Justice Victoriano
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The days are the same, and every day is just like the day before…
Bird has a boring life. He lives to take care of his family’s tree, which involves trimming the leaves, checking for trespassers, and sweeping the house. For him, the days are the same, and every day is just like the day before—until a mysterious bug named Buddy flies into his home. Buddy causes a ruckus and after a series of events, they accidentally make their way out of the tree and into a bus headed to New York City. As the pair tries to navigate around the city, they encounter obstacles that makes Bird wonder if they will ever be able to return home. “Today” is a thought-provoking short story that challenges viewers to think about their own lives—the limited time we have and what we make of it.
The Process
The first step was coming up with a great story. My fall semester was dedicated to developing the characters, the plot, and the setting. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech, Zootopia, and Tangled were just a few of my inspirations for the story of the animation. The plot underwent several revisions and once it was finalized, a script was drafted.
Early Sketches
Storyboards
The first row of storyboards are from the very first draft of the story. This version included a bird graduation, but I later decided to remove this section entirely.
These storyboards are also from another draft. In this version, Bird’s character was angrier and more miserable due to his unhappy past.
Concept Art
Behind the Scenes
The backgrounds and animations were first created in Photoshop and then composited in After Effects. Frame-by-frame animation was used for the making of “Today.”