Artist's Statement
This film is based on my experiences in Griffith Park, an urban wilderness in the heart of Los Angeles. On December 16, 1896, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith gave 3,015 acres of his Rancho Los Feliz estate as a Christmas gift to the people of Los Angeles. The gift was given with the following mandate:
“It must be made a place of recreation and rest for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people," Griffith said on that occasion. “I consider it my obligation to make Los Angeles a happier, cleaner, and finer city. I wish to pay my debt of duty in this way to the community in which I have prospered."
Today the park is the largest municipal park and urban wilderness area in the United States. It is also hemmed in by thousands of acres of urban sprawl and is so deeply entangled in its urban environment that few park-goers can escape the hold of the city. Rusted pipes from an era of industrialization puncture the earth, leaving the impression that only once nature is sucked dry of all commercial purposes is now fit to be thrown as scraps to the masses. Hikers can enter a fold in the hills and momentary lose sight of the surrounding city, but the sound follows them into the deepest recesses of the canyons. Sirens, planes, and the hum of traffic are as much a part of the soundscape as the subtler birds and breezes whispering through the California oak, sage and manzanita.
I spent day upon days in the park, wrestling with my own personal need for a natural environment and inability to truly find it within Los Angeles County. But in my explorations of the winding fire roads, eroded trails and hidden groves and gardens of the park, I discovered the landscape is not passively captive to the urban environment. In the midst of the urban-natural tug-of-war, people are exploring, touching, smelling trees and flowers, children and dogs run freely on grass and dirt instead of concrete and asphalt. Families gather to celebrate birthdays, weddings, La Quinceañera or to just be together and grill something tasty without having to pay for the privilege. In these moments, urbanites are, for the time being, released from their habitual, frenetic pace.
My approach to the animation and sound design was to capture this tension of urban and natural and punctuate it with moments when time slows down to allow the audience to savor a moment of beauty. I used time-lapse footage from the park and combined it with rough animation of certain motif characters that represent one experience among many. We follow the course of a day in the park from sunrise to sunset and within that day, the activities of one family as each member finds a moment to take a deep breath and exhale.
Pre-production
Before
I began animation I created a detailed storyboard that articulated the arc of
the emotions and images I wanted to include in the film.
Structure:
The film is divided into a prelude and three acts:
Prelude: The creation. The day
dawns on the mountain, spilling over it with richness of color. The sound of
far off urban noises gradually fades in as the city presents itself in
de-saturated, linear angles. The city and the mountain are show in reverse
angle long shots. A wide expanse of “no-man’s land” separates them, creating
the sense of opposition.
Act One: Man Conquers Nature. From the city dark, pipes lines
bursts forth in a threatening manner as the city landscape spreads forward to
cover the foothills. These pipes attach and constrain themselves to the
mountain like guy-lines holding down a circus tent. The mountain resists with
animalistic ferocity, but it is ultimately subdued.
Act Two: Man Imprints Nature. The restraining pipelines morph into concrete freeway structures filled with cars rushing towards the mountain. Movement in this section is frenetic, often pixilated, giving the impression that people are going to the mountain to get their ‘fix’ of nature before rushing back to their busy lives. Cars are pumped through intersections like blood through arteries. Cars drive up a concrete incline spewing exhaust. There is a brown haze in the sky. People pile out of cars, shuffle by in groups. Children play tag and trample grass and flowers. Hikers carve scar-like paths up the face of the mountain. A dog chases a squirrel past a group of picnickers and up a tree. The picnickers scatter crumbs on the ground. Amidst the frenetic groups of people a few individuals move more slowly and smoothly, savoring the experience.
At the top, people move in a pixilated fashion
pointing at the city in the distance and then heading down. Finally, the sun
begins to set. Car doors slam, engines start and drive off, conversations
fade. One grandma lingers at the top of the mountain as the sun disappears.
She turns and hobbles back.
Act Three: Nature Regenerates. The old woman walks slowly
through the park as evening ambience fading up. Movement becomes slow and
lyrical, one scene flowing into the next. A squirrel slowly descended a faded
tree, color returning in its wake. Granny walks past the picnic area, stoops
to pick up her grandaughter’s hair ribbon. A bird picks up the ribbon and
weaves it into its nest
Sound
The sound design is meant to amplify and specify the tension between urban and natural landscapes. Each scene has a distinct ambience, with certain constants (such as a low ominous rumble) running throughout the film. Realistic hard effects and foley are complimented by surrealistic effects that capture the emotion rather than the reality of the actions. There is no dialogue, but snatches of muted conversations in various languages blend into the background ambience. Synthesized mechanical sounds are juxtaposed with natural sounds and ambience. Layering will play a large role in keeping the viewer aware of the presence of the city. Surreal motifs matching certain visual motifs (pipes, pixilation, dissolves) will add continuity. To record the sound I used the old school PMD kit on analog tape. I also created a number of sound effects in ProTools by combining interesting sounds. The recipie for the mountain's groan included a lion roar, seagull cries, dentist drill, grain blower and a few secret ingredients.
Animation
I animated on paper and then scanned my drawings into the computer and
added color using Toonz. I also took a lot of timelapse in the park so I could
blend it with my animation.
Then I used AffterEffects to composite the watercolor backgrounds, pixilated live-action and texture overlays.