ANIMATED: Choices

Within the rich pool of indigenous (particularly North American) tradition, there is an unmistakable power to be found in the intricate symbolic systems used to relay teachings, stories, and a resilient sense of identity that persists throughout the ages. In many nations, the stories of the Seven Sacred Grandfathers reign as core to the beloved belief systems of an incredible people. This project aimed to be a study for future projects exploring the harmonization of traditional symbols & their linked teachings, and modern visualization tactics inspired by our current digitally-dominated society. I also really wanted to try my hand at animating.

Due to time constraints, 3 out of 7 Grandfather Spirits were selected to be displayed as "starter" choices for the main character, the viewer, as if in a video game. The Grandfathers chosen were Bison, for respect, Eagle, for love, and Turtle, for truth. They were hand-animated in a VERY brief ping-pong-style manner, somewhat akin to an idle animation sprite one might see elsewhere. The goal was not to relay complex movement cues, but simply to use a touch of animation to breathe life into the concepts being presented.