Initial Ideas and Designs
This is a post-apocalyptic story where the protagonist is resting in a ruin. She is very exhausted but unable to enter a deep sleep due to constant tension. The first time she is awakened by the sound of dripping water from the eaves, she turns her head to look at a vending machine. Seeing her reflection, she transitions back into her dream in a montage. Then she is awakened again by the sound of birds chirping. This time, she decides not to go back to sleep. I designed the bird flying away from the utility pole to symbolize that she should leave as well, so she packs her belongings and leaves the ruin.
On a deeper level, I designed the protagonist in the dream to appear relaxed and comfortable. The message I want to convey through the entire story is that when a comfortable environment is a thing of the past, one should not cling to it but instead choose to move forward and continue living.
Second Storyboard
In the new story, I’ve changed most of the plot, but the core message of letting go of the past remains unchanged. The protagonist, during her journey, arrives at a train station she visited in her childhood. She notices the vending machine is unexpectedly still operational, which is clearly not realistic; I see it as a setting similar to a dream or illusion. While lost in thought, a soda can drops out of the machine automatically. She picks it up and opens the tab. The scene then transitions to her childhood memories with her parents at the station. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows, snapping her back to reality, revealing the ruins before her. After grieving, she decides to let go of her past (the soda can) and move on with her life.
Testing Stage
I tried different color combinations, and ultimately settled on blue because it resonated well with the reality scenes.
For character design, I experimented with various styles and colors and ultimately chose the gray tone version that integrates more seamlessly into the scenes without appearing too contrasting.
Animatic with Sound
I made many changes, including transitions from memories to reality and adjustments to the ending, among others.
Final Character Design
Scene and Objects Design
To understand the distances between objects in a scene, I roughly planned the train station in my story and also designed the vending machine, can, and posters. Unfortunately, I ultimately changed my atmosphere to a more realistic and melancholic feeling, so I reduced a lot of color details.
Backgrounds
