TellTale Heart:
Animated Short.
- Genre: Thriller.
- Type: Animation.
- Tools: Excel, Miro, Notion, PowerPoint.
- Duration: 8 months.
- Role: Narrative Designer, Producer. Env. Artist.
Goals.
- Identify key themes of the original story to develop narrative directives that will drive all department decisions.
- Create design documentation and scripts for the environment and props department that adheres to established directive
- Unify all concept and previsualization elements into 40+ environment shots for production following prior documentation
- Modernize a classic tale with a unique visuale style that captures the essence of the famous short story.
Overview
Concept Design
Narrative Directives
First the team analysed the Original Short Story.
After this I stablished a concise summary and the core driving device:
- Core narrative driving device: A young madman trying to convince the audience he is not.
- Themes: Insanity, guilt, paranoia.
- Narrative Rundown: In his murder confession, a young madman relates how he planned his crime over a week, trying to convince us that he is not insane. Right after he killed the old man, the police—alerted by a noise complaint from the neighbor, arrives at the house. The killer, driven by guilt, shows the heart of the victim hidden on the floor to the police.
Design Directives
Step 1: Identify the short story into its narrative pillars.
The key points are as followed:
- Time: sensation of meticulous obsessiveness spiraling into decay of the young man’s facade of sanity.
- Narrator: The monologue, a confession of murder to the audience.
- Death: A recurring theme on Poe’s literature, and the pivotal beat of the story.
- Senses: remarks and symbolism of human senses.
Step 2: Connect this themes to the environment and lighting, through explorations and moodboarding.
- Duality in lighting: The sanity and sanity of the main character would use the same space, cutting costs.
- Distorted Structure: Created an empty space, crowded with erratic patterns, overloading the senses.
Visual-Narrative Integration
Using the directives established I developed a style for the interiors.
- Visual Rhythm: Using the Tomb and clock as motiff, the shapes were tall with strong directional sense.
- Assymetric Design: Breaking equilibrium to make the environment feel opressive.
- Use of Contrast: Darkness and gloom even in daylight. With light being intense.
- Environmental Storytelling: Each space had clear correlation with the guidelines.
- Ligthing as narration: The lighting in each space followed the killer state of mind
- Keyframe generation: The Keyframes helped the creation of the color storyboard.
The house rooms were designed using the same principles.
Translated to design and abstract patterns:
- Clock mechanism: Arhythmic flow of prop dressing.
- Gaze as guide: The lines naturally found in the human eye.
- The Heart: The flow of blood and muscle through the form of a heart.
Storyboard Breakdown.
Early Story Beats Storyboard
I created a rough draft for previsualization.
I used the moodboard images to make the story beats fit onto the team vision.
- Early Proof: Quickly design and iterate without creating assts.
- Team Collaboration: Notes and changes could be suggested real time.
Storyboard Shooting List
I Created a Shooting List Breakdown for production.
This was based on the storyboard the team created on the end stages of pre pre-production.
- Production Ready: Used as a board for team collaboration on various departments.
- Shot Description: Wrote all shot descriptions and actions within the spreadsheet.
Environment Production
I painted and supervised the production of the Backgrounds.
I worked on all steps of the pipeline from concept to production of the project.
- Blend of Technique: Created 3D blockouts, to aid paint 40+ background pieces.
- Indie in Nature: An unique opportunity to work on the narrative and directly realizing the vision as a background artist.
THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT THE PROJECT!
“Tear up the planks!—here, here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!”
-The Killer.