SENIOR THESIS FILM:
WEST WIND LILY
West Wind Lily is a senior thesis film for the University of Central Florida. It is an in-media-res car chase about four fugitives on the run from a detective in Lily town. But one of the fugitives is a plant alien!
Time Spent: 310 hours in a span of 16 weeks
Software: Toon Boom, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Maya, Illustrator
BACKGROUNDS
Program used: Photoshop
Style inspiration: Contemporary background art, 1960 vintage films
I was inspired off of works similar to 101 Dalmations, Oliver and Company, Powerpuff Girls, and other simplified, minimalistic yet colorfully evoking background work.
The location was inspired by the Boston, Massachusetts, architecture.
PROCESS
Storyboards
Program: Photoshop
There are a total of 108 key thumbnails, 9 per frame, with a total of 12 boards.
I decided to go for an in-media-res since the purpose of the film was to introduce the characters. With the limited time I had, I kept the focus on the criminal's goal to "get away" from the cop. I also wanted to reveal a surprising and new character for this film in its climax.
When animating, I used Toon Boom Harmony to clean up and color the character animations. I used Harmony for the special effects, such as the smoke animations.
Pre-lay animatic
Progress
CHARACTERS
The characters are thoughtfully selected to closely match the attire of the 1960s era. All the while keeping in mind the simplicity of the design for animating. Each character has various shapes to better define the character's silhouette and general aesthetic. This includes the character's body shape, face, and hairstyle. The color choices for the characters derive from their occupation and the mood I wanted to convey. They are mostly muted to help Gumdrop, the alien, stand out from the rest of the cast.
EXTRA ART
Extra doodles of the characters, including promotional art, anatomy practice, and general fun doodles of the characters.
