The Marshmallow Menace

Introduction 

The Marshmallow Menace is an exciting short film with a mix of thriller and comedy, skillfully created by a talented group of second-year animation students from Escape Studios. This captivating short film represents the result of a dedicated 5-week production process, following industry standards.

Synopsis

Lucas Woods is enjoying a remote camping trip in a forest when he hears mysterious sounds from the forest. In his fright, he loses his prized Marshmallow and goes to investigate the spooky noises. He works himself up into a panic as the noises grow. Suddenly a nearby bush starts to shake, and there’s a terrible growl. Lucas braces himself to face a monster. A squirrel hops out from the bush and Lucas is relieved, but then the Squirrel starts to writhe and growl. Eventually, the Squirrel coughs up his marshmallow. Lucas perhaps overreacts to the situation, but the marshmallow is his once more.

Characters 

Meet the characters! Due to our limited timeframe of 5 weeks, which prevented us from creating custom character models and rigs, we decided to utilize free online rigs. Our team selected the RayRig (by CG-tartan) and the Squirrely rig (by Josh Burton), modifying and enhancing them to match the story's requirements. Using Substance Painter and Photoshop, we retextured both rigs to ensure they were perfectly suited for the narrative.

Storyboard 

Animatic

Colour Script 

When developing the colour script, our main focus was determining the time of day and using colours to enhance the thriller aspects and highlight the protagonist's isolation. We opted for a dawn blue palette with a touch of fog, creating an eerie atmosphere. The chosen blue hue also serves as a striking contrast against the warm orange tones of the crackling fire, effectively highlighting the protagonist's shift from a place of safety and comfort to being engulfed by the consuming blue of the forest.

Set Design

Leveraging the collective expertise of team members knowing Unreal Engine, we made the deliberate choice to construct, light and render using this powerful software. Considering the multitude of camera angles capturing the forest from various heights and positions, it became crucial to provide the audience with a clear sense of location, particularly within the dense forest environment. To solve this issue, we created a prominent "hero tree" within the forest scene - a significantly larger tree with distinct colours, set apart from the surrounding foliage. This distinctive tree served as a visual anchor, enabling viewers to easily identify and establish their location within the forest setting.

Poster 

Created by Pip Cowen

Team Roles 

Nash Ebuka - Director + Previsualisation + VFX + Animator + Sound Designer

Rianna Patel - Producer + Lead Animator + UE Specialists + CG Supervisor

Pip Cowen  - Art Director + Writer + Animator + VFX + Environment Artist + Sound Designer

Marc Montebon - Storyboard Artist + UE Specialists + 3D Layout + Animator + Co-producer

Pelumi Oyekunle - Editor + 3D Layout + Sound Designer + Animator 

Daniela Flores - Lighting Artist

Joshua Reynolds - Animator