Screen Project 2: Ideation 

Given my drawing skills, I was purposely looking for ideas that do not entail drawing a lot of body motions. After much deliberation, I landed on the idea of animating the first stanza of a poem I adore – Sang Thu (Autumn Arrives) by Hữu Thỉnh. It is in Vietnamese and I roughly translated it to English in the photo below.

The shift in Hanoi’s weather reminded me of Sang Thu. This stanza specifically points out the first signs of autumn in Northern Vietnam. I love how the poem evokes a lot of senses through the imagery such as the wafting sweet scent of guava, the dry cool wind that makes people pull out their long sleeves, and the fog that can be seen and felt on the skin. Aside from the imagery, the beauty of the poem also comes from the word choices. Hữu Thỉnh is admired and praised nationwide largely due to his absolutely tender, expressive, and genuine language. I couldn’t find English words that have the exact meanings as the original. I believe I have a better chance of delivering the stanza’s atmosphere through animation rather than a word-for-word translation.

All in all, I am very excited to create another video that could evoke senses, but has a completely different format and impression compared to my SCP1 film. Hopefully, the brain-wracking process of learning 2D animation will become easier when I work on an idea I love.