Gesucht - Wanted
A Short Film
"Wanted" is a short film about a self-proclaimed pet detective who sets out on a search for a lost fish, hoping to return it to its owner.
The project began around March 2019, I was returning to university from an internship and really wanted to create my own 2D-animated short film.
The initial idea of a kid who decides to be a pet headhunter had been in my head for a while and I wanted to explore it further.
So the general setting was there, but how would the story unfold? And, more importantly, what would the story be?
I met with several fellow students to discuss my project and bounce off ideas. The one that stuck was that of a fish that ran away - because, well, it is kind of ridiculous.
But what about the story structure?
I experimented with several options of breaking up the structure into something more interesting than just looking for the fish, finding it and returning it. There had to be a bit of a twist.
To help with story structure, I spend about a week watching animated short films and analysing their plot points and structure.
left: shot length of three short films.
right: structure of three short films and my film using the clock method.
Once I was happy with the structure and had my first storyboard, I got started on the main character's design.
Illustration Process - Characters
Illustration process of Girl.
Front, three-quarter and back view of Girl.
Illustration process Grandma.
Girl and Grandma side by side.
The right and the wrong fish.
Illustration Process - Environments
Illustration process Girl's bedroom.
Early vs. final illustration pond.
Rigging
I created a front, back and three-quarter rig for the Girl and a front and a back rig for the Grandma. Here is a quick demonstration of the Girl Front Rig:
Animation
The animation process for this project was quite straight forward. Besides several pacing adjustments, I was able to stay very much in line with my storyboard.
Thank you
