Flash Animation Artist statement and Mind Map

For our flash animation assignment, we wanted to look at what home was, and how we defined home. Our main idea based around the concept that home is not where you are, but where you feel like you are accepted. We also chose to tell this story using a theme of nature because we felt that it helped reinforce the idea that home is not based on a specific location or building, but in those who surrounded you. The idea of telling this story using a polar bear came from the simplicity of the color scheme needed to tell the story. A polar bear would provide a simple black and white character that could be manipulated easily. Since our idea revolved around feeling accepted, we decided that initially the polar bear should be an outcast for some reason. At first the idea of giving him a black spot came to mind, as it would give a big visual representation of why the other polar bears wouldn’t accept him, while the pandas would. In the end, we decided to make him chubby. It was a more subtle way that would lead to the end result we were looking for while allowing us to make more statements on the question of what home is. We felt that having him first try and draw on his spots would show how home is a place where you are accepted for truly being yourself, and how trying to force yourself to fit in does not help. The scene with the bird was added into the piece to try and show how when looking for a place to belong and call home, we have a tendency to try and latch onto anyone or anything. It showed our desire to have someone to care for us. It also provided a nice example of how you can be liked by others without being truly accepted or really feeling that you belong with them. This is why the chubby polar bear ends up being happy when he first meets the bird, but the bird still flies away. The bird is fine with the polar bear, but has his own place to call home. Another way to put it is that even if you are accepted for who you are, there is a kind of mysterious factor that goes into being able to call a place home. Even though the bird is accepted by the polar bear, it is not considered his home. We started and ended our project with the polar bear appearing to be lazy because we thought it was a cute and somewhat humorous way to provide an example of being accepted. There were some issues in making the polar bear chubby enough to stand out, which is something we would try and further work on if given more time or if given the opportunity to reconceptualize this particular piece. Overall, we felt the various ideas and the overall meaning of our piece was maintained throughout and we are excited about the end result.