BACK TO THE OUTBACK

Selection of visual development and packeting for the Netflix feature “Back to the Outback.” My design process starts with a number of ideations for the directors to choose from (like in the example below).

PACKETING

After it’s approved, I clean up and packet the design with any technical drawings, extra views, photo/surfacing reference etc. the 3D artists might need to finish the asset - below is a selection of work from this design’s packet re-formatted for web presentation.

TALK SHOW SET

Ideation, design, and packet for a Conan-inspired set to be seen on a TV screen.

SYDNEY SET DRESSING

Selection of set dressing to populate the city of Sydney.

MATILDA

Based on a children's book by Roald Dahl, this visual development project illustrates the story of Matilda Wormwood - a young prodigy with psychokinetic powers unappreciated by her horrible parents. She befriends her school teacher, Miss Honey, who inspires Matilda to master her powers and get even with the evil headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.

STAGING & POSING

In addition to helping keep the space consistent through shots, I used Google Sketch-Up to experiment with different camera angles and create an underlay for my layout drawing. Since Miss Honey features so prominently in the composition and her reaction is important for the viewer to understand Matilda’s extraordinary academic performance, I ideated thoroughly on her pose before committing to what is seen in the final.

COLOUR KEYS

I experimented with different colour schemes to find the right emotion for the scene. The warm pool of light on Matilda and her book communicates her love of reading at the library as an escape from her terrible home-life.

STORYBOX PROJECT

Selection of visual development for an animated VR miniseries. In this fairy-tale-meets-Jumanji story, four children (left to right: Petunia, Chase, Francis, and Hannah) are trapped in an old stage haunted by the spirit of a malevolent director who forces them to perform in exchange for their freedom; however, soon they realize more than just their freedom is at stake.

ENVIRONMENT DESIGN FOR VR

Informed by the needs of a 360-degree VR camera, this “reverse-theatre-in-the-round” features a center console for the viewer’s camera. The spirit of the malevolent director manifests in the rickety movements of the stage, articulated by hydraulic pillars on a multi-tier turntable under the floor. Below, I created a variety of permutations illustrating the stage’s potential range of motion.

SET DRESSING AND KEYFRAMES

Below is a selection set dressing, props, and keyframes from the first play the children perform, Little Red Riding Hood. The stage’s skydome and lights create a range of immersive moods for both the characters and the viewer.

THE INCREDIBLES

Prior to the release of Pixar's "The Incredibles 2," this personal project was motivated by the fact we never see Violet and Dash's bedrooms in the original film. These designs serve to provide exposition about the characters without committing screen-time to dialogue.

BITMOJI (SNAPCHAT)

Visual development for Bitmoji’s AR (augmented-reality) animated shorts featuring users’ customizable avatars on Snapchat. My responsibilities include adapting traditional pre-vis practices such as storyboarding, prop design, and character/costume design to AR. Below is a selection of content I contributed storyboards and concepts to.

STORYBOARDING FOR AR

To simulate the user’s experience of capturing AR animation on their phone, I use vertical frames to visualize an “ideal” version of the sequence. While this is how the animation will play by default (if the user doesn’t move their phone camera), I’m mindful of the user’s ability to move the camera in my acting/staging choices. Since the platform limits users to one “take” at a time, these boards are decidedly contiguous. Below is an example of this accompanied by the final animations.

COSTUME/PROP DESIGN

In addition to keeping consistent with Bitmoji’s playful style, I design with a low level-of-detail for clarity on a phone screen and the texturing/geometry limitations of our rendering engine in mind. Below are some samples of my design work accompanied by the final models used in production.

MIRROR’S EDGE

This personal project based on "Mirror's Edge," a parkour game set in a quasi-futuristic dystopian society with brightly-coloured urban environments. Since gameplay is fast-paced, environments use a limited palette with red accents to indicate a path for the player.

WORLD WAR TOONS

I was responsible for the environment and incidental character designs from the first in a series of 2D animations promoting World War Toons (a Looney-Toons-inspired WW2 Playstation VR shooter). In this Trix cereal commercial parody, the playable character Tom Yeti tries to sneak into a gaming convention to play World War Toons.

FINAL ANIMATION

Though the full short was never completed, below is a short, proof-of-concept clip with character animation by Nik Ranieri.

VIS-DEV FOR OTHER SHORTS

A selection of earlier visual development and style explorations for other unproduced shorts.

For the "SYFY 25: Origin Stories", I worked with Moving Colour as a designer to establish stylistic direction for a video about Sana Amanat, creator of Ms. Marvel. My responsibilities included creating keyframes and colour keys, highlighted below.

FINAL ANIMATION

Below is the final animation, produced by Moving Colour and Laundry.