This is another post in a collection of snapshots that demonstrate the process of creating an animated scene. Here I was using a sketch pad to get some order and form to my ideas. The plan is to demonstrate cancer cells undergoing mitosis, adjacent to normal cells of the pancreas.
Key features I hope to convey:
1. Cancer cells look different to normal cells of the pancreas
2. Cancer cells behave differently to normal cells of the pancreas
3. The environment in which cancer forms is crowded – cells, blood vessels and connective tissue get deformed when the cancer grows.
4. Cancer cells form over time, following a series of molecular mistakes that happen inside the cell (an idea to be driven by narration)
Sketching the series of events out in a rough storyboard helps to iron out the sequences that make sense as an idea and not yet on paper. My original storyboard covered this scene but the scenes and sequences always get re-sketched as the scientific details emerge.
Inspiration and scientific insight for this scene has come from the laboratory of Dr Andrew Burgess at The Garvan Institute.
NEXT STEPS: building the 3D scene in a way that conveys the key messages. Challenges: ways to show cellular density without creating distractions, introducing some randomness into the mitosis as the cancer grows and divides over time.
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Categories: Animation
