Aura

With this project, my main interest was to be able to show aura through the use of illustration. I decided to pursue this creative direction because it would give me the opportunity to practice animation editing, but also challenge me to illustrate an energy that can arguably not be seen. As such, I was forced to think conceptually about the meaning of aura, and present the connection between the act of seeing a drawing (and the elements of drawing), to the defining qualities of an aura.
Through animating the illustrations for my video, I found that it was important to also explore the use of sound, and how that can help bring hand made drawings to life. It is for this reason that the formal qualities for my video can be seen in the sound and colour. When looking at the key defining features of an aura, I was drawn to the fact that it is “a subjective sensation experienced at the onset of a neurological condition,” and “an energy field that is held to remnant from a living being.” The combination of my mixed use of colours and strategic placement of sound is meant to metaphorically bridge these two definitions together. As such, I intended for the audience to understand that the subjective sensation given from an aura ultimately changes and determines the energy held to remnant from a living being. Additionally, My video has different levels of intensity for both colour and sound. While some areas are seen as bright and loud, other areas are viewed in silence with no imagery at all. This is to encourage an energy amongst the audience, and emphasize the differences in feeling when presented with something intensely versus being presented with hardly any information at all.
Lastly, my video assignment was highly influenced by movement drawings. While researching how one can present aura through drawing and illustration, something that caught my eye was movement drawings, and how they tend to evoke a sense of energy despite being something that appeared in uneven layers and unnatural. As a result, I used this as inspiration to work alongside the factors of colour and sound to convey aura through illustrative animation.