Testing animation types!
This is a personal project I’ve started working on to keep my creative muscles moving in a different and fun way. PATARAT, as I’ve called it, is intended to be a source of letting thoughts go by, bring little jokes to life, and try out different paths of self-expression. I’ve created all of the material, both 2D and 3D using Blender and Moho. These projects would in no way effect my professional career. Consider it a creative exercise to keep my thinking muscles trained and an opportunity to explore new avenues!
From Concept to finalization, the animated version was intended to represent a simplistic version of myself. I think it felt right to lend my voice to myself and it would present a fun contrast between more outlandish ideas. I do intend on creating other characters / scenarios from a myriad of genres.
put it all together!
This 3d render was a fun experiment in finding a mix in material to match the aesthetic I had in mind while giving it a unique spin. This is somewhat based on my current living room, so finding references was easy enough!
This is a frame of a test render with everything put together! Essentially, I animate the character in Moho, import it into the 3D scene in Blender, and adjust accordingly. I think the end result is a unique and fun blend of visuals that I don’t see extremely often online. More importantly , it feels like an appropriate representation of me and what I enjoy visually.
Concepts & Doodles
Though these are not finalized, these are samples of the thumbnails for the sake of exploration. My design mission is an emphasis on pushing expressions and a silly, welcoming energy.
take A Peak behind the curtain!
It shouldn’t be a surprise, but I’ve made every piece of this site as well! I really wanted to move away from the generic, fill-by-numbers formats website services provide. Because of this, I wanted to make something more graphically involved to give a stronger showcase of not only my character but what I’m capable of. Without further ado, let’s take a look around!
Hand drawn & designed
For me, the main objective is to give a solid first impression of my character from the site alone. As much as I’d like to be on standby to introduce myself, I’d like to think I’ve done well to show what style appeals to me. I wanted a pseudo-retro aesthetic tied with handmade assets to give it a touch of scrappy ingenuity I pride myself in.
imagining Iconic Icons
The little icons on the home screen were also made by me! Each took about 30 minutes or so from start to finish. I created the models and animated them in blender, imported them into After Effects to add the webpage framing and some pixelation, and lastly shipped them into Media Encoder to export them as animated GIF files.
I haven’t done this type of iconography before, but it felt like another opportunity to try new things and find my own style. It frankly took a lot less time than I figured it would, which was as convenient as it was gratifying.
As mentioned before, it’s important to me to make this site a place of self-expression so you get an idea of who I am off the bat. Because of this, my old site had to go. In case anyone happen to come across it, I put together a little landing page to ship ‘em over here!
Sayanora, old site!
Senior Capstone: Discontinued
This is my 25-minute narrative-turned-documentary describing my and my classmates’ experience trying to create a capstone project during COVID-19. It was created in the summer of 2019. It originated as a narrative short called “Disconnected,” a story focusing on a post-relationship Kevin (Paul McKay) figuring out how to move on and live when his friend, Mark (Cal Byard), insisted they go out for the evening. Although it isn't exactly the most creative concept, it's uniqueness would lay in the style, pace, and resolution.
From Locked-in to Lockdown
I was beyond nervous about making this project a reality, but I was confident in my crew. Scott Gregory was my Director of Photography and Corey Knollinger was my Audio Lead. They are incredible in their fields, and are two of my closest friends. If anyone on earth would make sure we were on track, it would be them.
The script went through an intense writing process observed by peers with experience in storytelling. A storyboard was created, a crew built, and actors were cast from the acting department within the University. For all intents and purposes, everything was going fine.
Short Film, Short Notice
Things began to get away from us when COVID-19 began to spread. We heard about it across the seas and knew it was a matter of time before it came over here. Once it did, it raised a lot of questions. Would we even begin to keep shooting once shutdowns began?
At first we tried to continue using a skeleton crew of four. Myself and our PA, Kyle, as the actors alongside Scott and Corey. Once lockdowns started getting announced, this plan was quickly scuttled. Ultimately it wasn’t worth running health risks for ourselves or those around us. But the question remained - how will we get a capstone sorted now?
cREATIVE pROBLEM sOLVING
After several “passionate debates,” it became clear what we had to do. I had a handful of footage and the opportunity to interview several actors and classmates through online conference calls. After some plotting and several whiteboard scribbles, we were able to sort a narrative line to follow. If we can’t create a short film, a personal documentary describing our experience was the next best thing.
This project continues to stand as a reminder of where I came from and what I can do under pressure. I didn’t faulter, I didn’t let quality slide, and I pressed on to make the best project I could at the time. The fundamentals of this experience hold true; I’m scrappy, I’m able to stay light on my feet, and I make every effort to get the project done in the end.
