Faculty of Art

Integrated Media: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation

Janel Bucknor

Waste

Waste is a 2D animated short that takes place during the red giant star phase in a billion years on desolate earth covered in thick sand. While searching for supplies, Tam discovers an entrance into an unknown building and ventures into it. Right when he finds a vending machine with food in the building, he is ambushed by three other humans and must escape.

“Waste is a 2D animated short that explores correlation of the impacts of environmental change and the expansion of the sun on earth a billion years in the future. Waste explores concepts of climate change; land subsidence due to urban developments; and other environmental influences that lead to increased flooding vulnerability of coastal cities, and how they will correlate with the estimated expansion of the sun in a billion years to result in a hot, sandy, desolate earth that lacks supplies. The animation aims to present a stylized visual version of these estimations by the use of a red and black colour palette to show the intensity of the sun and presents a malignant atmosphere. While the Earth is in the process of wasting and withering away, the daily lives of four characters -- the main character Tam and his rat companion Jet, along with two adults -- are observed. The attitude of all the characters is nonchalant to the situation around them because they are desensitized to the gravity of it all. The only thing that concerns them is hunger and the desire to find supplies. This serves to show how when faced with harsh situations or environments, human actions default to that of survival and meeting basic needs such as hunger. ”