Jesse Scarpelli
May 10, 2015
Animation
Case Study
Client
Westchester Community College Animation class
Project Title
The Plastic Cup we need
Duration
5 Months/ one semester
Team
Myself and Professor Krikun
Description
For this project we were researching different ideas behind
sustainability. We had to find an organization that we liked and make a short animation for this
company. I chose our own school as the subject, in part because of their efforts to reduce our
impact on Earth s environment. Through the use of the new cup introduced through Starbucks
for WCC we can reduce the amount of garbage by 65% just by reusing these cups. They are
cheap and reusable with the added bonus of a discount each time you use the cup.
I decided to do my animation based off of a classic good guy vs bad guy scenario. We have the
evil Styrofoam cup that is constantly damaging our ecosystem, draining our resources like a
resource vampire. This “vampire” is seen attacking our innocent meatball looking character and
frightening him. In comes out “hero” the green mug. He is seen thwarting the evil Styrofoam cup
and saving the day, our pockets, and the environment.
Research
I did some research into sustainability by looking into
different programs colleges across the United States are doing. Most colleges have a similar idea
with reusable cups, which is a step in the right direction. Some colleges even have incentives for
recycling or using biodegradable items, to lessen their impact on our environment. I also
researched how Starbucks partnered up with WCC to provide these cups at a low cost to the
students so that it would be more appealing to the students.
Challenges
I did not face many challenges through the research steps.
Most of my challenges came from design and actually animating the project. I feel my biggest
challenge was time. With only one class a week and so little hours cramming in everything we
need to know was a challenge for both us and the professor. Also the project I chose came with
its own challenges. Doing research on a colleges program to get rid of waste is not easy. There is
not a lot to go off of to begin with. All it essentially is was a new cup introduced to us with the
intention of getting rid of plastic and Styrofoam with the added perk of a discount on each
purchase.
Strategy
My strategy behind this project started with research.
Once all the ices were in place I gathered the knowledge I learned and was continuing to learn to
start my initial sketches. My original idea had to be scrapped because of time constraints and
poor planning on my part. My idea was too ambitious for the ability I had in animation with only
a couple of weeks of learning. So starting from scratch I had to gather new research and start
sketching out new ideas to plan out my course. From there my strategy became simple; get it
done on time.
Design approaches
My approach to designing this animation was
simple as well; use what I learned to build the best animation I could. I wanted to incorporate the
idea of sustainability as a hero. So naturally a hero needs a villain to balance them out. This
game me the idea of an evil Styrofoam cup that leeches off of the environment, I felt this was an
idea everyone could get behind. I wanted to meatball looking thing to be all of us and show our
fear of things that can hurt the environment. So then the cup comes in and saves the day and us
from more environments damaging Styrofoam.
Effectiveness
Budget
I don’t know yet, no one has seen it but me.
My soul and time.