By Sherry An
“How life adapts to cities around the world” is a 5 minute educational animated film created by Sherry An (myself), a science and medical illustrator and designer from Mississauga, Canada. The film uses 3D animation and visual storytelling to share the goals and results of the first GLUE study in an accurate and engaging way.
The idea for the GLUE animation was first conceptualized around the beginning of summer 2021. At the time, I was nearing the end of my first year in the Biomedical Communications program at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. For readers who are unfamiliar, this is a two-year Master’s program that focuses on clear and engaging visual communication in the health and biomedical sciences. As a part of its curriculum, all students undertake a Master’s Research Project (MRP) that provides an opportunity to delve into the research, design, and implementation of a science communication tool or media.
One (fateful) day while scrolling through the board of available projects, I came across Dr. Marc Johnson’s posting the GLobal Urban Evolution (GLUE) project. The GLUE project caught my attention immediately. GLUE felt like a great fit for my MRP because of my interests in the realms of ecology, genetics, and plant sciences. After virtually meeting with Dr. Johnson and aligning on the communication goals, it was decided that a short animation would be an excellent way to spread the results of the study with a wider audience and to help spark interest in urban evolutionary biology. I remember being extremely inspired by the collaborative nature of the study and I was excited to take part in sharing its story. Over the course of the next year and a half, I went through the process of completing my MRP.
Literature research
During the first four months of the project, I delved into the literature to learn more about the field of urban evolutionary biology and the existing challenges to its communication. I also looked for strategies for effective multimedia learning design and examined the existing evidence that supported them.
Preproduction
Fall 2021 marked the start of the preproduction phase. I worked on writing the script and coming up with the corresponding visual treatment. Professor Michael Corrin, my project supervisor, was of great help during my entire project but especially at this stage. We often met once a week, where I was encouraged to take an iterative design approach. With this method, I made gradual improvements based on feedback I received from my graduate committee. After the script was finalized, I created a rough animated storyboard and added voiceover narration. This “animatic” served as a guide for the timing and visual flow when creating the final animation. Sound and video were not something I had prior experience in so it was a fun learning experience picking up on these new skills.
Two storyboard panels from the scene depicting an example of natural selection.
Visual development for the forest environment and the main characters.
Production
With a plan set in place, the winter of 2022 was when it finally came time to actually create the animation. The 3D animations were created using a software called Autodesk Maya. For the visual style, I was inspired by low poly, a 3D computer graphics style often used in video games. This style contrasts simple low-polygon mesh counts with highly realistic form and lighting. As a result, objects are simplified and there is a greater focus on its geometric shape with the details kept intentionally vague. I’m grateful there are a number of resources available online that I was able to reference when creating my models. Additionally, some of the more conceptual scenes from the animation such as the evolutionary tree and the world map were created in Adobe Illustrator. Sound production, 3D renders, and 2D graphics were all compiled together in Adobe After Effects. With so many moving parts, staying extremely organized and maintaining good documentation were key.
Screen captures in Maya of the 3D models for the white clover and the bee.
The final animation was released and shared in September of 2022. Overall, I am extremely proud to have seen such a massive project such as this animation come together from start to finish. My hope is that the animation will continue to spark conversations about urban evolution with a more global and diverse audience. Thank you to everyone who helped make this animation possible and I look forward to GLUE 2.0 and beyond!
Click here to watch the animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evqrFouldEI&ab_channel=SherryAn
Contact: ansherry.visuals@gmail.com
Website: https://www.ansherry.com