Senior Film: Official Proposal

La Vie Bittersweet: Project Proposal

1.) Substance of Expression: What do I want to do?

a. Animation Direction: The animation style I would like to employ in this film will primarily be realistic and subtle: my character will not employ whacky expressions and movement, but rather a subdued way of moving and acting. Most of the piece will be animated frame-by-frame in Flash, with key poses drawn initially by paper and then imported into Photoshop for clean-up. I feel this will better allow myself tighter animation, with consistent volume and deliberate timing. Because the primary focus of my film is the aesthetic, however, I am anticipating some segments of my film to utilize puppet animation depending on time constraints.
b. Art Direction: My film’s primary focus is the aesthetic: I want to spend most time and effort on backgrounds, layouts, and designs to make sure the film is visually unique and appealing. My primary goal is to make my film look as if it is not done in Flash; I want to steer away from the geometric designs and solid shaded backgrounds that dominate the medium. The visual style I want to employ is reminiscent of children’s picture books. Even though everything will be done digitally, I want the backgrounds to look as if they’re done in watercolors, with sketchy pencil lines and vivid, surreal colors. I will largely look to the animated short, Les Maison en Petits Cubes for inspiration.

2.) Substance of the Story: What do I want it to be about?
I want my film to be light-hearted on the surface, but the central theme is actually about love found and lost (the bittersweet nature of life and love). More than that, however, I want to show my audience that I can have a humorous, absurd plot without resorting to simple gags and punch-lines that are too often found in animated films. I want my film to be about contrast: the soft visual style contrasts with the slightly twisted romantic plot, and the absurdity of the plot contrasts with the serious central theme.


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A film's never official until you post an official project proposal. I feel professional already.