27. FAMILY PHOTOS

The fourth set for "The Music of Erich Zann" was the student's room. I wanted this room to contrast with Zann's room: whereas Zann's room would be cluttered and lived in, my vision of the student's room was sparse and empty. That's the kind of room that I had when I was a student.

So clearly she would have the bare necessities, but what else? I decided on a single table, with a flower. This central flower, I hoped, would say something sweet and innocent about her character. (However, since the only image of this solitary flower is veiled in darkness, I wonder if what notions this might have transmitted.)

The other key items I included were a few framed pictures on the wall. I intended that these pictures would remind her of home. It is always a difficult decision for me to figure out what photos to include in an animation. For one thing, the photos are not 3D renders, like the rest of the world. Even in the foyer, the framed pictures were drawings. It's always been confusing for me what such ideas convey in animation. That is, how can a photo of her father be a real photograph, when her world is a 3D rendered world (Or in other films, a 2D rendered world)? (I think this feature occurs a bit in the children's cartoon, "SpongeBob SquarePants." And it's odd to me because, in that universe, how is it that photos look like that?)

In any case, that's a problem that I didn't allow to consume me for too long. I did decide quickly enough, though, that he photos should be of H.P. Lovecraft. That would be a little bit of the homage the the author of this story. Online, I found both an adult and child picture of him. After layering some dirt on top of the pictures, and applying some filters that abstracted them a bit, I used placed them in the frames, and hung them on the walls.

   

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