capstone
Spring 2025
Today, pigeons are given a bad reputation. Once being a crucial ally during World War I and World War II, people today view pigeons as vermin, or “rats of the sky.”
This motion piece follows a pigeon, Elizabeth, who went from hero to zero. Looking back at her experience transitioning from being a war ally to surviving the modern day city life, she captivates her audience through frame by frame animation and a bit of humor. In the end, hoping to inspire city folk to treat pigeons residing in urban areas with more empathy.
Based off people's initial reactions when I told them I was doing a project about pigeons, I know that they found it a little silly due to lack of knowledge surrounding the severity of the mistreatment of pigeons. So, without just showing the background research to my audience, I had to ask myself...
... how can I get people to take this seriously?!
so, I figured if people would chuckle at the pitch of a pigeon project, I'll just have to use some humor to lure them in >:)
Storyboard Ideation
1 | A human dies and is reincarnated as a pigeon. Starts living as a pigeon and being treated like one, facing mistreatments he once ignored.
2 | Make a series of short clips around if the roles were reversed for certain pain points humans have about pigeons. Basically the Pigeons set out for revenge.
3 | A video about an old war pigeon writing a “love letter” to her former handler & colleague.
STYLE GUIDE & CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
I knew I wanted to use realistic backgrounds for my story, but have my pigeon and various plot devices be drastically different to show how the pigeons today are alienated from society, and don't quite "fit in."
Pigeon prototypes
Final Storyboard
Time to animate!
I used Adobe Fresco for my frame by frames, and then brought everything together using After Effects