Niklas Gustafsson

New Media
1979, Finland

Contact information
+358 40 534 4244
niklas(at)nikui.net

The third eye

My MA thesis consists of a short animated film and a written thesis. The film is about a scholar with an insatiable hunger for information. To his great dismay, he realizes that he is unable to understand the book he so desires. Faced with humiliation before his arrogant predecessor, the man tries out a drastic shortcut to knowledge, with dire consequences. The visual style of the piece was inspired by early cartoon animation and black and white silent films. The film is carried out entirely on the computer with 3D graphics. Sound design was done by Antti Mäki (Media Lab) and editing by Maria Palavamäki (ELO).

In the written thesis I discuss the production process of the work. I briefly present some theory on animation as well as some principles of creating movement. In the end I try to position the work in context with the tradition of animation.