Faculty of Art

Integrated Media: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation

Monica Mu

On the Edge of the Water

On the Edge of the Water is a 2-dimensional, single-channel digital animation about the phenomenon of life review reported in near-death experiences and the belief of Samsara (cycle of life) and the afterlife. It is a narrative animation produced with a combination of cellular animation and compositing. The story surrounds a young man waking up on an unfamiliar beach, and finding pieces of his belongings while eventually recovers pieces of his past. In this project, I intend to actively inspire a self-cognitive and self-resolution process for the audiences by narrating the main character’s life-reviewing process. The project also symbolically explains and expresses the belief of Samsara and moving on, as well as how it represents real-life situations in which acceptance is crucial for one to make peace with oneself in a format similar to a fable or a fairytale story. The animation is inspired by the flash animation and web cartoon the Legend of Luo Xiaohei by Chinese artist MTJJ(Zhang ping) and the animated short film SHUDŌ by GOBELINS, l'école de l'image.

“On the Edge of the Water is a 2-dimensional, single-channel digital animation about the phenomenon of life review, or so-called “life flashes before your eyes” frequently reported in near-death experiences as well as the belief of Samsara (cycle of life) and the afterlife. It is a narrative animation produced with a combination of cellular animation and compositing. The story surrounds a young man waking up on an unfamiliar beach, and finding pieces of his belongings. Pieces of his past come back to him as he investigates these items and he now faces a difficult choice. The title On the Edge of the Water refers to the border of land and water, symbolic imagery of entering the unknown of the afterlife, for that one does not know for sure what lies ahead in the far horizon of the ocean surface.In On the Edge of the Water, the concept of life reviewing is one of the key concepts that constructs the storyline. In past case studies, subjects who claimed to have experienced life review in their near-death experiences showed a higher level of satisfaction towards their current situation in life and were less fearful of the concept of death than those who didn’t experience it. The method of active life-reviewing is also being used in psychological fields as a self and social-recognition process. With this animation, I intend to use the narrative of the main character’s life review to inspire a similar self-reviewing and self-recognizing process in the audience. On the other hand, the theme of the afterlife and reincarnation is also present throughout the work and it is something I want to express my beliefs about. I realized that the concept of Samsara, or the cycle of life, is not as commonly accepted due to the dominating position of Christianity in Western cultures. I want to introduce the alternative belief of Samsara that is more specific in Asian religions and cultures as it resembles situations we face in the physical world on many occasions. In the cycle of life, one must move on from the last life to be rebirthed into the next step of the endless cycle of existence. This concept of moving on and letting go of the past bears significant resemblance to what we face when we proceed from, whether it being a failed relationship or an old job, and stepping into a new stage of life; one must accept and make peace with the past to welcome the future.As a fairytale, fable, and mythology lover since childhood, narratives have always been the major method to deliver and discuss conceptual messages or social circumstances in my animated works. On the Edge of the Water is also a piece of the sort in which the plot and settings bear symbolic and representational values other than the role they play directly in the story. My major visual style for this project is referenced from the flash animation and web cartoon the Legend of Luo Xiaohei by Chinese artist MTJJ(Zhang ping). I combined simplified linework and character design with detailed, painterly backgrounds to form a contrast and give the imageries depth. I also gathered inspiration from how the transitions are used in the animated short film SHUDŌ by GOBELINS, l'école de l'image to closer connect the flashback scenes and present scenes.”