How Trump Failed Us
This was a internal studio project, created remotely at the height of the pandemic in 2020. We sought to highlight a not well known story of how the state of Maryland went through extraordinary lengths to secure it's Coronavirus testing equipment from South Korea earlier in the year. In an almost a spy-thriller fashion, this story unfolded. Desperate state and local governments secretly scrambled to secure their own Coronavirus testing kits & personal protective equipment for residents as the federal government failed in widely providing them. In an almost unbelievable chain of events, the federal government along with FEMA then attempted to snatch and redistribute these supplies from states after each had secured them on their own from other countries. What ensued was an almost covert operation of medical supplies all based on real events and facts.
Client / Studio: AlterEgo Creates
VP, Head of Production: Monesha Lever
Creative Director/ Writer: Heather Roymans
Associate Creative Director: Erica Kern
Sr. Designer/ Animator: Eric Diga
Sr. Designer/ Animator: Jason Leta
Sr. Editor: Justin Kanner
Sound Design: Nate Hoeft
Sound Design & Audio Mix: Tyler Proctor
Narration provided by: Joe Madison
Music provided by: Pond 5
Creative Director/ Writer: Heather Roymans
Associate Creative Director: Erica Kern
Sr. Designer/ Animator: Eric Diga
Sr. Designer/ Animator: Jason Leta
Sr. Editor: Justin Kanner
Sound Design: Nate Hoeft
Sound Design & Audio Mix: Tyler Proctor
Narration provided by: Joe Madison
Music provided by: Pond 5
Process
Eric Diga and I partnered together to create a style inspired partially by work from Bill Sienkiewicz that we loved and tried to stay true to. I was particularly drawn to his raw linework and layering of mixed media.
Below are the shots I was responsible for developing the look, animation, and compositing of. We wanted to bring as much hand-made feel to this look as we could.
Initial linework & cell shading developed for the look in Cinema4D
To keep our work consistent, Eric and I both animated and created completely black & white renders of our scenes and worked back and forth to composite elements seamlessly across shots. By using flat 2D elements driven by 3D, we were able to benefit from real camera parallax and depth, while maintaining the hand-made illustrated feel of something created with ink and conté crayons. Having the forms/figures being stark black and white also allowed them to read quickly in the shots.
Small breakdown reel of some of the shots I worked on.
My initial compositing work as the art-direction evolved
Press
We were very fortunate to have our short piece featured as a "Quickie" on Motionographer