The Making of "One Quiet Afternoon"
The Idea
The process began when I encountered the Seagull rig by Kamila Bianchi. Such a mischievous character deserved a mischievous story. I started with storyboards and developed the idea that it was territorial. Originally, I wanted the seagull to steal a sandwich she was eating, but the scope of the production did not allow this. Instead, it would chase the woman away by screeching and flapping its wings. (The individual feathers were tedious but fun to animate).
The Story
Once I had the story panels worked out, I roughly timed out each scene in an animatic. During this time, my tech animators were modeling the environment and re-texturing the rigs based on my art direction.
The Reference
Now came one of the best parts--acting like the seagull. Little me (as the seagull) chasing away big me (as the woman). Sometimes being an animator means pulling out your inner 5-year-old.
The Keys
While my team was busy with texturing, I worked with referenced assets to begin animating. This pipeline allowed all of us to continue working in tandem. (Work smarter, not harder!)
The Final Product