Fox and the Whale

Whilst at MAF I got to watch "Fox and the Whale" which was an animation which was directed and produced by Robin Joseph. This short animation centres around a fox who is looking for a whale. The first thing that got my attention on this animation was the environments. I couldn't even tell for sure what was 2D and what was 3D. The colours and everything about it was beautiful. This is the most I have ever wanted to step into an environment and for it to be real. One of the most effective aspects of its design was the lighting, particularly in the forest area. The other thing that made this so memorable to me, was the simplistic design of the fox. It could be argued that this design is quite minimalist, but I believe it works fantastically. The small and simple design f the Fox allows him to be more appealing, and it makes him look minuscule in relation to his surroundings, which I think the Director may have wanted. 

this animation left me feeling quite emotional, and I couldn't even pin point why. The use of sound along with the surroundings resulted in something very moving. This animation has opened up the idea in my mind of possibly sometimes creating more simplistic characters that are focused around shapes. It also left me feeling as though I wanted to paint lots of environments, because the rich use of colour worked so well. I think one of the reasons this animation was so successful was because it consisted of complex backgrounds, but a simple character. I think this in a way, separated the two just enough for them to be appreciated as individual components in the story, but to also be appreciated together.