My Sheridan 'Bumper' Film- Responsible for all elements

This project was my first film created at Sheridan. Even creating the concept was a big challenge because we were limited to 10 seconds and the film still needed a plot and a direction. I decided that within 10 seconds I would try and invoke an emotion- to which I figured sadness would be the easiest one. The main astronaut character of this film was inspired by the real historical animal, Laika the dog from Moscow. Laika was sent on a one-way trip to space which showed that a mammal could make it out of the atmosphere, but she was never meant to return to Earth and would die alone in the void. Not only did I want to shoutout to this story, but I wanted to also reflect the time. The film and character was meant to feel nostalgic like watching a Russian mascot traverse history.

Laika Design Details:

I had the idea for the design after realizing the reveal of the film was where the emotion would hit. She is anthropomorphic to meet pipeline constraints and to maintain the mystery. The character would spend 90% of the film with a simplistic space helmet to conceal the identity and reflect the technology of the time and the actual suit that Laika was outfitted with. The colors of the CCCP space suits were vibrant orange/scarlet which melded perfectly with the warm old feeling of the film and the iconography of the Soviet Union. Laika herself was meant to look tired, big-eyed, and sweet as to foster more sympathy for the character and her plight. The setting was also meant to reflect the time. Laika races through settings of her life all melded together in one road: the streets of 1960's Moscow, the CCCP labs, and the Sputnik launch site; mixed together to create the sense of a mixed up memory.

Final Render Examples

Sheridan "Studio for a Week" Film - Director, Character/Background Design, Animation Assist, Boy Modeler/Surfacer

This was my first time directing the production of a film project. I was elected the position since I was both the class rep and responsible for the pitch we went with. This film was meant to be simultaneously complex yet doable for the span of a week with a workload split amongst 17 people. We played to our strengths by making two very stylistic characters but giving them easy rigs to work with in a short span of time. The characters were designed so the limbs, clothing, and additional design elements were clearly distinguishable and left a lot to the imagination. The inspiration was older European fairytales and atmospheric media such as Little Nightmares and The Midnight Walk. This was the ultimate collaborative project with my classmates who all worked together and stayed communicating for 12 hours a day for 7 days to make something that was readable and pleasant to view.

CaveCanem Design Details

To make simplistic yet complex looking characters, I decided to go with very shapely characters. The boy who's hair is exceptionally blocky, body slender and knobby, and eyes big and oblong. The Monster who's only actions are to sit up and burp had a little more wiggle room and I could add more narrative details such as: The house on his back, the horns, teeth, and the sculpted rock-like design of its skin. The eyes on both characters are more abstract and glowing. The oval eyes of the boy are meant to be both stylistic and easy to animate while the Monster's eyes are just a mystical part of his design.

Final Render Examples

UW, Paul G Allen School of Computer Science - Lead Designer, Surfacing Assist, Animation/layout assist, audio Assist

This was the first time I'd ever animated or worked on a project that showed the complexity of the pipeline. The project was made up of about fifteen students, four TA's, and one professor and was never completed and finally rendered. I was made to lead the concept art and character design for our main antagonist and assist with the design of the environment. The story was between a greedy plant monster and a brave little gardener. The monster was meant to be a plant that was imitating a human and would slowly become more monstrous over time with its bad behavior. The entire environment and additional prop and character design was meant to be 'rooted' in nature which let us get creative with how a little girl may fashion tools for her environment and how a monster may adapt to its environment.

The Garden Design Details

The basis for the design of the monster was a pitcher plant with the lid of the plant acting as a false face that resembled the way that nature imitates itself in real life as well. Bugs that have evolved to look like leaves, branches, and other animals- this time being humans. the creature slowly becomes bloated and vile with the more it consumes and reveals itself to be more draconic rather than anthropomorphic.

Final Render Examples