25 Second Animation - Research into Backgrounds (OUAN405)

I've never animated with proper backgrounds before. They've either been very minimalist or just white, like my characters are floating in the aether of purgatory.

I was struggling with questions like "how much detail is appropriate?" and "how can I IMBUE this world with a sense of liveliness?" and "what shot framing should I use to draw the eye?"

But my most VITAL question was "how can I make these backgrounds not look gross?" One of my biggest fears EVER and one of the greatest issues mankind faces today is trying to understand how some backgrounds look less appealing than others. A great example of this is to compare "Finding Nemo" to "Shark Tale". Both are set in the ocean but one is far more pleasing to the eye.

The Finding Nemo scenery above is SO much nicer than the Shark Tale scenery below, which is important because it makes me happy to spend time in the world of Finding Nemo. The textures are well thought out and the colour scheme is exciting and full of life! The scenery in shark tale looks murky and uncomfortable. Even if the characters are supposed to be setting a funny mood, the backgrounds still make me feel sick to my core, which I assume isn't the tone the film is trying to accomplish.

Despite this, there are a gazillion animated films I can turn to for lessons on atmospheric backgrounds. The hard part, I suppose, isn't just in giving the establishing shots and scenic panoramas power. I have to learn to fill every single camera angle with personality and charm, no matter how small.

Kung Fu Panda does this really nicely. It showcases a large variety of environments and pays the same amount of respect to each of them, whether they're packed with props or quite stark and empty. If the shot is of something as ordinary as two characters talking in with the camera quite close up or as impressive as a grand mountainous landscape, a lot of thought has been put into the mood the scenery is trying to convey.

I think that the weather plays a really important part in what makes the film's sets so tactile and authentic. Kung Fu Panda really likes to accentuate the shadows cast by the setting sun or the mist that lets everything else blend into the background. This is important as it allows the audience to ascertain the time and what the temperature would probably be like, which makes the scene more relatable.