiration comes from Inside Out and Arcane, which portray mental health struggles and inner turmoil sympathetically.

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Sruti
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55 views12 pages

Seminar 1

This project is an animated short film exploring the personal journey of dealing with mental health struggles and self-discovery. The main character navigates the world through the lens of mental illness, depicting her internal battles. Symbolism is used to convey the story solely through visuals, allowing audiences to relate their own experiences. The film will highlight that life is an endless journey of self-improvement, as the character starts and ends in the same place but with a changed mental state. Inspiration comes from Inside Out and Arcane, which portray mental health struggles and inner turmoil sympathetically.

Uploaded by

Sruti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SEMINAR 1

Sruti Ganesh
INTRODUCTION
Every medium has its own grammar whether it’s visual,
auditory or text. Every artist tries to find their voice through
their works. My works are a constant effort to interpret ideas
about myself and the world through my eyes. Most of my
inspiration comes from personal experiences. I love exploring
topics like nihilism, mental health and grief through animation.
The visual language and art style that I use mostly lean towards
being fantastical whilst keeping the story and themes very much
grounded in reality. Along with the visuals, I also give a lot of
importance to sound and music when it comes to my animations.
Being a singer myself, I strongly believe that music and sound
can elevate the visuals tremendously. A story, animatic, color
scripts, character and environment design are all crucial for
creating a film. The visual look of my film is always dependent
on what the story is about. My work can be story based or
abstract depending on the concept. Animation and moving
images are a great way to showcase reality through elements of
fantasy
ABOUT THE PROJECT

This project is an animated short film that explores a personal journey of dealing with mental health
struggles and finding oneself amidst the chaos. The story is told through the lens of someone with mental
illness navigating the world and it attempts at highlighting their internal battles. There will be several
elements in the film that indicate that life is an infinite journey of self-improvement. The main character
starts and ends at the same place in her journey while her mental state changes throughout the journey. The
film will be solely conveyed through visuals with a lot of symbolism allowing it to act as a mirror for
audience’s own experiences. Even though this is taken from personal experiences, the lack of dialogue
throughout most of the film allows the audience to relate their own struggles to her experiences in the film.
This brings emotional distance to the character while bringing the audience closer. The film will also explore
the concept of nihilism and the notion that nothing matters through the character while she’s on this journey
of self-discovery.
INSPIRATION

Inside Out- Disney’s 2015 movie Inside Out focusses on


the journey of a 11 year old girl Riley and her emotional
struggles as she moves to a new place. The movie portrays
Riley’s inner thoughts and emotions as animated
characters namely Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust.
Even though the movie is fun and light-hearted in its’
portrayal, it is truly commendable how Disney managed
to depict complex topics like the subconscious mind and
abstract thought in a kids movie.

Arcane- It’s portrayal of the main character Jinx’s


mental illness is careful to show her turmoil as
sympathetic and understandable, making it an important
piece of representation for people facing their own
struggles. Arcane avoids romanticization, showing
instead how Jinx's inner demons negatively affect both
her and the people she's closest to. As a result, Jinx is a
character who feels like a victim even as her actions take
a more and more villainous turn.
 Repeatedly, Arcane shows how events in the present act
as psychological triggers, forcing Jinx to relive her past
trauma and to take seemingly irrational actions as a
result.
LINE OF INQUIRY/QUESTIONS

➤How to convey abstract ideas through moving images to a diverse

audience?
➤How to narrow down a complex idea into a single cohesive

narrative?
POSITIONALITY/RATIONALE
Art and animation is a great tool for self-expression especially if it’s something like this that is difficult to articulate
through words. Through this film, I want to show the world through the lens of someone who is struggling with
their mental health. I also hope anyone who struggling with their mental health feels that it’s okay to not be okay
and that things will get better.
It’s often hard to talk about mental health issues, for a number of reasons. On the one hand, there’s still a stigma
associated with various forms of mental health problems and their potential treatments (an attitude that can often
detract people from the help they need) – such as depression and going to therapy. On the other hand, another factor
that makes it particularly hard to communicate one’s own struggles is that they might be hard to fathom for
someone who has never experienced them before. This is why the power of great storytelling is so valuable in
illustrating these experiences and fostering understanding, without turning into morality tales. The strength of
short films comes in their ability to drive home a point without the need to stretch narratives or adhere to story
conventions. Often they even forego typical narrative structures altogether, giving filmmakers the ability to break
down situations and internal processes to capture an abstract feeling – something that wouldn’t seem possible under
more conventional methods. For those of us who have been dealing with mental health issues or are currently
struggling with them, stories let us know that we are not alone.
STORY

The story starts with the protagonist sitting on her table trying to draw something. She
feels stuck and negative. As she puts her head down on the table and dozes off, she is
transported into this surreal world, which looks and feels like home but different.She
passes through a series of memories and thoughts as she navigates through the house. Each
door opens up to a new memory. The first door reveals her childhood self playing in the
rain. As she moves towards the memory, it vanishes. She walks towards the next
door(memory) where she sees two people fighting. As she keeps walking she sees a figure
with strings attached to it. Each string is attached to a person. The strings keep getting cut
one by one. The protagonist then falls into a pit where she sees her inner demons in the
form of a giant creature. She tries running away from it at first but the demon keeps
appearing.She then sees the demon in front of a door. She walks through the demon finally
reaching the door. As she opens the final door, she wakes up in her room coming back to
reality.
SKETCHES/VISUAL EXPLORATIONS
VISUAL EXPLORATIONS(DIGITAL)
CONCEPT ART/ FRAMES

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