CONTINGENCY PLAN
|| Main Title ||
blender
after effects
“Contingency Plan” is a group of adventurers traveling across Critical Role’s world of Exandria. I was commissioned to design the main title for Winter’s Crest (AKA, the holiday season of 2024). During the initial planning phase, we discussed the specific symbols associated with each character in the campaign. The goal was to capture each of their stories and give subtle backstory hints for viewers - and the other players.
storyboards!
After collaborating on the character ideas, my client trusted my creative eye to map out the movements and transitions. The opening shot was the most important; it symbolizes the journey of our group and introduces our audience to our setting. I boarded the sequence to zoom out of our magical D20, and showcase the beautiful world we are about to journey into.
I used Blender for the 3D components to capture the typical look of a gaming table. I wanted it to look as realistic as possible, so I littered the table with the things you would find on a D&D table. There is the 50th Anniversary Player’s Handbook, spell cards, character sheets, and several dice. All of these elements were modeled by me, using the official D&D products as their materials.
After that, we were onto the 2D portion. Planning was essential in this stage; each of the characters had to morph into each other based on similarities of their symbols. I boarded all the transitions, in multiple orders, to see which flowed the smoothest. After that, I sent it to my client for approval! Then, it was on to creating the assets.
I used After Effects for the 2D section, replicating a “storybook” style. These characters are going to be eventual legends in their world; they need to be depicted as such. Once the assets were created, it was important to animate each element with life and movement. Despite it being a storybook, I still wanted there to be a plethora of information for the audience to pick up on.
|| Special thanks to the group for trusting me! It was truly a blast and loved learning about all your characters. ||