Flash Animation Project

"THE GREAT EGGSCAPE"

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ARTISTS' STATEMENT

“The Great Eggscape”

Created by: Evan Kresta & Melissa Arbanas
December 4, 2014

            The idea behind our project was to create a light-hearted and humorous animated film that portrayed a spirited egg and his “eggstraordinary” adventure. We began by creating a detailed storyboard that outlined our eggs’ experience. The story begins with a group of eggs – each being taken and cracked one by one. It continues with a sole remaining egg. The egg is provided with a window of opportunity to escape his eminent demise and seizes the chance. Many unpredictable factors fall into place to assist the egg with his escape. The story concludes with the birth of an adorable, but confused baby chick.

             During the creative process, we altered, added to, and/or deleted some of the original storyboard frames in order to provide a more accurate presentation of our vision. We also used exaggeration, or “egg-aggeration”, to illuminate certain ideas. The use of exaggeration intentionally forces a sense of non-realism. This is done to encourage the viewer to accept what is happening in each scene – even if it is beyond possibility. You may notice that many of the sounds in the animation are magnified to create greater effect. For example, the screams of the eggs in the beginning scenes are amplified. The screams remain amplified even when only two eggs remain. This is done to emphasize the absolute travesty of the moment. Another example of sound exaggeration can be heard in the final few scenes of the film. When the family dog is surprised to see what has been happening beneath his belly, the viewer can actually hear his eyes dilate from shock. Turning an expression of shock into something that can be both heard and viewed emphasizes the surprise factor that is encouraged in the scene.

            In addition to amplified sounds, we also used time length to exaggerate ideas. For example, in the scene where the egg is falling off of the counter, he seems to be falling endlessly. The exaggeration of falling-time illuminates the intensity of the fall. This is done to provide the viewer with a vision of the eggs’ point of view in regards to the fall. For the egg, this fall symbolizes yet another instance where death – not just injury - is a strong possibility.

            A third way we exaggerated ideas to encourage the viewers’ acceptance of non-realism is through the use of both real and unreal settings and characters. For example, Barbie’s kitchen is a real, actual-sized kitchen. Barbie herself, however, is neither actual-sized nor real (in the sense of “alive” or true). By encouraging the viewer to accept the fact that a giant plastic Barbie doll can bake cookies in a true-to-life kitchen, the viewer becomes more inclined to accept the idea that a pasteurized egg can come to life, move, make noise, survive enormous falls and circumstances, and hatch a chick.

            Although we struggled with time issues during the production of this animated film, we are truly happy with how it turned out. Our goal of creating a light-hearted and humorous animation was achieved. Our vision of blending realism with non-realism was achieved. We  hope you enjoy the film as much as we do!

EGGSCAPE MINDMUP
December 4, 2014

 




STORYBOARD 1
October 10, 2014

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cartoon+egg+with+face+image&id=206105D9C80416C8B2B645A92AB849C6BDFEA875&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=D4112B438C1490606D76FF3D57357EC39167131A&selectedIndex=8


 - Intro: Four eggs in open egg carton on kitchen counter

 - Mom cracking eggs into cake bowl

 - Egg watches in horror as his friends are being abducted one by one

 - Egg is last left - Phone rings

 - Mom turns to answer phone

 - Egg seizes opportunity and begins to rock egg carton

 - Shot of mom talking on phone a small distance from egg

 - Egg rolls out of carton and begins to roll across kitchen counter - away from mom

 - Egg rolls off side of counter - Shot of egg's terrified expression

 - Egg lands on padded seat of kitchen barstool

 - Shot of mom still distracted with phone call

 - Egg rolls off barstool and begins falling once again

 - Shot of egg horrified and in mid-air

 - Egg lands on soft, fuzzy slipper and rolls into toe

 - Mom hangs up phone and turns to retrieve last egg from carton

 - Mom looks in wonder

 - Egg peeks out of slipper and sees mom

 - Egg quickly ducks back into foot of slipper

 - Mom searches for egg under carton and behind mixing bowl

 - Meanwhile, family dog trots over to slipper and grasps heel with teeth

 - Dog turns away from kitchen with slipper and egg peeking out from inside toe

 - Dog carries slipper to doggy bed

 - Dog places slipper in doggy bed and turns to retrieve other slipper

 - Dog prances away

 - Egg peeks out of slipper to see if coast is clear

 - Egg rolls out of foot of slipper into cushy doggy bed and sinks in

 - Dog arrives with other slipper

 - Egg ducks into bed further to hide from dog

 - Dog plops down on bed/egg

 - Dog begins to chew slippers

 - Egg peeks out from under dog's belly

 - Sun sets to close scene

 - Shot of dog sleeping

 - Shot of sun rising

 - Shot of dog still sleeping

 - Crackling noise is heard from under dog's belly

 - Shot of dog's face as he is awakened by noise and movement under belly

 - Dog stands up and turns to view commotion

 - Shot of egg cracking

 - Shot of dog's head cocked to one side in wonder

 - Egg cracks open and baby chick peeks out

 - Dog looks at chick - shocked

 - Chick looks at dog - shocked

 - End

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cartoon+egg+with+face+image&id=206105D9C80416C8B2B645A92AB849C6BDFEA875&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=206105D9C80416C8B2B645A92AB849C6BDFEA875&selectedIndex=0