"In Astra" by Olivia Bering
About "In Astra"
So, "In Astra" is just a singular origin story for a much larger story that I've been dreaming up in my head for the past 7 or so years. It's kind of my passion project to bring this story to life through illustration and animation. The story follows Estelle, a young girl with extraordinary gifts, and eventually other characters, but since Es is the main girl, her story comes first.
I wanted to show Estelle's dissatisfaction with her current state. While she is not unhappy with her life in general, she's a child. One of her favorite events was cancelled, so of course she's going to sulk a little.
For this shot, I wanted to show Estelle being genuinely, whole heartedly, happy. Joyful. She's not afraid of this journey she is going on.
The "Original" Concept and Storyboard
I think the premise of "In Astra" stayed the same from start to finish. I wanted Estelle and her mysterious journey to be the focus. Of course there were more little story telling elements I wanted to add in, but ya know...time constraints. Looking back at it now, there are a few things I would have like to have kept in the final, mostly some dynamic shots. I'd definitely love to revisit this and make it without limits.
The shot of the shooting star flying towards Estelle was inspired by the song "Cosmic Love" by Florence & the Machine, namely the line "A falling star fell from your heart, and landed in my eyes." For a little backstory, the Astralexis is a crystal left behind by the Goddess of Grand Luxim, Ursa. Estelle and many of her people see Ursa as a mother, and the Astralexis is her "heart." Ursa is the one who ultimately gifts Estelle her powers, so it's a bit of a loose metaphor.
The falling start shot was referenced from the opening sequence for the HBO Max show "Raised by Wolves." I just thought it was a beautiful scene.
The Design
Estelle is a young high fae girl, this is here around 10 or so. She is cute, spritely, can be serious at times, seeming more mature than she is, but loves fashion and cute, shiny things. She likes to collect knick-knacks. For this project, I wanted to keep her outfit simple. It's just a simple night-dress.
The Town and the House
The town Estelle lives in was meant to be more............green? I'm not sure honestly! This project has challenged me in many ways--one of them was to work harder on world building, since your world is as much a character as well...the characters. I was going for a Santorini vibe, a Greek island on the sea. I'd love to revisit this again.
The House was a little easier to flesh out...I've always loved little houses surrounded by trees and a little stone walkway. But as you can see...architecture is not my forte...but I'm learning!
With this project, I actually had a learn a couple of new skills, one of them being perspective drawing...jokes on me, I didn't actually learn it until I started the backgrounds for the bedroom and inside the house. I also had to learn new skills and relearn old skills from Toon Boom and After Effects. I'm just...really glad to have this project. It's been therapeutic in a way and just makes me feel good.
I actually reworked some of my backgrounds to accommodate "easter eggs" from other films from my classmates. I'm really glad that I did this. It gave personality to my film and I love my class and their films and their creativity. It makes me a bit sad that I only learned this type of community and comradery in my final semester. This class cohort is really something special. I love you all.
I actually did this illustration as a cameo piece for another students film! It was a nice break from animating and I think it turned out really well!
My TBH and AE project files were a mess......but somehow I persevered with good file management.
