Say Cheese! by Chesna Ahuja

Say Cheese! Is a 3D animated short about a mouse whose goal is to get the cheese from the top of the table but there are obstacles stopping him. Will he get the cheese? 

I created a storyboard and animatic prior to everything as it will help me map out my initial idea. Most of my final work was based around these but I had to change some shots while in production as somethings didn't translate well from 2D to 3D. Below is my storyboard and animatic. 

After the animatic, I started working on the character designs. First, I created a moodboard of all the inspirations I could find for my main protagonist's design, and then I created thumbnails of different body shapes he could potentially be.  I had feedback from my peers when it came to understanding what shape to go for the mouse. I wanted him to be circular and chubby to show he is sweet.  Additionally, I had constant feedback on the environment design as well. I needed to ensure all the props and objects were in the correct perspective. The environment was mainly a kitchen as it correlates with reality when rodents infest the house; they most likely only show up in the kitchen. 

Then I 3D modeled and textured the background and mouse model for the 3D animation. I independently rigged, paint-weighted, and added controls for the mouse. 

This is my final animation for Say Cheese! Enjoy!