AMNH: The Secret World
of Elephants
AMNH: The Secret World of Elephants
AMNH: The Secret World of Elephants
— PROJECT NAME
The Secret World of Elephants
— ROLE
Animation, Design
— TOOLS
Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, After Effects)
As the Creative Technologist intern at the American Museum of Natural History, I had the unique opportunity to paint and animate three interactive panels digitally. These panels, which were part of the special exhibit The Secret World of Elephants, were based on Elephant Conservation, a topic of global significance.
From the initial concept to the final execution, I played a pivotal role in fostering collaboration between the art, editorial, and exhibition teams. This collective effort resulted in the creation of interactive panels, which explored the themes of the Ivory Trade, Climate Change, and Habitat Conflicts. The exhibit, which opened to the public in November 2023, was a resounding success, with the panels being particularly well-received by the audience, especially children, who were captivated by the interaction and animation. These panels continue to be showcased at the museum (Spring 2024).
— PROJECT NAME
The Secret World of Elephants
— ROLE
Animation, Design
— TOOLS
Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, After Effects)
As the Creative Technologist intern at the American Museum of Natural History, I had the unique opportunity to paint and animate three interactive panels digitally. These panels, which were part of the special exhibit The Secret World of Elephants, were based on Elephant Conservation, a topic of global significance.
From the initial concept to the final execution, I played a pivotal role in fostering collaboration between the art, editorial, and exhibition teams. This collective effort resulted in the creation of interactive panels, which explored the themes of the Ivory Trade, Climate Change, and Habitat Conflicts. The exhibit, which opened to the public in November 2023, was a resounding success, with the panels being particularly well-received by the audience, especially children, who were captivated by the interaction and animation. These panels continue to be showcased at the museum (Spring 2024).
Project Overview:
Digitally paint and animate three interactive panels, each themed around Ivory Trade, Climate Change, and Habitat Conflicts. Each panel features a distinct set of stories and scenarios, all animated separately.
Key Points for Creative Brief:
• Collaborate with the art department to develop a cohesive and distinct style for coloring and animation across all panels.
• Work with the editorial team to frame stories effectively, ensuring the message of each panel is clear, and storyboard them accordingly
• As part of the exhibition department, design interactions that seamlessly integrate animations with human interaction
Panel 1: Endangered for Ivory
Panel 1: Endangered for Ivory
The 'Endangered for Ivory' interactive panel, one of the exhibit's centerpieces, is set in an ivory merchant's living room. Each object in the room serves as an interactive touchpoint, revealing the history and impact of the manufacturing of these objects on the ivory trade and, consequently, on elephant populations worldwide. This panel was a result of meticulous research, creative brainstorming, and iterative design.
Visual Style Exploration
Since this was the first panel to be created, I experimented with various styles of painting and animation, until we decided on the hand sketched, water-color painting style.
Animation Process
After storyboarding the animation sequences and finalizing illustrations with the art team, each object was digitally painted and separated into required layers using Adobe Photoshop. Then, the editable layer files were animated using Adobe After Effects. I presented the animations and designs to all concerned teams at regular checkpoints, and they were iterated continuously. Finally, the animations were exported as image sequences and imported into Unity, mapped with the interactive touchpoints, and projected onto the panels with printed illustrations (thus, the animation sequences had no lines, only colors). This process mainly remained the same across all three panels.
Panel 2: Habitat Conflicts
Panel 2: Habitat Conflicts
The 'Habitat Conflicts' interactive panel, set in a village surrounded by forests, features three scenarios with two outcomes each. Scenario 1: Elephants approach a farm; outcomes are either an electric fence deterring them or a path letting them cross to water. Scenario 2: Elephants block the path to school; outcomes are children turning back or a school bus scaring the elephants away. Scenario 3: Elephants destroy houses; outcomes are building more houses, escalating conflict, or creating a path to larger reserves.
Screen Recording of all Animations
The 'Climate Change' interactive panel is set in a forest near hills with a nearby farm and features three scenarios, each with one outcome. In Scenario 1, a flood from a storm drives elephants to higher ground, damaging house walls. In Scenario 2, drought dries up water holes and trees, leading to fewer baby elephants. In Scenario 3, invasive plants overgrow the elephant's food, causing elephants to destroy farms in search of food.
Screen Recording of all Animations
