COP Animation - Backgrounds

I created simple hand drawn backgrounds using pencil, fine liners and water colors. I made these backgrounds in separate parts to later key frame  in Photoshop. The elements of these backgrounds would move into the screen as the last elements fade away and move off of the screen.

 

   

I scanned these illustrations into Photoshop and eliminated the white space around the subjects:

 

Then I began to overlap the background layers to create a paper cutout effect:

 

These layers had to be carefully arranged to create a certain aesthetic result. The high backgrounds fade from one to the other while the low backgrounds switch out from underneath. 

 

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This is how each scene came together for the animated response: