Animated Short Films
The Artist Within - Senior Project (Fall 2023)
Programs used: Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects
This animation was part of my Senior Project at George Mason University (Fall 2023). The animation's story follows an unnamed artist (referred to as the Artist) as she struggles to find her creative calling. She is soon greeted by a shape-shifting being representing her creative energy (referred to as the Spirit) who offers his aid to her. Together the pair travel across a wide variety of visual and artistic styles to help the Artist find her creative niche.
I was partially inspired to make this short based on various re-animation collabs I like to watch on Youtube. In these videos, groups of individual animators would get together to reanimate iconic moments from movies and TV shows for fun. Each scene in these collabs would be done in a different animator's personal visual style. My short differs from these by being centered on an original story of my own creation rather than being based on audio from a pre-existing movie or TV show. Each visual style utilized in the short is based on pre-existing visual material that has inspired me creatively over the years (ex: the cartoon Samurai Jack, comic books, video games, LEGO, etc). I had actually wanted to include at least one more scene in the finished short inspired by older cartoons (i.e. Looney Tunes), but I ultimately cut it due to time constraints and creative issues.
SFX, music, and stock footage were sourced from the websites Pixabay and Pexels, and belong to their respective creators/owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
The Calamitous Conundrum of Dr. Camtastrophe - Final Video Project (Fall 2023)
Programs used: Digital Camera, Phone Camera, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere
This was my final video project for my Film and Video Production class at George Mason University (Fall 2023). For the project guidelines, we were told to make a short film that incorporated tension in its story. My short film, entitled The Calamitous Conundrum of Dr. Camtastrophe, uses this tension by having the titular Dr. Camtastrophe (referred to as "Cam" in the short) and his best friend, Walter, race to stop one of his inventions that is threatening the school.
For the short's visual style, I wanted to evoke a comic book aesthetic where each individual scene is framed like a comic book panel. Almost all of the backgrounds in each scene, with the exception of the room Dr. Cam's invention resides in, is a photo I took with both my phone and a digital camera around the GMU campus in Fairfax, Virginia. I then transferred these photos into Adobe Photoshop and gave them an additional color and texture overlay to make them look more like comic book panels. As for the characters, the titular Dr. Camtastrophe is a 2D character I drew in Adobe Illustrator and then overlaid in Adobe AfterEffects. His counterpart, Walter, is composed of a series of individual photos I took of one of my classmates, Enoch Wokocha (who also voices him in the finished short).
SFX and music were sourced from the website Pixabay and belong to their respective creators/owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
Netizens-Citizens Project (Spring 2023)
Programs used: Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects
This was the final animation project I did for my Thinking Through Animation class at George Mason University (Spring 2023). For the guidelines, we were told to think about what it meant for our digital and real life selves to converge onto each other. I took this prompt to the most literal sense for my project by focusing on an unnamed internet user (referred to as the User) as he traverses the greater internet.
I particularly enjoyed making exaggerated reinterpretations of the various interactions and situations a normal internet user would encounter. For example, at one point the User crosses a bridge where he is greeted by spam advertisements that he tries to avoid only to run into another one in the form of a suspicious female. This project also is one of my first attempts at experimenting with multiple different animation styles in a single project. While the majority of the short is animated in traditional 2D animation to show the "wonders" of the internet, the ending scene is animated in rotoscope animation so as to emphasize the divide between the digital and the real world.
SFX and music were sourced from the website Pixabay and belong to their respective creators/owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
All Aboard - Cultural Conditioning Project (Spring 2023)
Programs used: Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects
This was another animation project for my Thinking Through Animation class at George Mason University (Spring 2023) where we were tasked with creating an animated short centered around a specific space. To give the short more life, we were specifically told to consider the kinds of activities and interactions that would normally occur in said location. I chose to center my animation around a busy train station in the city since I felt that such a location could allow for many possible interactions and ongoing events. This location also allowed me to indulge in my love of trains and railroading. For the story, the animated short follows an unnamed man and woman as they make their way through the different areas of a train station as they make their way to the train. Locations they pass through include the drop-off area at the entrance, the subway, the ticket booth, the waiting area, and the platform. The backgrounds and other assets were created in Adobe Illustrator while the actual animation was done in Adobe After Effects.
SFX were sourced from the website Pixabay and belong to their respective creators/owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
Identity Project (Spring 2023)
Programs used: Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects
This was a project for my Thinking Through Animation class at George Mason University (Spring 2023). This was the second part to an introduction exercise we did at the beginning of the semester where were asked to describe ourselves using a select number of words we chose. Afterwards, we had to create a narrative to introduce ourselves using those words in the form of an animated short.
SFX were sourced from the website Pixabay and belong to their respective creators/owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
(Fall 2022)
Programs used: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects
This was another animation project for my 2D Animation class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). Here, we were tasked with experimenting with rotoscope animation so that we could practice creating more realistic character movements in animation. We were allowed to utilize royalty free stock footage in order to create the rotoscope. For my video, I chose to animate a 30 second clip of a woman walking about through a train station. To create the animation, I first traced over the woman frame-by-frame and added color in Adobe Photoshop. I then exported this animation into Adobe After Effects where I added the color background and lights to make it look like she was walking around at a party or busy nightclub. After that, I added in music to set the mood.
Footage: Woman Walking and Modeling in a Train Station (cottonbro studio)
https://www.pexels.com/video/woman-walking-and-modeling-in-a-train-station-5822803/
Music: First floor jazz lofi vibes (Tama's Little Music Shop)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOE2I91P35s
Footage and music belong to their respective creators/owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
Tooned Out(Fall 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects
This was an experimental project I did for my 2D Animation class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). Here, I sought to create a montage of various slapstick gags and synced them to cartoon sound effects (hence the name of the project). My primary inspiration for this project were the various cartoon videos I used to watch on Youtube such as the fan-made Weird Al music videos by the creator RWappin. I specifically wanted to emulate the absurdity and unpredictable nature prevalent in those videos and incorporate them into my project. To give myself more of a challenge, I limited myself to using only 3 colors throughout the entire short (red, white, and black).
Lurking (Fall 2022)
Programs used: Phone Camera, Adobe Photoshop, & Adobe After Effects
This was an animation project I did for my 2D Animation class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). The story follows an unnamed character running across my desk and interacting with various objects on it. This project was my first time experimenting with rotoscope animation. I achieved this by recording footage of my youngest sister, Bridget, running around the yard which I then traced over frame-by-frame in Adobe After Effects. I then layered this footage over photos of my desk that I took with my phone and edited in Adobe Photoshop.
Kinetic Type(Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects and Adobe Illustrator
This was the final project I did for my Motion Design class at George Mason University (Summer 2022). For my project, I created an animated music video where I animated type and other elements to the beat of music. The song used for the video is (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult (no copyright infringement intended).
Motion Design Exercises
Obstructions - Project #1 (Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects
This was a larger project we did for my Motion Design class at George Mason University (Summer 2022). Each of us was assigned to make a short animation based on one of the principles of design (i.e., color, form, etc.). Each week, we would then remake the short based on a set of new guidelines we developed as a class (i.e., must include sound, no fewer than ten transitions, etc.). My project focused on the element of Line and was remade four times over the course of the class, resulting in the four different segments.
*The music towards the end of the short is the Mii Channel theme, owned by Nintendo. No copyright infringement is intended.NBC Logo Re-Animated (Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects
This was an exercise we did for my Thinking Through Animation class at George Mason University (Summer 2022). Each of us was supposed to choose an existing brand logo and create a new animation for it. For my animation, I chose to reanimate the NBC logo since, at the time, I felt I could do much more with it than any other logo. To create the motions, I first traced over the individual elements of the logo in Adobe Illustrator. Then I transferred them into Adobe After Effects to create the finished animation you see here.
Exercise 7 (Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects
This was another exercise I did for my Motion Design class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). Here, we had to practice squash and stretch animation techniques by animating a bouncy ball. For my short, I chose to depict my ball bouncing against the walls of a secluded prison cell.
Exercise 6 (Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects
This was another exercise I did for my Motion Design class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). Here, we had to choose a 15 second clip of audio and animate type in sync with it. This project acted as a precursor to our final project that we did later (see my Kinetic Type project above).
The audio for this project is taken from the episode "Lady Bouvier's Lover" from The Simpsons (no copyright infringement intended).
Exercise 5 (Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects and Adobe Illustrator
This was another exercise I did for my Motion Design class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). Here, we were asked to recreate an existing abstract poster by tracing over its individual components in Adobe Illustrator and then re-animate it in Adobe After Effects. The poster I chose was for an opera concert.
Exercise 4 (Summer 2022)
Programs used: Adobe After Effects and Adobe Illustrator
This was another exercise I did for my Motion Design class at George Mason University (Fall 2022). Here, we were given various assets in Adobe Illustrator and told to create a short animation that utilized all of the objects provided. For my short, I synced all of the objects disappearing using 2 main audio sources: a recording of me inhaling my breath, and the ending choir to the song "Gangta's Paradise" by Coolio (no copyright infringement intended). The dots that remain at the end are supposed to resemble a smiling face.
