LASERS!

Spirit animal description:

“Swans are idealistic, open-minded, and passionate. Your good nature often leads people to think they can take advantage of you, but they should be careful—beneath that serenity lies a fighting spirit. Your love is fierce and unconditional, fueled by the certainty that it should last forever.”

Character brief:

My day beings peacefully and serenely. I rise from my nest and stretch my muscular white wings. I’m ready to begin a day destined for greatness. Gracefully swimming across the lake, I dip my long, curving neck under water to scoop up my simple breakfast of mosquitos. As I eat and bathe simultaneously, letting the water drip down from my beak, through the feathers on my neck and down to my wings, I casually spot my love in the marsh. He’s a handsome, strong bird, with glistening wings, being admired by a couple of other females who have taken up residence at our pond. Immediately I’m fueled with jealousy, which I push deep down inside as I paddle to the other side of the water. I approach, and my feathers begin to ruffle. My wings begin to expand. I rise halfway out of the water and begin to squawk, making myself as massive and intimidating as possible. I beat my wings against the water, splashing and making myself seem twice the size I really am. The other females scatter quickly, and I settle, sitting on the marsh next to the love of my life.

Visual Concept:

I created a mask and covered my neck in white material in order to morph swan-like characteristics with my own self. Initially I wanted to investigate the idea of movement, merging swan poses and human poses. This is depicted in the video slideshow.

The spirit animal quote, which comes from the random internet quiz I took, really fueled the development of my character description. While I feel deeply attached to some of the characteristics it listed, the brief was written much like a new-agey horoscope. It felt very much like me while also feeling a bit trashy. Knowing I wanted to continue with the creation of a swan-like character, I wrote a paragraph from the point of view of the swan on a typical day. After sleeping on the description and reading it again, I was immediately reminded of a romance novel. I wanted to keep a playful, humorous spirit in regards to this idea of my “animal self,” so I played with some cheesy Photoshopped images. (Making low-res photo and video mashups is a favorite pastime of mine.)