Designing Anthropomorphic Cat Family Characters in 2D Animated Short Film “Hanyut”

Abstract

Jakarta is often, if not regularly, being hit by a natural disaster in a form of floods. Floods have affected not only human but also domestic animals like cats, chickens, and pigeons, especially in Kampung Pulo. There are not many films out there that show the struggles and sufferings of animals during floods which is why author and team decided to make an animated film about it titled “Hanyut”; how are their conditions; how can they survive the events. In the scope of the film preproduction, author decided to focus on character design which is designing the cat family characters in the 2D animation film “Hanyut”. The designs will be limited on character designs for the cat family that consists of the mother cat and her two kittens. Although anthropomorphic, these cat characters cannot talk and walk on 4 feet (quadrupedal), but have similar personalities and emotions as human beings. Moreover, the research design will be limited on the drawing style, basic shapes, body proportions, as well as hair and eye colors that will be used on the characters. Data collection for this qualitative research was done by literature reviews, on-site observations, observations on animation films, and surveys about the characters’ appearances to be used during the character designing process. By doing this research, the writer wants to create the cat family corresponding to the story plot and can attract people’s sympathy with the characters’ characterizations.