Credits

Senior Capstone Film

My Favorite Band

Direction, Design, and Animation: Anna Vallario
Design and Animation assistance: Alexandra Marca
Music and SFX: Harley McCumber
Guidance: Professor Duff Yong

I firmly believe that in order to truly know me, you must know how much my favorite band informs my worldview. Thus, ABBA, the 1970’s Swedish pop-disco musical group of “Dancing Queen” fame, was the inspiration for my senior project at SCAD. Combining skills and software that excite me, I aimed to illustrate what it's like to see the world through my eyes (and ears).

ABBA’s music is more than thoughtless club songs - their calculated and meticulous work, their masterful melodies and harmonies, and their extravagant image are all intentional, cohesive details that preserve the band in music history. Their music can act as a form of escapism, which is a tool that never goes out of style.

Because I had planned on utilizing DUIK rigging within my film, I offered to give a rigging and animating demo to my animation/design assistant, Alex. Then another friend expressed interest in learning, and then another, and another until I had recruited enough people to teach an informal, hybrid class.

The class that followed became my favorite memory from the whole experience - getting to share a skill that I was passionate about and see how it could be a solution to many others' animating process.

At SCAD, the process for senior film production in Motion Design is a 20-week affair. I spent the first half concepting, storyboarding, and rendering design frames while receiving feedback from my peers and professor. All of my production prior to animating was done in Procreate, and this decision that initially came out of necessity turned into an eye-opening experience. The range that I could push procreate to create something truly hand-crafted and up to my standards was unprecedented to me, and has made the app a staple in my design process since.

The second half of the production consisted of further design revisions, cel and AE animation, directing shots, and finding an awesome sound designer/composer. Meanwhile, with the fellow officers of MOMELove, we worked with the department to host an outdoor screening of every senior student's work!