Proof of concept
Before we began animating, we each created a proof of concept for the scenes that we were doing to see that we were able to animate them. The scene I created a short animation for was the camera panning up from the doll to show it being placed on an operating table with the kids hovering over it. I did this scene to figure out how to work the camera angle and how to animate the doll’s heart beating.
I also did a short lip sync animation of the host to a dialogue audio to see how animating him could look.
Animation process
Clean animation
When animating the cleaned lines for the first scene, I was figuring out how to move the characters within the camera angles they were at and how to have the doll move around. I had the girl twist the doll’s head back and forth and tug it slightly to make the scene more interesting rather than have her just pull the doll’s head straight off.
When cleaning up the lines in the surgery scene, I sought to make the lines go from thinner in the distance to thicker up close. I also had to figure out how to have the camera pan up to reveal the kids hovering over the doll. I initially thought of having the kids enter the frame from the side when the camera pans up. However, I decided to just have the kids already be at the table when the camera goes up. I added details such as the kids wiggling their fingers and the girl slowly lowering her scalpel towards the doll to add to the scene.
Colouring
When colouring the first scene, I added details such as the stripes on the doll’s arms that I had previously neglected to add in the clean animation and the shine on the girl’s glasses. I also animated the scene to have action lines when the doll’s limbs are detached to emphasise the brutality of the children’s actions.
When colouring the surgery scene, I made the background completely black rather than having a coloured background like the others. This was because I felt that using the same patterned background as the other scenes for this scene would’ve made the colours clash too much and distract from the doll. Also, having the scene be dark helps to amplify the ominous atmosphere of the doll undergoing surgery.
Shading
When shading the first scene, I kept it consistent to have the kids and the doll under the same lighting.
When shading the second scene, I added the shading on the characters to follow the lighting they had in the concept art of the surgery scene. I added details such as a shine on the heart to give it texture, as well as shading inside the chest of the doll to give it depth, and further details of the doll’s shadow on the table.