Animation: Honorable Mention
Victor Courtright
Minneapolis College of Art & Design

XOI

Communication objective
This piece was an exercise in creating atmosphere. I created a place in time in which the audience can immerse itself rather than a narrative.  As I developed the concept, I decided I also wanted to portray new life being propelled by old and dying life.  A spirit leads the boy to the fountain and sends him and his father into the sky. What the boy and his father don't realize is that the same fluid on which they base their existence is flowing from the broken heart of the past.

Tools used
I scanned my semi-rough pencil sketches and converted them into multiple layers in order to keep the natural feathering of the lines’ edges.  After coloring them in Adobe Photoshop®, I imported each layer into Adobe After Effects® to more easily make tweaks (for example, the shadows moving across the city) without disturbing the line.  I also used 3D camera elements to add a richer depth to the world.  In certain shots I needed more thickness for the lighting, so I created an alpha mask of the color layer and darkened, blurred, and repositioned it to create a low-light effect on the characters, setting them into more detailed backgrounds.