The Idea

London, September 1939 when it was announced

that Britain was at war with Germany it became
a priority to evacuate all city children to the
countryside. This story follows 11 year old Frederick
Mace in his unkind experience during the start of
World War II.

The idea began with Doris sharing her memories

of World War II, being an evacuee separated from
her parents moving with her younger brother to
Yorkshire and then Cornwall. She shared the story
my Grandad never, of how he was neglected and
mistreated by his host family, how he was left
outside in all weathers on a doorstep, how the soles
of his shoes didn’t have soles on the bottom from
where they wore out and how starved he was that
he stole milk from a milk float.

When I found this photo of Fred, Doris and their

mother, Rosa, that was the second beginning of this
short, I had my characters, time period, location and
story now that’s left is for me to recreate it through
animation.
 STORY ARC
ACT 1 ACT 2 ACT 3
Rising Action: Falling Action:
Setting up the story:
Scene 4 - The abuse Scene 7 - Doris finds
Scene 1 - Evacuated
and neglect begins Fred and sends a
to Yorkshire on train.
(the first night). letter home.
Scene 2 - Being
Scene 5 - The first Scene 8 - Rosa
separated from Doris.
day, struggling for hallucination.
food.
Scene 3 - Taken to
Scene 9 - Fred gets
the host home.
Scene 6 - The storm. rescued.
 Locations
Before looking into art directions, it was
important to familiarise myself with the locations
and era of my animation, that way I could find
something appropriate to aid the story telling by
giving the look a mood. At first I contemplated
using a a graphic novel, however a graphic novel
although appropriate for the theme of war, was
better suited for more of a soldier’s battlefield
story rather than an evacuee story set in the
countryside.

I looked into the works of Van Gogh and L.S.

Lowrey but found the look I wanted mostly in
Jon Klassen’s illustrations, his use of desaturated
colours which has a past time like feel and
creates a gloomy tone, there’s a sense of sepia
which suggests nostalgia, yet there’s some colour
which adds life to a memory. The rough texture
- the scratchy marks of the brush gives a worn
photograph feel, all of these contribute to the
nostalgia I want to capture and gloomy tone
that I want to set.
Art Direction
Cottage Visual Research
Finding the Character Style
 My approach to character design was to find a good art
direction that I could translate the photo of my relatives into that
also worked with my chosen art direction for environments.
 Frederick Mace

Fred is the protagonist of the story, he is aged

9, a frightened, quiet, timid boy who has a
special bond with his Mum and is adored by his
older sister Doris. During his time in Yorkshire he
is alone, neglected, abused, starved, segregated,
and by the end of his experience traumatised.
 Doris Mace
Doris is Fred’s older sister, aged 12, she is
evacuated to Yorkshire with Fred and is separated
from him at the church. She is taken in by a
kind family who treat her well. Doris adores her
younger brother and does her best to take care
of him, she’s gentle, kind and always has a smile
even in the worst of times. When she finds her
brother in his ill state she gets help my sending a
letter home to get help.
 Rosa Mace
Rosa is the mother of Doris and Fred, she is
40 years old. She is a tough, strong and will do
anything for her family, she has a strong special
bond with her son. When she recieves a letter
from Doris when she finds him in his ill state,
Rosa marches on a train to rescue her children
but doesn’t leave without giving Fred’s host a
piece of her mind.
 Next Steps:
1. Rosa Turnarounds
2. Design the abused traumatised Fred by end of the animation.
3. Add SFX to animatic
4. Design and do turnarounds for the waist down character.
5. Expression sheets for each character
6. Gesture sheets for each characters
7. Look into finding a composer for my animation
8. Orthographs and production art for: Train carriage, evacuee tags, cases,
gas masks, milk float, milk bottles, the tree, houses, stone walls, church
9. More concept art - paint over and develop storyboard panels
10. Start modelling and test textures
11. Start making the Art Of document.