>[ONE FLEW OVER THE CIRCUS] (2012)
One Flew Out of the Circus Cage
2D Hand-Drawn Charcoal Animation | Black & White | 2012 | Central Academy of Fine Arts
One Flew Out of the Circus is a black-and-white 2D animation created as my BA Final project at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Entirely created by charcoal on paper and digitally composited with Photoshop, After Effects, and Final Cut, the film blends traditional techniques with digital tools to explore themes of captivity, empathy, and perception.
The idea was born from a moment in a farmer market, where I saw chickens and ducks bound and caged, an everyday sight and deeply unsettling. It led me to imagine a reversal of roles: what if animals were the dominant species, and humans the ones bought, caged, and trained for entertainment? Through this exchange of power, I hoped to evoke a sense of empathy, allowing viewers to feel the fear and helplessness animals might endure in human society.
The story follows a young girl sold from a pet shop into a circus, where she suffers repeated abuse. One day, she escapes and finds herself on what seems like a peaceful island under the stars. But when she wakes, she is still inside her cage—the freedom was only a dream.
Visually, the film relies on the expressive qualities of charcoal: raw texture, stark contrast, and the shifting tension between light and darkness. These elements evolve with the protagonist’s emotional arc. The characters are drawn nude to strip away identity and status, represeting them as vulnerable beings. The animals, while anthropomorphized for storytelling, retain enough natural traits to remind viewers of their real-world counterparts.
I intentionally alternated between heavy tonal shading and simple stokes to create rhythm and visual impact. This approach helped avoid visual monotony while amplifying the emotional contrasts throughout the narrative. The black-and-white aesthetic removes distractions of color, emphasizing composition, symbolism, and emotional clarity.
One Flew Out of the Circus is not a call for extreme action, but a quiet reflection. It invites viewers to reconsider the normalized cruelty embedded in everyday life and to treat animals not as background objects, but as sentient beings with awareness and emotion. The title, inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, reflects the tragic irony of seeking freedom in a world built on invisible cages.
Poster
Concepts
Stroyboard
Screenshots