Applied Animation: Documentary - Idea and Research

Applied Animation

Documentary Ideas and Research

• This week:
• In my group, with Joseph and Caitlin, we brainstormed ideas for the documentary, produced a short pitch and then began researching our topic.
• What went well:
• We decided on the idea to focus on mythology, because there is a broad area of research and allows the animation medium and aesthetic to be pushed in the visual style. We decided to focus on the Norse Myth: The Monstrous Children of Loki, which focuses on the lives and impact of the three monstrous children, Jormungandr, Hel and Fenrir. 
• For our initial research, we used the Prose Edda, which is the collections of Norse mythology, containing this specific myth. Furthermore, we looked at possible style ideas and concepts.

• Here is the initial pitched idea:

Here is our gradually updated Gantt Chart:

• What could be improved:
• We were given feedback to focus our idea more, to make it more like a documentary rather than just a retelling of a story. Therefore, we contacted a series of Professors and experts in the field of Mythology and specifically, Norse Mythology. We, thankfully, received a response from a Professor called Carolyne Larrington, a professor at Oxford University. In addition to this, we also received a response from Keith Ruiter, a professor at Nottingham University. Both specialise in Norse Mythology.
• Here are some of the responses and information we received:

• Next week:
• I'll be creating some concepts for the visual style of the animation and providing further research, to produce a script and storyboard.