Just A Picture Animatic

It's about time this month to go ahead and post some behind the scenes stuff. Today's treat is the Just A Picture animatic!

This by far is my favorite animation we've been able to put together here on the project. It's arguably the biggest too, taking almost a whole year from concept to release to complete. If you paid attention to the last post, the storyboards were drawn up all the way back in August of 2022 as was the script. It wasn't just taking into account how long animation takes. We had a really rough break period after Candlelight where it seemed like we wouldn't be able to continue the project at all. But pushing through was really important to me to see it through. This was my first time storyboarding for Tresenella, and once again she animated to near perfection. The overall time this took allowed for the both of us to learn new tricks and ideas about how to push further in animation and do it both more efficiently, and overall better. It's also the first time we've used a fully 3D environment as a set for the backgrounds to create a sort of "Grump Room" that Rain utilizes to record videos with friends. The hope is to be able to use it in many future animations to come, with some slight variations and changes to keep it fresh.

It's nice to capture the playfulness in the friendship between Rain and Rudy, they really do have an extremely special relationship that's been strong all the way from the first chapter. Alexis really nails Rudy's playfulness and mild chaotic nature. Though, I don't know entirely what bet was made. It might've just been something silly over a group game night, as I'm more than certain when everyone's not completely busy with their own work they find the time to enjoy each others' company. Viva la Gay Table! May it live on forever!

It's really exciting to me that I have the privilege of continuing the story and expanding on the world of Rain in the ways I can. It's often intimidating to boot! But getting to write these characters, and create in this world is something I hope to do for the foreseeable future. So, thank you. It means more than you could imagine to have the support that I do here to create what I love.

- Larissa