The Rabbit & Swallows

Alexander Tullo - Director, Background Painter

Xing Ye - Character Rigger

Alan Wyatt - Pipeline Engineer

Overview

The final piece discussed in this chapter, "The Rabbit and Swallows," represents the culmination of my work with the filter system. This scene has a static-painted rabbit in the street with swallows landing on and off it. The rabbit remains stationary while the swallows give the scene motion and life—this is how the filter manages to achieve abstraction without losing dynamism.

Artistic Intent

I ended up using many techniques from "Splash" to achieve the desired look for "The Rabbit and Swallows." The scene was divided into render pass layers: shadows, background, rabbit, and swallows. This gave me more control over each element: less movement and jitter for the static objects and more expressive dynamism for the animated birds.

The decision to use layers and apply different abstraction levels was based on Aderito Fernándes Marcos' layering techniques for non-photorealistic rendering. Marcos stresses isolating elements for better visual control and stylistic continuity in complex scenes. Using this methodology, I ensured that the rabbit - which was supposed to be a very calm, static element - stayed in its intended visual integrity which was unaffected by the bird's movements.

The painterly effect on the swallows was calibrated to give the scene a fluid, visually appealing look. This artistic choice contrasts the static rabbit with the Swallows, which represent the couple's complexities that underlie in "A Home for Swallow". This play between movement and stillness enriches the more prominent themes of the short film in a more somber and reflective vein.

Also, the painterly abstraction in "The Rabbit and Swallows" was inspired by Sonya Shannon's rejection of hyper-realistic animated films. Shannon says the hyper-realistic depiction of natural elements sometimes needs more emotional depth for compelling storytelling. In response, the swallows in this scene are rendered using exaggerated strokes and varying hues, amplifying their liveliness. Embracing these expressive elements gives the animation an impressionistic quality that makes the viewer feel emotionally involved with the imagery instead of just technical realism.

The contrast of movement and stillness in The Rabbit also recalls Gregory Garvey's observation that contrasts in a composition are essential. Garvey suggests that the contrast between dynamic and static elements can create a powerful tension in the story that engages the viewer. Using this principle, I used the swallows to inject life and unpredictability into the scene and the rabbit as an anchor to represent stability and reflection.

The painterly effect on the swallows was calibrated to give the scene a fluid look. I varied stroke opacity/direction based on bird movements to try to imitate traditional brushwork described by Tina O 'Hailey in exploring hybrid animation techniques. O 'Hailey emphasizes that digital tools can be used to recreate the tactile qualities of hand-drawn animation, and in "The Rabbit and Swallows," these techniques were employed to add a sense of craftsmanship to the digital medium.

Technical Challenges

One of the biggest challenges with "The Rabbit and Swallows" was handling the static versus dynamic elements without compromising scene cohesion. Lee Jung-Ho's research on reducing the uncanny valley through stylistic abstraction was the basis for this balance. By abstracting the rabbit and swallows at different levels, I made sure neither was out of place. The static rabbit has soft, subtle strokes in contrast to the energetic brushstrokes of the swallows, a balance that is pleasing to the eye and to the soul.

Conclusion

"The Rabbit and Swallows" connects themes and technical achievements of this filter system and shows how mood and narrative can be conveyed through a combination of dynamic and static elements. It is the culmination of my experiments with digital techniques combining traditional art principles. As one of the last pieces for my thesis, "The Rabbit and Swallows" is the culmination of my attempts to translate painterly aesthetics to 3D animation while maintaining a consistent and evocative style in keeping with the emotional/thematic goals of the movie.

Development of this piece also shows how iterative the filter system is. Each refinement, from stroke distribution to color and opacity calibration, was based on lessons from earlier pieces like "Splash" and "Insult". Basing my scene on these earlier experiences, I tackled the aesthetic dissonance inherent to many modern animations while also providing an emotionally engaging and visually distinct solution. This piece demonstrates how procedural techniques can be combined with more traditional artistic sensibilities to create something that bridges animation's technology and artistry gap.