UN sustainability goal gif project

This was a project for a university assignment to test basic skills recently learnt in Adobe After Effects. The brief was to create a 1000px square gif representing one of the 17 UN goals for sustainability, showcasing skills.

After researching each goal I settled on goal 14: "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development". In creating thumbnails, I explored ideas such as coral reef decay, ocean poisoning, unsustainable fishing practices and the effects of whaling. These quick thumbnails allowed me to exercise ideas quickly. I settled on the whaling concept, initially deciding to animate a mother and calf swimming followed by some text.

Due to furthering my After Effects skills in my own time I decided to be a bit more ambitious and create a gif with a short narrative, humanising the whales to provoke sorrow from an audience. I drafted a brief storyboard, noting which assets I would need to create.

I created my assets in Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop, focusing on a painted art style. I then began animating in segments, combining each scene and facts on whaling to conclude.

This project is important to me as marine sustainability is a big concern of mine and I hope this emotive piece can help others understand the issue of whaling is still prevalent and problematic.