Hey Anastasija, I'm just dropping by to make a note of my thoughts at today's crit, as I think everyone was tired and I'm not sure I was making complete sense! So...
It did appear that people were confused by your ending, because there was a sense we were watching a story about 'reincarnation' or a sort of time-loop (the same characters caught in a cycle of fate etc). My suggestion was actually very simple, though maybe I expressed myself poorly (not enough coffee?!). If the last scene is set in, say the year 2000, and we see that an old man is sitting in the square - he's holding the photo we saw being taken in the first scene of him and his soulmate - we understand from his expression etc that he's old and haunted and filled with regret at the idea that the woman he loved was killed; he's lived with this idea since the day he saw the ghetto burn from his window. So, like a pilgrimage, he comes back to the square to 'atone' for his decision back then. So, he holds up the photo, and then sees that a young woman is in the square - she looks just like his soul-mate; she has the red scarf we saw earlier - it's her granddaughter - so she survived the ghetto after all! - and as he watches, he sees the young woman catch the eye of a young man - it's an echo of his own story, and he's seeing the beginning of, and this time there are no divides or racial hatred to prevent them being together... in a way, he can forgive himself a little bit now. Perhaps at the end, the girl is seen to notice the old man on the bench - there's a slight sense of a connection - she's drawn to him, there's a moment... of recognition somehow between them? - but then the young man distracts her for a moment, and then, when she looks again, the bench where the man was sitting is empty...
Well done on the animatic :) nice design and flow of the characters
ReplyDeleteHey Anastasija, I'm just dropping by to make a note of my thoughts at today's crit, as I think everyone was tired and I'm not sure I was making complete sense! So...
ReplyDeleteIt did appear that people were confused by your ending, because there was a sense we were watching a story about 'reincarnation' or a sort of time-loop (the same characters caught in a cycle of fate etc). My suggestion was actually very simple, though maybe I expressed myself poorly (not enough coffee?!). If the last scene is set in, say the year 2000, and we see that an old man is sitting in the square - he's holding the photo we saw being taken in the first scene of him and his soulmate - we understand from his expression etc that he's old and haunted and filled with regret at the idea that the woman he loved was killed; he's lived with this idea since the day he saw the ghetto burn from his window. So, like a pilgrimage, he comes back to the square to 'atone' for his decision back then. So, he holds up the photo, and then sees that a young woman is in the square - she looks just like his soul-mate; she has the red scarf we saw earlier - it's her granddaughter - so she survived the ghetto after all! - and as he watches, he sees the young woman catch the eye of a young man - it's an echo of his own story, and he's seeing the beginning of, and this time there are no divides or racial hatred to prevent them being together... in a way, he can forgive himself a little bit now. Perhaps at the end, the girl is seen to notice the old man on the bench - there's a slight sense of a connection - she's drawn to him, there's a moment... of recognition somehow between them? - but then the young man distracts her for a moment, and then, when she looks again, the bench where the man was sitting is empty...