For my project I will be creating a seemingly light hearted animation on the surface with bright colors and cartoon aesthetics but I want it to have a dark and creepy feel to it since it is meant to be a project about fears and anxieties. Some of the artists I have for inspirations I will list below but before I do I also wanted to mention some more genre defining inspirations.
First off I want to mention Disney animation studios as a whole for a few reasons. They’ve used 3D CGI in a manor that reminds me of what I’m planning to be doing as I want my animations cel-shaded to have that flattened look. Wildebeast CGI PaperMan But besides that they have many examples throughout their films that keep to bright colors and yet still have that creepy feel to them.
Pinocchio Jackass Transformation
Also before I mention the artists I want to mention some movies I’m trying to draw some inspiration from as well with the creepy feel or the unnatural movements that make your nerves stand on end with which would be some of the affect I would like to cause. The main three I’m looking at at this point in recreating a sense of would be Pan’s Labyrinth, The Ring, and The Grudge.
The first artist I’m drawing an inspiration from is Bill Plympton. He’s a hand drawn cartoon animator that has sort of that light hearted creepy feel to many of his shorts that I’m looking to recreate. He is an american animator, graphic designer, cartoonish, and filmmaker perhaps best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face.
The next artist I want to mention is Jennifer Steinkamp. Her works use 3D animations and the bright colors I look to implore. She is an intallation artist who works with video and new media in order to explore ideas about architectural space, motion, and perception.
Small works (The River of No return, X-Ray Eyes)
The last artist I will bring to mention now will be Jonathan Monoghan. He is a artist that also uses 3D animations in his works. He has a lot of the surreal type of creations in many of his works that will be a long the lines of what I want to create as well as having an animation that is cyclical just as I plan on mine being.