Filipino Nursery Rhyme 2D Animation

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ABOUT THE PROJECT

Magtanim ay 'di biro is a Tagalog folk song that tells about the daily life of Filipino farmers. Although the song represents the difficulties that come with planting rice in the fields, it also reflects how the farmers love and enjoy what they do. By producing this animation video, we hoped to be able to preserve a part of our heritage and introduce such culture to the next generation.

Additionally, the song is considered as a nursery rhyme which can help the memory and language development of children. For this reason, all of the illustrations were created using a cartoonish style to appeal to the target audience and generate interest among children.

The characters were illustrated in Adobe Illustrator.

The backgrounds were digitally painted using Procreate.

The overall animation was done using Adobe After Effects.

This project is for a college requirement only.

Lyrics | English Translation

Planting rice is not a joke;

the whole day you’re bent like an ox.

You cannot stand more than one bit;

till you’re done you cannot sit.

Oh, my arms, the feeling’s gone;

and my waist, its tired and sore.

My legs feel a thousand pricks,

soaked in water, six to six.

Mornings when I wake and rise;

I tell myself to think, be wise

and pray to find some land to till,

so I can have a tasty meal.

Come, dear fellow stewards of the earth,

stretching muscles is good for the health.

Let us pause so we can catch our breath,

and then tomorrow back to work!

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Translation taken from this website

Storyboard. The sketches shown above were drawn using traditional methods. Everything was scanned and imported to Adobe Photoshop where each scene was edited into the digital storyboard template.

Backgrounds. The environment illustrations presented below were digitally painted using Procreate. The backgrounds include the rice plantations and the Bahay Kubo or nipa hut where the family lives.

Animation. The Adobe Illustrator files were imported as compositions in Adobe After Effects. Each of the scenes were precomposed, containing multiple layers and assets that were animated using the basic adjustment options (position, scale, rotation...), as well as the puppet tool.