One of Jonathan’s favorite creative pursuits is creating animated short films. From developing a storyboard and sourcing music and reference material, to animating characters, rendering backgrounds and scenes, and adding subtle visual effects, the process is both detailed and time-intensive. It is a true passion of his. Enjoy his most recent animated short, Enchanted Forest Waltz, and explore below to see how it was created. 
STORYBOARD AND CONCEPTS
Every animation begins with an idea, followed by the development of a storyboard to visualize the sequence. During this stage, the story and overall flow of the animated short are established, while early planning for color, composition, and visual effects also begins.
FRAME BY FRAME
Each scene is digitally illustrated and then animated frame by frame using a variety of techniques, including rotoscoping. Because the drawings are created digitally, frames can often be duplicated and subtle adjustments made to specific elements that require movement, helping to streamline the animation process. In total, hundreds of digital drawings make up Enchanted Forest Waltz, with the entire project taking over 120 hours to complete.
LOOPING AND TRANSPARENCY
While hundreds of individual frames were created for the short, the ability to loop animations and render them with transparent backgrounds helped streamline the animation process. Backgrounds were then created separately and layered in during the final composition.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Once the animations, backgrounds, foregrounds, and other renderings for a scene are complete, all elements are brought into Adobe After Effects for final assembly. Backgrounds, foregrounds, and animated assets are organized into layered depths to create a realistic parallax effect. Lighting is then introduced and programmed with specific behaviors, such as timed flickers or gradual changes. Finally, a virtual camera is placed within the scene and directed to perform movements such as zooms, pans, and transitions, bringing the composition to life.
