Exploration of nostalgic and personal cross culture experience.
I have explored mythological narratives and hybridised them using anthropomorphic character designs to produce a 2D animated film based on my childhood experiences. My short film is about a boy who likes to read books, who faces a language barrier after he moves to another country. Based on these ideas, my primary research question asks, "How can I create a hybrid mythological narrative based on personal cross-cultural memories that employ anthropomorphism in an animated film to illustrate coming-of-age growth?"
My 2D animated film incorporates the use of anthropomorphic character designs combined with mythological narratives to provide insight into my personal experiences I had as a child. To achieve this, I researched into how I can convey a sense of nostalgia and a child's courage to the audience through my animated film.
I expressed my personal experiences of facing language barriers and having to adapt to an unfamiliar culture as a child. I researched the familiarity I experienced when reading about the myths of different countries while I was learning new languages and how nostalgia can be incorporated into an animated film. I have borrowed animal symbolism from Aesop's fables and folktales, which I often read as a child, in order to create an anthropomorphic protagonist that can be featured in a narrative.
Furthermore, I explored how a combination of various mythical tales from different cultures can be visualised in my film. My primary methodology is that of autoethnography; a combination of aspects of autobiography and ethnography. This is combined with action research to gain a deeper understanding of the narrative and character development required for my film.
