Target audience and the meaning behind the campaign:

When producing the animation, the main goal of our team was to address the adult people, who,
according to statistics, are most likely to abandon an adopted dog without strong reasoning. When
coming up with the idea, Franklin and I did some research on common excuses that people use to
return the adopted animals. One of the most common cases was returning a dog due to the fact that
the dog grew up and stopped being as cute and agile as it used to be. This particular reasoning has
inspired us to come up with a story about Scruffy, who, as a puppy, is being treasured and loved by
his owner. Yet when he grows up, the attitude of his owner changes drastically, resulting into
replacement of Scruffy for a younger, cuter puppy. Our animation is encouraging people to end the
cycle that many dogs have to go through (being adopted and then returned), through familiarising
themselves with the information regarding the responsibilities that come with the adoption on the
official Dogs Trust website.
Other ideas:
At the beginning of the term, Franklin and I were the only members of the team,
therefore we had to set our priorities and find an efficient way to produce an
animation of a good quality. Our first idea for the project was developed for React.
The characters of the story try to build a ladder out of objects they have in order to
help a refuge boy reach a door in the sky. The door would lead the boy to a
classroom, encouraging the viewers to donate to the charity for the sake of
childrens education. The project felt too ambitious for only two animators,
therefore it was replaced with another one. Our second idea (developed for Dogs
Trust) was to show the development of the friendship between a young woman and
her adopted out of obsession with holding dog. The whole animation would have
been delivered in one static shot, cutting from one action to another. It was decided
that I will be in charge for the layouts, whereas Franklin will develop the dog design.
Both of us worked on the female character. After we finished writing the script, I
immediately started developing the background that could be also used in the
animatic. After a while we didnt feel like the idea was representing the charity well
enough, so we changed it to the current idea. Overall, the writing process and development of the
ideas for all three projects took a month .

Working Process:
The animation style was mostly inspired by a short I Am A Monster as well as different visual
references we found while doing the research.

Franklin and I were developing the animatic together, relying on the script and the thumbnail
drawings. The animatics been changed multiple times and some scenarios have been excluded as
they didnt suit the story. Unlike in previous idea, we cant see the face of the lady, making us pay
attention to the dog more and thinking of her as a representation of those who cant take a
responsibility. Therefore, when developing a new character design, I tried to concentrate on the
ladys body. It was also important for us to show the contrast in a way Scruffy is being treated at
different age, so we made a decision of making him go through exactly the same set of actions(first
as a puppy, and then as a grown up). The project still felt overwhelming for only two animators, so
later on Sara, Andrea and Beth joined the team. That way, I could continue working on the layouts
and lighting variations without reducing their quantity and shortening the story. The female
character was passed for further development to Andrea. As Beth and I were the only people who
worked on the layouts, Sara animated the motion of hand picking up the bowl, which was later
reused in my part.

We wanted that action to be identical to the one from her part to make the message stronger. I also
helped choosing the colour palette for both characters and surrounding. We wanted to incorporate
warm colour palette that could contrast with a dark story and a message were sending to the
audience. I then cleaned up and coloured my bits, as well as changing the name on the bowl in the
end scene. The whole team was working very closely, so at some point everyone helped each other
colouring unfinished shots and technical mistakes done in the production process. Overall the
working dynamic of our team was great, so combining two groups was definitely a right decision.

Conclusion:
As in the future, Id like to specialise in 2D animation and concept art (especially background art),
this project will help me to show that I can work as a part of the team as well as adapting to
someone elses style.