Sketches and Ideas

Metamorphosis Franz Kafka
"And yet Gregor's sister was playing so beautifully. Her face leaned sideways, intently and sadly her eyes followed the notes of music. Gregor crawled a little farther forward and lowered his head to the ground so that it might be possible for his eyes to meet hers. Was he an animal, that music had such an effect upon him? He felt as if the way were opening before him to the unknown nourishment he craved. He was determined to push forward till he reached his sister, to pull at her skirt and so let her know that she was to come into his room with her violin, for no one here appreciated her playing as he would appreciate it. He would never let her out of his room, at least, not so long as he lived; his frightful appearance would become, for the first time, useful to him; he would watch all the doors of his room at once and spit at intruders; but his sister should need no constraint, she should stay with him of her own free will; she should sit beside him on the sofa, bend down her ear to him and hear him confide that he had had the firm intention of sending her to the Conservatorium, and that, but for his mishap, last Christmas-surely Christmas was long past?-he would have announced it to everybody without allowing a single objection. After this confession his sister would be so touched that she would burst into tears, and Gregor would then raise himself to her shoulder and kiss her on the neck, which, now that she went to business, she kept free of any ribbon or collar.

"Mr. Samsa!" cried the middle lodger, to Gregor's father, and pointed, without wasting any more words, at Gregor, now working himself slowly forwards. The violin fell silent, the middle lodger first smiled to his friends with a shake of the head and then looked at Gregor again...  Meanwhile Gregor's sister, who stood there as if lost when her playing was so abruptly broken off, came to life again, pulled herself together all at once after standing for a while holding violin and bow in nervelessly hanging hands and staring at her music, pushed her violin into the lap of her mother, who was still sitting in her chair fighting asthmatically for breath, and ran into the lodgers' room to which they were now being shepherded by her father rather more quickly than before. "  

Quote source (Online-literature) Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis

The idea that i decided on using for the animation inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis was the scene when Gregor's sister is playing the violin and Gregor has this connection between his sister once more. I feel that this scene is very emotional and shows a key part of the story - in addition it is also the penultimate scene before Gregor's death. I feel that this scene gives Gregor his humanity back before it is taken back again. As he listens to the beautiful melody he is able to appreciate the song (unlike before) - I feel its the last time he is able to feel human and feels close to his family and in particular his sister - he is rejected.

When planning out concepts for this project I had this initial idea or shot in the animation of the bug Gregor melting away over and revealing the human within so we can see Gregor worn away in his human form - and so that the audience can connect more with his character and emotion. When working on storyboards I started with this concept and then looked at the book to understand more about the characters and plot. I also decided that i wanted the sister to have a change of expression before and after she has seen Gregor watching her play her music. This is so that i can emphasis the way that she has changed not only in this particular scene but her transformation in the overall story. 

Above are some of the doodles that I generated to explore character design of Gregor's bug state. I was finding drawing a creature for him quite difficult as i needed to make him look hideous and disgusting. I decided to do the above excercise to free myself. I drew a selection of blobs and then drew the bug inside.

Above is a scanned image of my sketchbook and how i have developed from my storyboard. After selecting a scene to use i will then video a reference for me to understand the movement and expression of the character that i want to portray in my animation. I have then separated the video into key frames and how many in between frames i feel i need in order too make a smooth enough animation. Above is the violin scene - where the sister plays her violin and then sees Gregor- underneath the thumbnails i have written notes to help me when creating the work such ass where the arm is moving or a blink etc.