
'Evergreen'
Evergreen was my college project in my second year. The brief I recieved was to design a short film that revolved aroung energy. I designed, researched, animated, and presented my own original short idea, that followed a beast tamer and her journey to realising how damaging her lifestyle was. Below you'll be able to follow along with development on things such as character designs, backgrounds, animation tests, and even a first-edition of the intro sequence!

The first round of concept art done of Alice.

A more detailed second edition of concept art, including a front and back, and close up.

The final turnaround of 'Evergreen', in which he fully embodies the natural side of his original design.

The first round of concept art done of Alice.
Alice:
Design and Development
Alice is the main character of 'Evergreen'. She was originally designed to be a western style rancher, and her design was solid throughout the beginning of the story, as shown by the assets created for rigging.
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However as the story progressed and I developed the narrative further, she was then changed to a beast tamer. Her design was intentially changed from a warmer pallet to a colder one to contrast the vibrance of the beast 'Evergreen', who went through his own development.
Storyboarding
Storyboard and First Animatic
Storyboarding is arguably the most important part of any animation. And to the right, is the first storyboard of 'Evergreen'! The story originally followed a small dragon who was exploring a world that doesn't accept him, however after a reflection, I realised it didn't exactly follow the brief. The story was then changed to the one it is today, a creature that embodies Nature and natural energy and his journey on showing Alice to change her ways.

The first 9 thumbnails of the storyboard, following the original storyline.


The first animatic after the storyboard was completed. I am a big enjoyer of his little face.

The first 9 thumbnails of the storyboard, following the original storyline.

Intro
A First Look at Alice's Introduction
The left video shows the very first intro designed to start the short. It's purpose is to show Alice's job, her attitude, and her starting point of being a 'beast killer' of the town.
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Looking back, I can see the pacing is a little off, and some parts could definitely use some editing. The way she sits on the stepsand then stands up immediately seems redundant, and looking at it now, I would want to change it to show more of Alice's personality, such as her taking a breath before putting the creature down. That way, the action of the short chase has a buffer before the barrel shot. Below, you'll be able to see some of the behind the scenes on how I researched for this.
Research
What Was Looked At?
Research spanned a couple of days, where I looked at buildings, landscapes, and even went into Minecraft to build a mockup of the staircase shown in the intro!
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Research was a big part of how the short turned into what it was, as after looking at the moodboards and the storyboard, it was obvious that I needed to dive deeper into what made the short.
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I went into minecraft and built this to get a better grasp of the perspective for some of the scenes based on the stairs.

The style of these buildings can be seen in the background of the first animatic, and was a big inspiration for the way the marketplace looked in the animatic as well.

I used this image to grasp how detailing on archways used to be done, and how rock eroded over time for something like this.

I went into minecraft and built this to get a better grasp of the perspective for some of the scenes based on the stairs.