MANWITCH

A Vertical Studio Project

Final Product

ManWitch is a collaborative, animated short that was completed over four months in the Vertical Studio class at Texas A&M University. As a group, we had to figure out the necessary steps to proceed through the animation pipeline while figuring out a story that connects with the audience.

Steps to Visual Storytelling

Storyboarding to Animating

Storyboard Development

When making a story come to life you have to know the layout of the scene and how the character interacts with it. Zuri Simpson and I figured out the architecture and the obscure objects placed throughout the house. Then it was my responsibility to scope out the timing of character, where he moved on the screen and the character animation. Patrick Bueno provided additional help with the animation.

Rigging a Witch

Creating Character Controls

Rigging

Giving tools to an animator has to be one the most rewarding tasks I've ever been presented with. I had to learn how to properly paint weight a character, add set driven controls to both hands, and set up inverse kinematics for the elbows of the character.

The goal of the animation was to focus on displaying emotions through hand gestures. The character model doesn't include a face or legs because the camera wasn't going to display that information. This saved me a lot of time when it came to rigging the character.

As for the sandwich, I assigned a single rig control to each part of the delicious mesh. Then I set up a global control, so the animator can move entire sandwich around and adjust each part of the sandwich accordingly. Also, lattice controls were set to assist with the squash and stretch movements of the eyes.

Who the heck helped?

The Credits

Directed and Pitched by: Estefani Flores-Ortiz
(also worked on; Layout, Textures, Lighting, Composition, and Modeling)

Nicholas Harvey ~ Lead Animator, Storyboard, and Character Rig

Zuri Simpson ~ Character Concepts, Textures, and Modeling
Ben Heymann ~ Special FX, Modeling, Animation
Patrick Bueno ~ Special FX, Modeling, Animation, Composition, and Sounds
Benjamin Rathke ~ Modeling and Lighting
Catherine Galindo ~ Modeling and End Credits

Special Thanks to:

Our Instructors:

Sherman Finch, Andre Thomas, & Cameron Coker

Helpful Vizzers:

Cameron Black & Mason Smith

With our drive to succeed our team made this wonderful animation.

Let it be known that you can do anything if you put your heart in to it!

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