So to explain my process before I show you my finished piece, I began this work by drawing the ball and the backgrounds and filming it using the Take 5. I then took these layers into After Effects and composited them and finally added colour to each individual frame (not before fighting with myself about whether I thought Orange or red would be a better colour) then rendering the finished piece.

So here it is-

When Balls Go Bad - Development

Carrying on my development of the when balls go bad project. I began to design the tree's in my animation and also the way in which the colour bled from the orange.

My trees were influenced by Dr. Seuss's truffula trees.

and my decision to make the orange puddles appear more like paint splatters than just orange puddles comes from Sega's The Unfinished Swan.

Where the whole environment is revealed through paint splatters. I liked this concept and enjoy the idea of my vision slowly being revealed as the ball bounces through the scene.

In addition to using these ideas as references I also looked at this:

(Please not that since I used this as a reference [accessed 16/10/13] the video has been edited so it no longer shows the segment of the video I considered, apologies.) 

The latter part of this video, mime for a change, involves bubbles colouring in the town after all the colour is removed from it. This is another idea that influenced my decision making regarding the aesthetics of my animation. I decided that that crude a colouring method wasn't something I would strive for but rather strive for a more coherent seeping of colour.

I have decided to hand draw the background and motion of the ball then I will input it into Photoshop or after effects to add the layers of colour. I thought this would be symbolic of two aspects of modernism which I could then include in my defence of my project. The hand drawn part speaks of the truth to materials that modernist found valuable in there work as a hand drawn animation you can see exactly what was done, nothing's hidden. Then the digital application of the colour relates to modernist use of technology. As it allows me to play around with the speed at which I allow the colour to seep and also the vibrancy of the colour itself.

Lastly to aid in the construction of this animation (and because my brain is an organisational mess and needs all the help it can get) I created myself a little time table/ check list to follow through the completion of the project:

I separated the project out into movements, backgrounds and colour development, then proceeded to layer them over each other so I knew exactly what stage which part happens at. This way I should be able to track my progress and keep a close eye on my time across the remaining two weeks.

When Balls Go Bad 2

My next idea was that it could fall off a tree.

 This felt natural and like the orange would bounce better. It would drop from higher and allow me to do a lot more with the movement. So then I began to think about what it could do. I struggled with ideas for quite some time until I was looking through "The Dictionary of Imaginary Places" By Alberto Manguel and discovered an all white island. This concept intrigued me as I had already decided the orange's colour was important in this animation. I had already considered what the orange might do in an environment that suited it but now I was thinking about what it would do if it found itself in an environment that  didn't suit it.

I began thinking about how I could use the orange's colour to help me impact the environment or vies versa. I decided that having the orange change into something else could be an interesting concept and began to think about how the inhabitance of the island would act if suddenly faced with colour.

Using the idea of modernism and truth to materials. (which is already true of an orange.) I thought that the inhabitance could try to use the orange for many other things. Stop lights, paint or jewellery but the orange would always just be an orange. 

Then it occurred to me that this wasn't using any of the principles I was trying to show in this work. The ball would not actually bouncing or obviously effecting the environment. At a stretch I could say that it was a societal impact but that would really be pushing it. 

So moving on from that I began to think about a slightly more direct approach. I knew already that a simple black and white background would symbolise modernism as they removed a lot of ornamentation and decoration from their designs.

I developed an island that I thought might look like this. Then I thought to myself "You know that's quite sad" and from this my mind related this simple lifeless environment to the state of Europe at the birth of modernism. I thought I would then use the concept of utopia that the modernist strived for to inspire my animation. 

From this I developed an idea where the ball would be the only coloured object around but as it bounced it would bring colour and life to its surroundings. 

I then prepared a storyboard to help me visualise my ideas and began working.