Road to Christmas | 2018
Concept + Design + Animation
Illustrator + Photoshop + C4d + After EffectsContext:
Create seamless transitions, between scenes, as the protagonists race across the country in Road to Christmas, a road trip style movie. Map animations are a solution that efficiently communicate where the characters are travelling without having to incorporate entire scenes that would take up valuable real estate within the script.Concept:
Indiana Jones meets Christmas
Visuals:
As the production was being shot, I made sure to watch dailies to see if any visuals (holiday + locations) seemed like It would be important to incorporate within the animations.The Map:
First, the map needed to clearly communicate where the characters were travelling with state boundaries, names, and cities. Creating a snow texture and adding red, gold, and silver ornaments that emulate the decor throughout the movie helped communicate the Idea that It was christmastime.
Weather:
The characters are constantly trying to outrun a large blizzard which eventually catches up to them while on the train. I made sure to include this blizzard In almost every animation whether it was close to them or not. The flight from LAX to Denver you can see it looming in the corner. Only for it to finally get close as the car races to get in front of it.
Locations:
Since each location was usually the first shot you see before and after the animations, I pulled stills from the footage dailies to try and emulate key buildings and signage when modelling within cinema. Each location is custom made to fit the look of the movie and create less of a jolting shift between footage and graphic.
Transportation:
It was fun being able to model and animate planes, trains, and automobiles. And yes, I made sure to pull reference from the movie, yet again, to make sure they matched during modelling and texturing.
First, the map needed to clearly communicate where the characters were travelling with state boundaries, names, and cities. Creating a snow texture and adding red, gold, and silver ornaments that emulate the decor throughout the movie helped communicate the Idea that It was christmastime.
Weather:
The characters are constantly trying to outrun a large blizzard which eventually catches up to them while on the train. I made sure to include this blizzard In almost every animation whether it was close to them or not. The flight from LAX to Denver you can see it looming in the corner. Only for it to finally get close as the car races to get in front of it.
Locations:
Since each location was usually the first shot you see before and after the animations, I pulled stills from the footage dailies to try and emulate key buildings and signage when modelling within cinema. Each location is custom made to fit the look of the movie and create less of a jolting shift between footage and graphic.
Transportation:
It was fun being able to model and animate planes, trains, and automobiles. And yes, I made sure to pull reference from the movie, yet again, to make sure they matched during modelling and texturing.
Animation Tests (C4D + AE)
Each mode of brought unique animations.Planes:
The plane always moved In an arch path which also meant we had to zoom Into the scene as we transition to the car. I used clouds so this transition was seemless.
Trains & Automobiles:
The trains and cars move similarly and both run a long a path that stays on the ground. I didn’t use a straight line because the curved movements helped feel more dynamic and less stagnant.
The plane always moved In an arch path which also meant we had to zoom Into the scene as we transition to the car. I used clouds so this transition was seemless.
Trains & Automobiles:
The trains and cars move similarly and both run a long a path that stays on the ground. I didn’t use a straight line because the curved movements helped feel more dynamic and less stagnant.