Pre-Production
Storyboards, concept art, sketches and character design for various projects.
Cat’s Cradle Title Sequence
One assignment during my junior year of college was creating a title sequence for a hypothetical TV show or movie based on a book that has not already been adapted into a film or series. I chose Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, a gritty yet humorous science fiction novel about a journalist who, through his research into the men behind the atom bomb, learns about the existence of “Ice-nine”, a substance that turns any water it touches into ice, regardless of temperature. Most of the book takes place in the fictional island San Lorenzo, where the narrator encounters political corruption, a bizarre religion called Bokonism, and, eventually, the end of the world.
The imagery in my title sequence was inspired by the symbolism, setting, characters, and visually engaging moments from the novel.
Storyboard
Style Frames
Set in Stone
Set in Stone was the final project I completed during my time at Nottingham Trent University; an animated short which needed to tell a story in exactly five shots. Three and a half months were spent completing my short film, under the instruction of Robert Sczerba, Andy Love, and Jeremy Moorehead. The story follows a sculpture named Paul, who comes to life and tries to make his own path against the wishes of his maker.
Storyboard
Finnie and Gills
The first third of my time at Nottingham Trent University was spent working in a randomly assigned group of students to conceptualize and pitch a TV series to active industry professionals Tim Searle, Seyi Odusanya, and Evgenia Golubeva, with a workshop led by Elena Wurlitzer. My group and I pitched a series called Finnie and Gills, a children’s show inspired by the actual organization Sea Shepherds. The logline of our show was “An overconfident young girl desperate to prove herself to her father and his crew abord the 'Megalodon', a sea conservation expedition, learns humility and team-work among the wacky and diverse crew aboard, all while chasing her dream of seeing a real-life whale shark.”
After a few weeks of general ideation, we started developing roles and creating character concepts. After a round of everyone separately creating character designs based on the same blurbs, we reconciled the aspects of the different designs into our final designs. Here are my character sketches.
Finnie: Overconfident, eager to learn, naive, dedicated. Loves whale sharks
Captain: Strict, mission-focused, soft spot for Finnie, utilitarian/tactical dress except for a bracelet made by Finnie.
Gills: Finnie’s cat, always dressed like a shark. Smarter than the average cat and helps Finnie out where he can
Welder: from New Zealand or Australia, loves girly things and working out. Makes her own jewelry, in her 20s
The Triplets: Two preppy and high energy, one more reclusive and “emo”. French or Italian in their 20s
Medic: from Brazil or South Africa early 40s, carries medical supplies, Captain’s love interest
Sailor: Scottish, late 50s early 60s, grumpy and practical
Navigator: American or Canadian, mid 30s, chronically seasick and awkward
Lawyer: Mexican, early 30s, the team’s legal representation on land who calls into the ship to give missions
Moon Waltz is a personal project that is currently on hiatus. It features the song “Waltz in E-Major, Op.15 ‘Moon Waltz’” by Cojum Dip. The song always inspires vivid imagery when I hear it, so I decided to storyboard them into a semi-narrative and make an animatic.
