familiars

Interim Critique
Kayliegh Anderson

project outline
Familiars is a project in which I am exploring the theme
of Anxiety. It personifies peoples anxiety as animals.
Using the information I have been provided with I am
exploring ways in which to show the animals behaviour to
then create an animated short. My aim of this animation
is to raise awareness around mental illness.

branding
The nature of Familiars is an honest way of looking at
mental illness and therefore I felt that its branding
should both match its expressive style and be simple.

Ive kept the colours to

only black and white and
designed my own font
around my handwriting.

armadillo
"I see my anxiety as an armadillo.
It tries to hide by curling into a
ball, but I know its always there.
Sometimes it comes out.
Sometimes it shows itself, before
retreating to the back of my mind
where it nags at me. It hides, but
it never truly goes away.

bird
"I see my anxiety as a bird. It starts
off small. It sits on my shoulder,
making me irritable. It doesnt really
want to hurt me. It thinks its
protecting me but it becomes a
nuisance and pecks away at me. Over
time it grows into something
unbearable. I feel it weighing me
down. It uses its claws to perch and
prey on me, figuring out the best way
to change me, to carry me off in a
different direction."

deer
When I think about my anxiety, the
first thing that comes to mind is a doe.
They're quiet and gentle, but always
on edge and over aware, like they're
expecting something to jump out and
attack. They don't have the large
antlers to defend themselves. That's
how I feel sometimes - not being able
to defend myself. I just freeze - like a
deer in the headlights.

ferret
If my anxiety were an animal I think
it would be a ferret. Ferrets are
generally quite timid and shy but
even if they like you they'll bite you.
They dont mean to, but theyll hurt
the people they care about.

snake
My anxiety is best represented by a
snake. There are some days when it's
only a small little thing. There are
others when it grows into this beast. It
coils itself around me, suffocating and
unbearable. Its bite leaves me bitter
towards the world. This cold-blooded
creature only cares for itself, but it
pretends it cares for me.

spider
A spider is the best representation of
my anxiety. Its deadly and near
impossible to spot. You know it's out
there somewhere but youre unsure as
to where exactly. You might just step on
it or aggravate it. I could be walking
somewhere feeling completely fine, the
next minute it scuttles out of nowhere
leaving me confused and irritable, its
sole purpose to paralyse me, to
consume me bit by bit.

behaviour
The aim of the animation is
to show the behaviour of the
animals that have been
described.
Here are drawings I have
completed for the Deer.
I have also completed
animatic first drafts to begin
to understand this behaviour.

original orthographs

spider wire sculpture

To create more
successful orthographs
I have begun using
wire to create my
animals.

new spider orthograph

maya work process

Create dummy model > Make surface live to create curves ontop of it > Paint curves > Convert to Polygon

spider initial modelling