Emotional

Emotional is an animated self portrait depicting the struggle one faces when dealing with bipolar one disorder. The boy, a representation of the animator, has a series of rapid mood swings that plunge him into an uncontrollable surge of emotion. He must figure out a way to regain control of his feelings and get help. The piece was created through several different animation techniques. The greyscale paper dolls that functioned as the body for the protagonist were made by hand and given life through stop motion animation and use of a greenscreen. Layered on top of this, was digital animation for the rushing emotions, as well as digital rotoscoping for the boy’s expressions. The stop motion animation was done under a DSLR camera and then processed through Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro. The sound design for this piece was created in Ableton Live and Adobe Audition, and recrafted with permissions from FreeSound.org, and UMBC’s Sound Vault. This animation is intended to give viewers a glimpse into the tidal waves of emotions that so deeply affect not only the animator but anyone who struggles with bipolar one disorder.