Animation & Motion Design
Mary Smyth
Twilight Tales
Twilight Tales is an animated short depicting a child’s perception of the world during storytime.
The story is a woven together narrative from a collection of recorded tales gathered from my young sister over a period of a few weeks. The 2D animated characters are composited on footage and shots from a 3 dimensional built set, showing the contrast of the physical world and imaginary one. My animation is in essence nostalgic, reconnecting the audience to their childhood memories and experiences.
My interest in the imagination has stemmed from experiencing a child’s view of the world once again through playing and spending time with my younger sister. My concept explores childhood imagination, its importance, and the magic and nostalgia people tend to have for that period in their lives. The animation further emphasises this connection by showing how real and vivid imagination feels for a child and recreating the magical atmosphere of storytelling. The endearing, unpredictable quality of how she describes her thoughts has influenced the visual style of the piece.
The tale follows a young girl on her journey through her bedtime story. As the narrator tries to tell a coherent linear story, the child interjects with her own ramblings adding on to the story as they travel through the magical universe of the tale. As her real physical world and the world she has created in her imagination interweave, the line between fantasy and reality increasingly blurs.