Bottomless Pockets (Mattes Demo)

Bottomless Pockets (Experiment with mattes) from Michael Shaw on Vimeo.

This animation is based on "The Dog and His Shadow," a fable about greed and possession. The individual reaches into a drainage ditch for some new found money, despite carrying a case of valuables already. In his quest for additional riches, his suitcase is stolen. To top is off, the flash light he uses to search for the money goes out.

My first use of mattes is probably obvious; the spotlight that reveals the money. The second one, however is not as direct. I wanted to mask off the drain on the side of the road so it appears as if the individual is reaching into a hole.

---------------

I've begun thinking about possibilities for my midterm project. My current idea deals with wanting to do a longer, more fleshed out version of one of my fables, focusing more on character and less on a fast, direct interpretation of a moral. Currently I have 3 ideas:

The Grasshopper and the Ant

The Lion and the Mouse

The Wolf in sheep's clothing.

I'm currently attracted to the grasshopper and the ant, expanding on my other test animations and my construction environments. I also really enjoyed the typography assignment and may incorporate that aesthetic in my midterm somehow.

I'm also considering pushing the overall look of the characters themselves, although i have received comments in the past that their simplistic look works really well with my subject matter. I'm inspired by the character designs of Wayang Kulit plays.

Any ideas?