Thunderbird:
Chapter PBS Sponser
THE ASK:
Thunderbird Studios needed an illustrated explainer video for a the tech startup, Chapter. The time line was tight, less than a month, to get all the assets illustrated and animated in a hand drawn style.
For the illustrations, Evan Buxbaum (Director) wanted a watercolor/guache like style. Based on character designs by Dan Melius (shown below), I illustrated the main character to reflect the different stages of her life. They wanted the characters to have an elongated/lanky stylized proportions.
Illustrated by Dan Melius
ILLUSTRATIONS: Main Character
My illustrations of the main character. To help show the life stages of the main character, I used trendy fashions to communicate each decade while using the color red to help communicate to the audience that it was the same character. From the 60s hair flip popular for children, the JLO inspired bandana of the 1990s, to the layerd tops popular of the 2000s .
ILLUSTRATIONS: Extras
The background characters needed to feel at home in the scene without taking attention away from the main character. The further away the character was from the main the less detailed they are.
ILLUSTRATIONS: Background
The backgrounds needed to reflect the time period and also not distract from the main character. Below are the background I illustrated.
For the grocery store, I researched 60s cereal boxes and cereal aisle. For each of the cereal boxes, I illustrated each box without perspective and used photoshop to set them in place over my illustrated base to allow quicker edits. Adding a painted texture on top to lighten the colors and give it the painterly feel.
The 1980s science scene.
ANIMATION: After Effects & Photoshop
We used After Effects and Photoshop to animate. By using the puppet tool and hand drawn smear frames, kept the painterly feel while allowing more complex motion. Below are a couple examples of animations I worked on.
END RESULT:
It was a joy to collaborate with such a fun great team to bring this story too life.