Quite often, what interests me most about animation is not the characters themselves, but those things that cannot truly be ‘seen’. For example, the humidity in the air, the direction in which scents drift, the rhythm created when the wind rustles through the foliage, or a mood that is difficult to describe accurately in words. I have gradually come to realise that what I wish to express is not usually a specific event, but rather an experience that lies somewhere between sensation and atmosphere.
Compared to live-action footage, animation offers me a uniquely liberating way to depict these ‘invisible’ entities. Smells, emotions and the air itself have no fixed form, yet animation can use particles, colour, light and movement to bring them into a state that comes close to being ‘perceived’. I have gradually begun to experiment with using transparent materials, floating particles, slow motion and spatial rhythm to construct mood, rather than relying solely on dialogue or plot progression.
This interest also influenced my graduation film “Scent”. In the film, I sought to transform ‘scent’ into a visual presence capable of flowing through space. Rather than attributing a specific human identity to it, I wanted it to interact constantly with plants, the environment and light, much like air or energy. I discovered that as the characters gradually lost their distinct boundaries, the audience began to focus more intently on the space itself and the physical sensations evoked by the environment.
During the production process, I also began to pay increasing attention to the impact of ‘atmosphere’ on emotion. For instance, mist can render a space more indistinct, low-saturation lighting can lend a sense of tranquillity to a scene, and the speed at which particles move can influence the viewer’s perception of a space’s rhythm. Although these elements are not as direct as traditional character performance, they nonetheless contribute to the emotional experience. I have gradually come to believe that animation does not merely ‘present’ a story; it can also create a spatial experience that is physically perceived by the viewer.
In the future, I hope to continue exploring how animation can express things that cannot be directly touched or seen, such as smells, emotions, memories and environmental perceptions. I also hope to further investigate the relationship between spatial atmosphere, materials and movement, and to attempt, through a more immersive visual language, to establish a way of viewing that relies not merely on narrative, but leans more towards perception and experience.