For this project, I was assigned to create a narrative animation that included original characters and a unique world. From the start, I knew I wanted to explore a classic fantasy theme, but I also wanted to add my own creative twist to make it stand out. I was drawn to the idea of a knight's tale, full of bravery, magic, and adventure—but instead of following the typical hero, I decided to flip the concept on its head. I created a story about a horse who, through a magical transformation, becomes a knight. This unexpected protagonist embarks on a quest to rescue a princess who has been captured by an evil troll. I thought the idea of an animal-turned-hero added a fun and whimsical element, while still keeping the core themes of courage and heroism intact. It gave me room to play with humor, heart, and imagination in building both the characters and the world they inhabit.
The first step in my process was designing the characters. I needed to establish how they would look in the animation while also making sure they were functional for movement and expression throughout the entire project. It wasn’t just about creating a cool design—it was about making characters that were easy to animate and could hold up in various poses and scenes. I approached it similarly to how rigs are created in traditional TV animation, where characters are built with flexibility in mind. This meant thinking about how their limbs would move, how their expressions could change, and how their designs would stay consistent from one scene to the next. Creating characters that were both visually appealing and practically usable was a key part of laying the foundation for the animation.
The next phase of the project was developing the storyboard and animatic, which were essential for shaping the overall narrative and visual pacing. The storyboard allowed me to break down the story scene by scene, figuring out how each moment would visually unfold. It helped me organize the flow of the story, establish key actions, and ensure the scenes transitioned smoothly. Once the storyboard was in place, I moved on to the animatic, which added rough timing and motion to those frames. This step was crucial for understanding how long each scene should last, where dramatic beats or comedic moments would land, and how the rhythm of the story would play out. It served as a blueprint for the final animation and helped guide the rest of the production process.
Here are two of the backgrounds I created for the animation. My goal was to strike a balance between detail and simplicity—keeping the environments visually interesting without overpowering the characters. Since the character designs leaned into a more cartoony and stylized aesthetic, I wanted the backgrounds to complement that by using bold shapes, clear color contrasts, and a slightly whimsical feel. I added just enough detail to give the world depth and personality, while still maintaining a clean look that fits the tone and style of the animation overall.
Here is the final animation! I’m really proud of how it turned out—it was definitely a challenging process, and at times it felt like I was pushing both After Effects and my computer to their absolute limits. There were moments when I wasn’t sure it would all come together, but seeing the finished product makes all the hard work worth it. It was a great learning experience, and I'm happy with how the visuals, timing, and storytelling all came together in the end.