Caring for Bats
Australian Museum Educational Animation for Exhibition Entrance
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BRIEF: To create a playful and engaging short motion graphic that encourages museum visitors (mainly adults) to care about native Australian Bats. To achieve this, the piece must “dispel preconceived ideas” on bats being annoying, dangerous pests with supporting scientific information.
I focused on the Grey-headed Flying Fox. I aimed to highlight the importance of the animal in the ecosystem and dissect the general perception of them as swarming pests that need to be culled. The final motion piece must be short, easy to digest, and intriguing to maximise its engagement with the audience and enable them to care about the Grey-headed flying fox.
STORY/MOTIVE: “We see the Grey-headed Flying Fox everywhere in Sydney and often think “why are there so many of them?” This question usually arises because we find them annoying – they eat our plants, make a lot of noise, and leave a mess wherever they go. Many find it hard to believe that the masses of bats we see are the majority of the total, shrinking population. But why should this be worrying? The Grey-headed Flying Fox is an essential species within the Australian Ecosystem as they carry seeds and pollen over long distances – helping to maintain and expand the bush. The reason why we see them here is because their natural habitat is constantly being cleared, which has pushed them into the more dangerous urban environment. They experience a higher mortality rate in urban areas due to threats such as power lines, tree nets, and barbed wire. If we can’t care for and revive their already shrinking population and habitat, we may see our native bushland wither away completely, leaving more stranded wildlife and exposed land in its wake.”
DESIGN: I employed a hand-illustrated medium for the motion graphic because I felt that its important for a wide audience to experience different or older visual styles in contrast to the super bright, modern, fluid, 3D graphics and animation we see in almost all product videos and film.
These newer styles definitely have their merits, but traditional, handmade visuals feel more grounded in reality in their rawness and texture, while also being less distracting to the viewer as information is conveyed.
These newer styles definitely have their merits, but traditional, handmade visuals feel more grounded in reality in their rawness and texture, while also being less distracting to the viewer as information is conveyed.
ANIMATIC
