"Do It In Ten" is a monthly competition run by Show Me The Animation. They have a monthly theme to be used for a ten second animation and entered by the end of the month. I don't often have time to complete the project but I enjoy using the theme as inspiration for a pre production project .
Last month's theme was superstition:
I researched into traditional myths of the South West of England and came across a lot of myths to do with birds.
"A bird calling from the North means tragedy is on the way, from the West brings good luck, from the South means the harvest will be plentiful and from the East, you will find true love."
Birds are generally regarded as messengers between the world of spirit and the material world but different breeds of birds have different myths and superstitions associated with them.
I found the most charming superstitions to be associated with Robins:
1) Make a wish on the first robin of spring for good luck.
2) A robin singing in the open means good weather is coming. A robin singing in the branches means a storm is on the way.
3) If you break a robin's egg something of yours will soon break (in Somerset, it is specified that your mixing bowl will crack and break)
4)If the first bird you see on Valentines day is a robin you will marry a sailor.
My favourite was the last one, living by the sea I was interested to combine my surroundings with my love of these precious song birds.
However, as I mentioned I often run out of time to see the project through and so only completed study drawings of robins. Here they are:
