Sweet Life
BFA Thesis Film:
Thesis
In trying to make others happy, you should learn to actively listen to them in order to help them figure out what they need rather than what you think is best for them.
Description
“Sweet Life” tells the story of Candace, a little girl who tries to make people happy by giving them candy. She believes she is successful in this endeavor until she meets Maria, someone who isn’t overjoyed by Candace’s gifts. Now Candace is going to any lengths necessary to figure out what makes Maria smile.
Candace
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Candace is a ten-year old girl with a can-do spirit.
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From a young age though, she misinterpreted the act of gift-giving as the best way to make people happy.
Maria
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Maria is a ten-year old girl, and a bit of an introvert.
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She is a stargazer and is very interested in astronomy and the many wonders of nature.
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Maria is quiet, and all she really wants is to share her interests with a friend.
Character Design Exploration
I first created Candace back in 2013. Originally she was about 16 years old, but still had the desire to make people happy with candy. In her backstory, she is the daughter of a confectioner, who she gets all of her candy from. She picked up the desire to help people from her late mother Genevieve, or Geni for short.
Candace became progressively a younger character as time went on, simplifying the elements involved in her design. Circles and triangles became integral to her shape language, with circles signifying a softness for people and triangles showing a sharpness and aggression in her character.
Maria was also originally designed to be a teenager, but became younger over time. Unlike Candace though, Maria’s personality also went through a change, going from a tomboyish punk to an introspective and quiet kid.
Maria's design incorporates primarily squares and circles, indicating a stable and personality with a soft center.
Location:
Kell's Pond Park
"Sweet Life" takes place in Kell’s Pond Park, a fictional family park based on the real life Allen Pond Park in my hometown, Bowie, Maryland.
The parks share many of the same elements, including an ice arena for skating, as well as a gazebo on an island in the pond accessible by a bridge.
Background Design Exploration
The backgrounds took inspiration from several sources, most notably Regular Show, the Charlie Brown specials, and Ezra Jack Keats' "The Snowy Day."
Initially, all backgrounds were going to be full watercolor paintings, but making digital paintings in Adobe Animate was much more efficient.
Storyboards
Creating storyboards is one of my favorite parts of the animation pipeline, so I'm glad I was able to go all out on the ones for "Sweet Life."
Opening
Montage 1
Candace and Maria become friends.
Opening
Thanks for stopping by!
