magic journeys production blog

Here is my final pitch deck of “Magic Journeys” for my ANIM 385 class. My final animatic will be posted separately. Enjoy!

Here is a script I wrote for the short in an earlier class. The film idea ended up having to be cut down for time constraints, so many parts of the script were discarded when making the animatic. However, I hope in the future this film can be brought to life in its full form.

Rough Pass of Animatic

Some work I’ve done on the characters’ outfits! Some of this is old, but I’m currently trying to expand and refine their outfits, like Mr. Mooney’s sweater. More to come later!

Here are my (very) rough storyboards of key moments in this film.

Mood Board

To contrast with reality, the imagination section of the story with have bright vibrant colors all throughout it. It will also have a style change to read more as a children’s storybook, with a more 2D, painterly style.

Sketch with Characters

This is a possible scene of the characters flying a ship-blimp though their imaginations. This is just one of the many ideas for the imagination section. Other possible ideas for the montage include them fighting cowboy bandits on a train, deep sea diving in the ocean, finding treasure in the jungle, searching for dinosaurs, and many more.

Mood Boards

Floorplan

I created a layout for Mr. Mooney’s home to help get an understanding of where everything would be. Most of the story takes place downstairs in the foyer, kitchen, dining room, and living room, but it was fun to see what the rest of the rooms would look like if they were included.

The Living Room

This is where a big part of the story takes place. Since Mr. Mooney is old and whimsical, I wanted his place to be a hodge-podge of furniture and decor. I wanted it to be maximalist, but also read as cluttered, because Mr. Mooney is sometimes... irresponsible. Once colored, it will have warm saturated hues, like the colors found in the moodboard.

The Kitchen

This is also where a big part of the story takes place. Like the living room, the kitchen is a hodge-podge of furniture and decor. And since Mr. Mooney doesn’t always keep his house in the best condition, there's a mess everywhere. Once colored the walls may be a tan or yellow, with the same warm hues found though the rest of the house to stay consistent.

Sketch with Characters (Dining Room)

This is the mother of the story. She is the daughter of Mr. Mooney and the mother of Elizabeth and Elliot. She’s a dedicated hard-working woman. She works so hard she sometimes forgets to live in the present and enjoy time with her kids. She wants the best for them even if she accidentally pushes them to grow up too fast.

Moon Pie is Mr. Mooney’s pet bulldog. He is Mr. Mooney’s best friend. Moon Pie loves to play and go on adventures with Mr. Mooney. He is full of energy and also a big, clumsy goofball.

Elizabeth is Mr. Mooney’s granddaughter. She nine years old but very mature for her age. You could almost say she grew up too fast. She’s very focused on school and her future, but tends to forget how to be a kid and enjoy the present.

Elliot is the grandson of Mr. Mooney and Elizabeth’s brother. He’s around five years old. He tries to follow in his sister’s footsteps by being studious and proper to please his parents, but he doesn’t necessarily want to. He wants to have fun by being a kid and playing games and going on adventures.