Back in 2008, I released the animated film short: "Nutty the Neurotic Ninja Squirrel". What started as a personal Flash and After Effects-animated student project, turned into a full-blown animated short with help from a team of fellow classmates and friends. The project won first place at the CSU Media Arts Festival in 2008, and went on to be a "Final Three" at the 2009 ELAN Awards held in Vancouver, BC.
Synopsis – "Go Nuts..."
It is the middle of winter. Nutty, a ninja squirrel with a split personality has his hunger set on what is quite possibly the last nut in the cliff-side forest. Nutty is your typical squirrel; but when he is in danger, all it takes is a cracking sound to turn him into the greatest ninja master ever! Getting from his end of the forest to the other end where the nut lies may be quite the challenge, for it seems another ninja master and his minions have their own plans for Nutty. Nutty fights his way to victory for the ultimate prize: the nut.
Characters
Besides writing, directing, and producing the short, I designed all characters, and created most of the props, backgrounds, and effects. Many of the assets were created and cleaned up directly in Adobe Animate (Flash) and some were exported into Adobe After Effects or Illustrator if there was a need for specific rendering treatments . All scene transitions, audio work, and other post-production tasks were done in Adobe After Effects.
Backgrounds
