This video was created in Spring of 2012 to advertise a trip that a team of students from Oral Roberts University would be taking in the summer to Beijing, China. The video's purpose was to let friends, family, and others know the heartbeat of the trip: to bring hope to orphaned and disabled children.
I wanted this to convey the reality of what really does go on in China due to the One Child Policy. The ending approach of using real footage, interviews, and watercolor paintings came together through many creative brainstorms with team leaders of the trip.
*China footage courtesy of Mithun Abraham
Watercolor Paintings
When talking with team leaders of the China trip, it became apparent that one of the main reasons why New Day Orphanage even exists is the fact that people abandon their children -- many times due to the pressure of living up to the One Child Policy or if their child is born with an unwanted "defect" (or the combination of both). So it seemed appropriate to build a fictional -- though not unheard of -- acount of a Chinese mother who feels she cannot keep her child. For onlookers approaching this issue, it may seem like a heartless deed, but such a multi-level issue must bring about so many mixed feelings for the parents who must make this choice.
The choice to use predominantly watercolors (along with color pencils and sharpie pen) was a stylistic choice to bring dynamic colors and movement to the story. Overall, it took about 10-15 hours to create these from start to finish.
Sketch storyboard 1
Sketch storyboard 2
Sketch storyboard 3
The journey begins
Homage
A fateful trip
One last look
close up
