The illustration was spawned from the drawing of the gun from another illustration and I felt it deserved it's own composition. With the inclusion of the Second Amendment the stars and stripes were sure to follow as well stars made up of ammunition; because why not (they're NATO rounds for the curious). After I finished the illustration I decided it would be great to animate as well. I really liked the composition vertical so I animated the vertical composition.

 

The title is a paraphrase of a Snoop Dogg lyric, "You see, we live by the gun, so we die by the guns, kids," which is a play on the phrase in the Bible from Jesus, "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52, King James Version)." 

 

The voice is heard, in the animation, is that of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and is a statement taken from his "Farewell Address" more commonly known for its warning against the United States developing a, "military industrial complex," but on hearing it in full for the first time is also contained prescient warnings and advice for United States. I don't do a lot of sound design but I the layers and textures work well together and I was able create what I heard in my head. 

 

Design/Illustration/Animation: Matthew Rankin

Audio: Matthew Rankin

Echo Assisstance: Dmitry Novozhilov

 

Tools:

Pen

Paper

Illustrator

Photoshop

After Effects

Cinema 4D