COLLEGE BOUND
I had the pleasure of working with the team at Success Academy creating animations for a documentary highlighting the journey of 4 seniors in the largest and highest performing Charter School in New York City. To tell the story of SA, narrated by the founder, we used animations following a singular student character to bring the complexities and abstract moments of SA's history to life.
My role consisted of many hats. Once the script was drafted, my role began:
From ideation to moodboards, style boards, storyboarding, character design, illustration, and right to the finish line – animation.
MOODY EXPLORATIONS
References contained simple and irregular graphic shapes that would play well in an urban environment. Texture was added to give a feeling of depth and a subtle head nod to paper-cut-out crafts so many children experience in school.
COLOR PALETTE
The color palette needed to compliment the footage. Our exploration included side-by-side views of selected color palettes and existing scenes.
MOTION TESTS
While exploring, I created test animations to see how we might transition from footage to animation as well as how we could present more abstract concepts. While we ultimately did not use the scenes below, it was a great way to solidify our approach we would execute later.
CHARACTER DESIGN
I was tasked with designing the main character we would follow throughout animation scenes. Please meet the one and only, Giuseppe, our hero and main student character.
STYLE FRAMES
STORY
BOARDS
Storyboard sketches were laid out and adjusted to convey the story for each scene. Part 1 below.
FINAL RESULT
Raised large funds and awareness about Success Academy Charter Schools.
Made it into top tier festivals in the US and abroad.
Created high quality designs and animations under tight timelines while juggling existing projects… and immediately went on vacation when complete :)
Huge props to the team! You can view the full documentary below.
CREDITS
Director:
Blair Getz Mezibov
Producers:
Meredith Burns
Mallory Hauser
David Briggs
Production:
3rd Strand
Editor:
Frederick Shanahan
Creative Direction & Poster Design:
Christina Rodriguez
Design & Animation:
Amelia Charles