作品名称 Project Title : The nine coloured deer: 2D Puppet Animation

简介 Description:

After listening to presentations on a range of Chinese folktales, I found myself most drawn to two stories: The Legend of the White Snake and The Nine-Coloured Deer. Although I was initially attracted to the romance of The White Snake, I ultimately chose The Nine-Coloured Deer because I felt it offered stronger visual and creative possibilities for my project. The folktale explores themes of trust and betrayal, telling the story of a magical deer who saves a drowning man, only to be betrayed when the man reveals its location in exchange for a reward from the king. The story ends with justice being restored, as the king spares the deer and the betrayer suffers the consequences of his actions.

For the design stage, I began by sketching different versions of the deer to explore its appearance and personality. I was particularly inspired by the stylised visual language of Cartoon Saloon films such as Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, and Puffin Rock, as well as Bambi for its clear and recognisable deer anatomy. Because this was an experimental design project, I wanted to try something new by creating the characters as separate puppet elements. This led me to explore puppet and shadow-puppet animation, with the deer shown in colour while the other characters appear as expressive silhouettes.

使用软件 Tools Used: Medibang paint, Toon Squid