Today brings another adorable creature requiring Flash of its adopters. This one you can actually play with!
"FAVORITE" ANIMATION PUPPETS (160k)This idea originated from playing video games with friends and finding the expressions and movements of the characters often more entertaining than the game's prescribed goal. My desire to win was frequently overrun by the temptation of doing something funny. It made me wish there were more ways to express myself within the game, and some motivation besides conquest.
My first experiment was a simple realization of the concept "digital puppet." Using Flash, I drew an old man whose eyebrows and pupils could move independently. Different combinations of brow and pupil positions seemed to evoke different emotions, from pity to whimsy to rage. But the face didn't do much on its own. It just stared out of the screen. I added another character with the same behaviors, but surprisingly, together they looked even more idle. I added a little yellow dog – and immediately the scene gained focus. It's about the dog, who is either a treasure or a nuisance, and the mens' reactions to it. The dog can be in one lap or the other, but never in between. Therefore the scene is always unbalanced, and never resolved. It's still only a modest demonstration, but I like the direction.
