Canary

Illustration | Animation | Audio

The Canary is a short parable delving into ideas of body sovereignty and systemic oppression that we – women, humans – deal with daily under the current patriarchal structure.

Canary encompasses text animation, audio editing, and illustration.

Background & Concept

The Canary is an allegory that explores the concepts of systemic oppression and body sovereignty. I designed & created it as part of my intro Motion Graphics course at Parsons School of Design, and meant to be focused entirely on text animation – any illustrations or visuals were to be supporting the text itself as centerpiece.

short animation of the story intro text of Once there was a beautiful yellow canary

short animation of a bird cage and feather alongside the story text of 'Kept in a gilded cage, a feather plucked each day for the Master's fountain pen'

Process

Narrative Editing

To work within the stated length restraints, I edited & trimmed the narrative to a manageable script length. I prioritized the most salient points of the plot and a few key turns of phrase.

short animation of the story text 'she concocted a plan' alongside a spinning atom diagram

short animation of the story text of going into the mine mirroring steps downward

Tactile Textures & Embroidery

I chose textures to suit my embroidery-stitch motif, including some soft, handmade paper textures and wooden planks for the coal mine of the story. Some work better than others, and if I was to do it again I would spend more time integrating the textures together.

Lockups Sketching & Storyboarding

However, due to time constraints I was forced to concentrate on the motion itself – after all, it was for a Motion Graphics course. The sketched lockups and movements of the text and accompanying illustrations all serve to support and balance the script and narrative elements.

short animation of the story text and suddent Stop! motion

short animation of the story text of the canary flying free and the mine exploding below

Timing & Pacing

As it is, it is all a bit too quick – in attempting to cut down the narrative to fit into the time allowed, I talked too quickly with too short breaks in between phrases, leading to animations that feel far too fast. It was a learning process, and now I know to better pace my audio voiceover to accommodate the planned motion graphics animations.

Illustration & Motion