The Blue Witch is an animated readalong that I worked on as the Creative Director. I was the first one to touch the project after the author and executives, fleshing out the vision for this relatively new storytelling format. I was deeply involved in the entire pipeline, from storyboards and voice direction to compositing and editing.
The first episode
Compositing
Don’t be shy! Ask for a password!
Ask for the passwordText integrations
The artistic text integrations were the biggest puzzle to solve in this fledgling format. It’s a challenge that touched every department, and a big part of my job was bringing everyone together for a unified and sustainable approach to that.
I didn’t want these to read as something slapped on by an AI for Instagram, so we went to great lengths to make the text feel like it’s part of the world.
Don’t be shy! Ask for a password!
Ask for the passwordStorybook woodcuts
As a bonus, we also found we could save huge amounts of production time by leaning on these storybook-styled motion graphics for certain moments while maintaining interest and mystery. We used this technique for flashbacks or characters’ internal thoughts; anything that takes us out of the action of the main storyline.
I was inspired by Ruth Robbins’ original illustrations for the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. As a kid, it really stuck with me that those woodcuts gave me just enough to let my own imagination bloom, and I wanted to do that for our audience as well.
