I wanted to create a product that took the normal scene and added a little twist. 

The english language has many interesting inconsistencies. For example when a grown person abducts a child we call it child abduction but when a human being is being abducted by aliens we call it alien abduction. To be consistent, it should be called child abduction and human abduction. 

It is in the spirit of this inconstancy that I chose to depict and alien being abducted by the United States of America. 

I started by illustrating the U.S. Space Shuttle. It is a very simply design with limited shadows and as many details as possible without making it appear congested. The animation of the space shuttle was fairly simple. I only had to adjust its position and rotation settings. I caused the nose of the shuttle to rise as it slowed down and then to dip slightly as it reached a stop. I added a wiggle feature to make it look like it was hovering rather than simply at a stand still. I then dipped the nose down again to show a sudden forward movement. 

The blaster on the back of the shuttle is constantly in motion to signify that the engine of the shuttle is constantly going and ready for blast off. I did this by adding a wiggle feature on just the blaster. 

I next created a simple "Marshan" landscape. I wanted to fill it with hills so that I could have an easy place to hide an alien behind. The color theme is classic red for Mars and purple to ad mystic and a science fiction feel. 

I then made a very simple alien. I intended on making the alien very small as it would be dwarfed by the shuttle. This enabled me to avoid to much detail. I then simply adjusted his position over time to make him appear as though he was slowly drifting toward the shuttle. I made him rotate slightly to demonstrate his lack of control. 

The beam of light coming down from the shuttle was difficult. I wasn't sure if I should have two shapes that molded, or if I should simply have it appear through increasing the opacity, or if I should create a mask. I decided I wanted to have the shape grow out from the middle rather than to appear all in one shape. So I created a mask that grew from the middle to show the beam underneath.

Having smoke rise from the beam was tricky. I wanted it to look as though the smoke was appearing and moving away form the beam to show its force on the planet. I did this by changing the position on the smoke to have it move away from the light and then I created multiple round masks that slowly moved to reveal the dust. The dust then simply dispersed by having the opacity turn to zero. 

The hardest concept for me to create by far was the idea that fire was coming from the blaster at take off. I attempted many different variations of flames before I came to the very simply option. The only movement that the flames make is the initial rapid position change from behind the blaster. They are parented to the shuttle so when it moves they move with it. The movement happens so quickly that you really don't have time to realize that the flames only move once. There was no mast hiding the fire I simply had their opacity turned to zero until the shuttle moved in front of them. 

To add a little more movement to the image I decided to add a few pieces of grass on the hill. These pieces of grass bend from the wind forces caused by the descending shuttle. I accomplished this bending with the puppet tool. This took a long time as the grass makes many small movements. 

I intended on stopping the project at that point but I felt as though there was something missing. The animation was just to empty. 

To solve this problem I decided to make stars. After making countless variations of stars I had the idea that I should hide words in the stars. It was then that I thought of the Avengers and the now famous turn to dust scenario. I researched how I could do this effect in after effects and then did. Its actually a very easy process. So to add a little more to the scene the stars quickly form the words "Alien Abduction" and then they disperse to make the night sky again. 

I loved this project. It was by far harder to get to understand the program than it was to just design the images. I look forward to creating more animations in the future.