Inspiration and Process

Ever since the release of Frozen, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always an animator. It's hard to tell if your dreams change if you have no experience working towards them. So, for an independent fellowship project, I utilized my then-limited animation experience and created a short film. This is a great example of something that I did scared. 

In terms of process, every element of this animation was digitally illustrated in Adobe Illustrator and animated in Adobe After Effects. Most of this project was spent learning and experimenting. While this film has already been edited and advanced since its presentation, I foresee myself continuing to add to it as my skills progress, because it truly is a passion project.

The inspiration for this story was my growing up in competitive cheerleading. While tumbling, you have to ignore what may make sense in your mind and trust your strength and instinct. This is much easier said than done. I had struggled with a mental block over my tumbling for many years, athletes younger than me surpassing me while I could not get out of my own way. In the end, it was the positive support of my family, teammates, and coaches, as well as learning to trust myself, that really got me through it. In my life, I have been both frogs. I struggled with mental blocks, and aimed to help others through their own so that they don’t endure what I did. I have recently been introduced to the concept of “do it scared” and I wish that my younger self could have heard that. Who knows what kind of difference it could have made. This animation and the message that it portrays is something that I carry with me everyday of my life, and I can only hope that it makes an impact on others as well.