Out of the Blue Clay Animation by Serena Abraham

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DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

SA : To entertain and bring smiles all around.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

SA : Having been our first venture, we learnt a lot through this design, so after we hope to continue experimenting.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

SA : One and a half weeks for the whole production.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

SA : It was a classroom assignment, where the prompt of "fisherman" was given to us, and we thus had to weave a story together from it. Also having to keep it close to a minute.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

SA : It was a classroom project, so we as a team were assigned this work.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

SA : Definitely. Work such as Pingu, and other student clay/stop motion films definitely inspired and guided us.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

SA : Any age group would enjoy this stop motion piece.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

SA : I feel the time frame that we were given to produce this amount was rather tight. It seemed impossible but we made it work. Also I feel having it be a very short and sweet film, people will be able to process and enjoy it easier.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

SA : Out of The Blue was a name that one of our teammates suggested. It just hints at the twist ending that the film takes.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

SA : Clay sculpting tools. Both air drying clay as well as normal polymer clay. Cloth and Paper mache

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

SA : Definitely the faceless aspect of the characters. Having no face, the audience can thus picture the reactions themselves, making for some interesting interpretations.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

SA : Just a group of third year animation students.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

SA : The lighting set up caused some of the characters to melt. The clay would also catch dust quite easily, so it was hard keeping it clean.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

SA : Heard about the competition from our mentor, and we thought that it would be a good idea to see how our little classroom project stands among international competitors.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

SA : We learnt a new form of animation, one which isn't as commonly seen anymore. Thus sparked our drive to keep on animating.