SYFY ID (2022)

The class: Animation Techniques at Ringling College of Art & Design

The assignment: A 15 second stop motion bumper for the SYFY network. Using Indonesian-style paper cutout characters to tell a story through expressive movement. Must show the logo for 3 seconds at the end of the animation. 

The process:

Storyboarding three original concepts with descriptions under every frame (taking you through the entire animation). 

Concept 1 - (Romantic Comedy) Focused heavily on props vs. the movement of the puppets to fulfill the assignment and learn challenging character animation. Outcome was revised. 

Concept 2 - Took frames away from the interaction of the dragon and alien. Explosions and complex animations overwhelmed the narrative and my goal was to show each character had a mind of their own. This idea would not fit in the 15 second limit. Outcome was discarded.

Concept 3 - The weakest of my storyboard list. Had lowest potential for entertainment value between the dragon and alien puppets. Outcome was discarded. 

Developed Concept 1 storyboard into an animatic. Changed my sketches to match the true shadow puppets and decreased the amount of props. Revised the screen directions, puppet actions, and resolution to the story. I named my alien "Mart" who has a crush on "Fang" the dragon and offers her a flower. His feelings aren't reciprocated like we first think before the turn of events (climax). 

Composited each element into the same scenes after photography and worked on several passes of the animation with a textured background. Gradient colors and vignette. 

Layered the audio bed and sfx in Adobe AE.