During my first exploration into animatics, I explored into Procreate Dreams - an animation software variant of Procreate, my go-to software. With aspirations for in-house Storyboarding, I utilised Procreate Dreams because of its accessibility, despite my familiarity with software like Storyboard Pro and Toon Boom, which I aim to explore further.

Using the "straight ahead" method, I illustrated the boards directly within the software, animating and adding camera direction as I go. To streamline the process, I previously sketched background environments in Procreate, then imported them into Procreate Dreams to help visual composition. Reflecting on this experience, I find Procreate more efficient to illustrate into, as it provides more advanced tools like Gaussian Blur, textures, and perspective guides. I appreciate these tools for their ability to add depth and dimension to my storyboards style when illustrating.

As this project develops, I envision refining camera angles for added suspense, incorporating low and extreme close-ups. Sound effects and collaborative efforts with a musician to craft eerie background music are in the future planning. Furthermore, I aim to develop more metamorphosis in the ‘creatures’ appearance, tp help symbolise the evolving essence of fear.

The narrative is from a longstanding concept I've had, with hopes of evolving it into a full animation in the future. Drawing from my experiences in my old a dingy, claustrophobic flat in Wembley, the story delves into themes of self-doubt, inner demons, addiction, and societal pressures. While I aim to leave the animation open to various interpretations, here are a few concepts that ignited the idea

Obsession & Addiction: The character's ever-growing pile of empty coffee cups acts as a visual cue to exploration into the concept of character becoming 'addicted' to their craft. Despite the harbouring element fear from the 'demon' lurking, the character persistently returns to their sketchbook as a source of comfort. This portrayal suggests the artist's inability to tear themselves away from their creative pursuit until completion, “fearing” the repercussions of abandonment.

Caffeine-filled the artist continues to drawn tirelessly throughout the night because of their hunger for closer and completion, which embodying the theme of self-doubt. Not feeling worthy until the work is done. 

Despite self doubt and overthinking not being ‘physical dangers’ it is illustrated that the character experience a close call with death as they narrowly avoid being hit by a bus due to being so consumed by there inner thoughts. The splash from the puddle is the characters wake up call to snap back into reality. 

Lastly, I deliberately represented the character and the demon separate until the final moments where they are reflected in the character's puddle, this illustrates the notion of 'inner demons,' highlighting the psychological battle afflicting the character's inner world.

The animatics' background mirrors the layout of my former flat. While seated at my desk, I frequently caught sight of the bathroom door opening in the reflection of my makeup mirror. Due to the flat's deteriorating condition, the bathroom door would constantly swing open. As a freelancer I tend to work into the late hours, so the sight of the door opening and the towels hanging on it, creating the illusion of someone's presence, often scared me but equally inspired me to write this story.