Monica Animation Series
As part of the Empowering Youth and Families Program (EYFP) curriculum, I was tasked with creating a nine-episode miniseries with Vyond about a middle school-aged girl who makes a new friend while her cousin tangles with the wrong crowd.
Software Used:
Vyond
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Procreate
Process
The EYFP mini-series Monica was the back burner brainchild of the NC 4-H State Staff for a short time before I joined in 2021. The following year, I was given this project to complete for the better part of a year. Working closely with scriptwriters, voice actors, sound designers, and the rest of the graphics team, I led the production of the nine episodes through countless rounds of feedback.
The project began with an analysis of the script and a rudimentary storyboard. After approval from the team, I would begin scene construction, background illustrations, asset generations, and finally character animations. As we drew close to release dates in early 2023, I was also in charge of marketing for the series on social media sites. I generated several animated graphics for the teaser trailers on our team’s Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram pages. Our marketing also included interviews with the actors behind the main characters of the show to capture how much the story meant to them. Additional sub-projects included a program for the premiere showing of the first episode and EYFP facilitator and family discussion guides.
The result was a charming story made available to families across North Carolina, leaving a meaningful impact on their lives to help strengthen family and community relationships.
Sample of storyboards I drew from the 1st episode.
A sample of some of the thumbnail sketches from the first episode of the series.
Illustrated backgrounds from the first episode of the series.
The final iteration of these scenes from the first episode.
The cast and crew for the Monica Project based on the real life actors.
A program for the cast during the premiere showing of the first episode (click to view).
Comparison of the supplementary discussion guides for both program facilitators and participating families (click to view the family discussion guide).
Click to view an excerpt from episode 5.
Takeaways
While Vyond is an excellent software to use for companies that don’t specialize in animation production, I would have much preferred to get more familiar with industry standards like Adobe Animate, Character Animator, and After Effects. However, getting an understanding of the basics of animation production while still being the primary producer in this project was incredibly valuable in developing my experience as a video creator. Having a hand in every stage of the process taught me so much, and I could not have asked for a better project to begin developing these skills.