HyperSonic
HyperSonic is an animated concept album. My role on the project was as the Creative Director and animated a couple sequences.
Development
The concept album is split up between narrative pieces and songs. Each sequence is given a different style and look to reflect the headspace of the protagonist.
My workflow started with establishing the tone and style of each sequence. I then created sketches and gathered reference images.
Style Guide created for the first scene.
First rough sketches made for Scene 1.
Concept art for Scene 1.
When I understood the how I wanted the final piece to look, I created the storyboards. If I was animating the sequence, I would also make the style frames.
Scene 1 final storyboards.
Color scheme options.
Style frame for the first shot.
Finally, I was able to start animating. The animation process for each sequence varied due to the different styles. For the first scene, I used a combination of frame by frame and keyframing vector art in AfterEffects.
Puppet Pinning.
Animating assets made in Illustrator.
Stitching together the layers of the frame by frame animations.
The Final Result
Animation: Amelia F. Talken Editor: Evan McCall Audio: Josh Zumwinkel, Broznann Andrus, and Avery Mann. Voices: Richie Alba & Avery Mann
Scene 2: Darby's Introduction
HyperSonic was a very collaborative project. I had the pleasure of working with Evan McCall, our editor. I shot this scene with a small crew, color graded the footage, and handed it off to Evan. I made a storyboard and annotated script for him to reference.
My Storyboards vs Evan's Final Shots
Full Sequence
Editor: Evan McCall Audio: Josh Zumwinkel, Broznann Andrus, and Avery Mann. Voices: Teghan Breiner & Avery Mann Actors: Teghan Breiner, Courtney Hittle, Melody DeMerchant, and Emilia Ordonez Gaffer:Cecilia Thomas DoP:Amelia F. Talken
Song 3
The intention with Song 3 was to capture the scatter-brained and distracted nature of the protagonist. I used a computer to show the many tabs open in his mind. To make this scene, I created each window in Illustrator, and added some light animations in AfterEffects and sent the file over to Evan so he could make the final edits.
Full Sequence
Animation: Amelia F. Talken Editor: Evan McCall Audio: Josh Zumwinkel, Broznann Andrus, and Avery Mann. Voice:Avery Mann
Scene 3: The Dream
This scene is a dream had by the protagonist after crashing his car. The animation is all frame by frame.
Gross-Up frame
Wide Shot Background.
Medium Wide Shot Background
Full Sequence
Animation: Amelia F. Talken Editor: Evan McCall Audio: Josh Zumwinkel, Broznann Andrus, and Avery Mann. Voices:Cooper Bald & Avery Mann