Did you know that children’s early experiences, from birth to age 5, are critical to their brain development and lifelong learning? This means that there are a ton of opportunities for parents and caregivers to engage with young children to help them be successful in school and down the road.

We worked with our friends at Kentucky Educational Television, a PBS affiliate, to create a short animation, as well as illustrations for a major new web site. The goal of the initiative is to help spread the word about early childhood literacy and help caregivers discover easy ways to engage with kids, turning everyday life into learning opportunities to read, talk, count, play, move and connect.

To learn more about the program, visit letslearnky.org.

Storyboard

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Style Frames

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Animation

We’re thrilled to announce the release of a series of four spots for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Care that Fits You campaign. Produced in collaboration with the wonderful folks at MORE Advertising, these spots use a storytelling approach to promote overall wellness in the gay community, as well as the use of the PrEP, an HIV prophylactic medication. The key goal of the campaign was to normalize the experience of talking about sexual health and encourage viewers to seek out care that fits their individual needs.

Here’s a closer look at the production process for Episode One:

Research

The campaign is meant to reach audiences across Massachusetts, but the key target audience is in Greater Boston, so we did a bunch of research of our hometown to get the right kind of scenery and backgrounds.

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Storyboard

Here are some storyboard frames from the project, emphasizing lots of movement in a bustling city on a busy day and the normalcy of video chatting with a friend in the middle of it all.

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Animatic

With more complex projects like these, it is helpful to create an animatic with scratch audio to show the overall timing of the video and to make sure that the storyboard images work when put into a time framework.

Character & Background Designs

Next it was time to design the two main characters. Jen put together this lineup for the client to choose from:

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Meanwhile, Songyi worked on the backgrounds, which she produced as flat artwork, meaning they did not have textures or lighting applied:

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Animation & Sound Design

Once all the backgrounds and characters were created, Jen and Mollie tackled the animation and final compositing of lighting and texture. Here’s the final product, complete with sound design by Taiko Sound.

Episode 1: Talk To Your Doctor About PrEP

Episode 2: Get The Facts About PrEP

Episode 3: Find The Care That Fits You

Episode 4: Care That Fits You – Telehealth

Over at azucarfilm.com we’ve got an in-depth project breakdown of our short film, Azúcar. Check it out to go behind the scenes on production.

Want to gain professional experience in a production studio? At Planet Nutshell we’re all about telling great stories and creating animation with impact. We offer seasonal internships for college students and recent college graduates to learn and assist with our production process, from concept and storyboarding to designs and animation.

Under the guidance of our team, you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with other designers and animators while honing your artistic skill. At the beginning of each internship we work with you to determine your goals and throughout your time with Planet Nutshell you will go through each phase of production: Pitch, script, storyboard, style frames & design, mograph and character animation.

We will give you projects to help you develop and grow your skills in the area you choose via small assignments and working closely with your mentor staff member. (Please note that we are working remotely during the Coronavirus Pandemic.)

What you need:

• Positive attitude and willingness to learn
• A willingness to look at your own work with a critical eye, listen to feedback, and make changes accordingly
• Proficiency with After Effects and Adobe Illustrator.

What we offer:

• Guidance and mentorship to help you build your portfolio and professional work experience.
• A flexible schedule: Length of internship and daily hours are negotiable.
• Current students can earn credit, or if you’re just out of school you are eligible, as well.
• You will be paid for any client work you do.
• Fall Internship: September-November
• Winter Internship: January-March
• Summer Internship: May-July

We post our Call for Interns approximately one month prior to the start date. Please check this page at that time for a link to the application and any other necessary information. We ask that you please prepare your reel, behind the scenes materials such as sketches, and resume prior to applying.

Want to know more? Here is our handy Nutshellian Guide to Animation Internships: How to Get One & Get the Most Out of One!