HUM 203: The World in Motion, Animation in Theory and Practice

Assignment 1

Assignment 2

Final project

In The Tree That Gave, an animation that I created for my humanities class, I animate a boy who discovers a tree, he then visits the tree and plays with it. Slowly, over time the boy forgets about the tree, and doesn’t return to visit. Then the boy comes back as a man, and once again discovers the brilliance of the tree, and they rekindle their bond. The boy then leaves again and doesn’t return until he is an old man, he sees that the tree has been cut down, and slowly sheds a tear. The old man then sits on the tree, and it provides him a place to rest. The animation ends with the old man sitting on the stump, smiling.

This piece was made to give the audience a sense of time. As time passes for the boy, it also passes for the tree. The boy visibly ages where as the tree goes through a cycle, winter then spring, summer then autumn and it repeats forever, until it is cut down. Time passes very differently for the boy and for the tree as does time differ from person to person, but time always passes.

I want my audience to obtain at least two concepts form viewing my piece; the idea of time and the idea of life. I want my audience to experience time as a cycle, a life cycle that differs from one thing to another. An important aspect to my animation is the tear. I want the audience to consider why the old man is crying, is it because a dear friend is gone? Or because he neglected a once beloved friend? Or is it because he too is aging, and will soon pass away like the tree? Or is it s different reason, this is up to the viewer. I also want the audience to consider trees as a sign for vitality, and the relationship between trees and humans, nature and an industrial society.