Primitive: The First and Only Episode

Hello Loyal Viewers! I won't lie to you, this project didn't turn out the way I intended it. I originally planned for it to be a full length animation told in four separate episodes, each representing a different point in history. The goal of the project was to be somewhere between a mockumentary and a satire, featuring penguin-like creatures instead of humans (mainly because 2D humans aren't exactly easy to animate).

Unfortunately, I bit off a bit more than I could chew. I originally planned to finish all four episodes over the course of the year, and even had the characters rigged and ready for future episodes. However, after I got started, progress was much slower than anticipated. After finishing the first few scenes, I decided it was simply best to finish up the Stone Age at semester rather than rush the entire project and wind up with a half finished mess of varied penguin bits. This unfortunately means the project will likely never be realized in it entirety, but at least it has a single episode of decent quality.

To create this single episode, I drew primarily on what I learned from last year, and then slowly learned new techniques as I continued on the project. Scenes like the first Red scene took me a long time to finish, at is involved a lot of moving parts, as well as a rather uncooperative cow creature. Scenes like this forced me to improvise, as well as create multiple assets that I could increase and decrease opacity on to make transitions seem relatively seamless.

I learned a rather obvious lesson over the course of this project: don't let your eyes be bigger than your stomach. Although metaphorical in this particular example, the same rule applies. I went into this project believing I could get this all done, but quickly discovered my own lack of full planning. As a result, I was forced to compromise by cutting roughly 3/4 of my original project.

Despite these facts, I'm still quite proud of my work. The sound work proved much better than anticipated, lining up unexpectedly with a number of events. I ended up using the Jak and Daxter soundtrack, as well as Morning Mood, which took much longer than originally anticipated to find. Other scenes turned out remarkably well, and really stood out once sound was added.

All in all, Primitive was an interesting experiment, and I'm happy I invested as much as I did. The animation has its flaws, but it still turned out an enjoyable experience. Enjoy Loyal Viewers, and thanks for your patience.