The thought of you (2010)

Creator:

Ryan J Woodward

PS: When you watch this video, I highly recommend you to have a check of these websites: https://vimeo.com/21096567 and http://ryanwoodwardart.com/ It is all about the stories behind the Thought of You. I have to say this animation is probably the best one I have ever seen recently, even one single frame could be a master piece.

Concept: 

This is a story mainly about love, dance and the relationship in memory between the two lovers. The sketch style combined with the beautiful music make this video like a visual poetry.

The story’s emotional range is quite extraordinary, from the sweet restlessness of new love to the all-absorbing infatuation of passion at its peak to the hollow longing for a lover gone.( http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/12/07/ryan-woodward-thought-of-you/)

Design: 

Obviously, there is not much technology skill but the ability the designer have. In order to create this short film, Ryan drew 4441 frames. With the brown paper background, the simple dance animation which build on a high sketch skill make this film almost perfect.

There is not too much color, only black and white for the dancers(1,2,3). If you stop in a specific frame, you will notice all the shapes of the characters are simple and nothing special, however, with all the frames connected, that adversely reminded of some lover I once was, some partner I once had, the bitter regrets, and the delicacy and beauty of life, all at once. Relationships can be like that(4,5). They come back to you quickly, rejoicing in the passion that exploded from within, but then, in the end, they return to nothing. ( http://www.tentimesone.com/thought-of-you-emotion-in-animation/)

It’s not often an animator brings this kind of skill, but the expression in his drawings, at once profoundly simple but deep as an ocean, is a painfully beautiful expression of the dance choreographer, rendered with a depth and tenderness that’s hard to deny.( http://www.tentimesone.com/thought-of-you-emotion-in-animation/)

 Emotion is undeniable in his technique, and unless you’re a stone, your eyes will well with tears. 

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Edit/animation:

Needless to say, the animation is incredible. Even though Ryan is not a dancer, the quality and creativity with which he interpreted these dance movements feels as though he could be. Additionally, the details of this film, like the offering of a hand, the presentation of a foot, the turn of a head, look so nature and extremely appropriate(6,7). And by the way, the sweet song in the video is titled The World Spins Madly On by the Weepies. ( http://www.tentimesone.com/thought-of-you-emotion-in-animation/)

One thing I liked is how this project went from concept to stage to screen, where the process involved a great deal of collaboration along the way. I love how the music informs the physical dancers, who then in turn inform the animation( http://avoision.com/2010/12/07/thought_of_you_lovely_dance_an.php) .

Finally, indeed this is a sad love story(8,9), at the end, the man left the women and the color also tern in to gray, however, the combination of several disciplines makes much more sense for the audiences’ inner feeling, rather than the outer looks.

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)