animation

About two weeks into my Motion Graphics class I was told my midterm and final project were completely open, I could make anything I wanted to make. Which soon led to being completely overwhelmed with options. Sitting at my desk I pondered until I literally looked up to the poster above over my desk:

Poster from the video game Portal 2 made by Valve in 2011

Portal 1 & 2 remain two of my favorite games due to the satirical writing. I realized I wanted to make something satirical and what could be worse than a constant, ominous threat of you being easily replace-able. My sister Siena had been previously inspired by the same poster (without even playing the source material) so she was the first I turned to help me write a script. After a few rounds of emails the script was completed but only two weeks away from midterms being due. This project seemed too big for myself to complete in a short period of time. After midterms I found a classmate, Rachel Daub, that enjoyed my idea and would be willing to be my partner for the project. Together we found more inspiration and focused on our style and approach.

Rachel found the voice actor for our narrator and created the illustrations for the animation. Together we planned and drew up storyboards.

First round of storyboards

After I received Rachel’s illustrations I began the rigorous process of animating. Once finished Rachel and I worked together to pick and add the music and make any changes or add finishing touches.