A short film by Jessa Baldoria
Log Line
Two magical star creatures are wished upon by a child, and their different approaches of delivering a promise leads to a clash
Themes
Difference: never feel bad about being different and thinking outside the expected because there will always be someone who appreciates who you are
Acceptance: learn to step back when you've been mistaken about your expectation, do not be so rigid in your choices, and let others be acknowledged when it's due
The Making of Celeste
Inspiration
Out (2020)
La Luna (2012)
Wind (2019)
Coda (2013)
Partly Cloudy (2009)
Bao (2018)
I observed from other short films that I personally loved for both the writing and the look of my own short film. Many of these are from the Sparkshorts collection, my favorite animation collection. I wanted to create something that felt like it belonged with them.
Character Design
Five-pointed for recognizability
Unibrow for uptight and slightly aged nature
Yellow prefers to do its job to the tee with no variation to the tradition, so it is more commonly annoyed and frustrated due to being displeased at Pink's suggestions.
More stubby, rounded tips for softness
Slightly smaller to indicate a younger nature
Pink is the more childlike and imaginative of the duo. Like most starry-eyed souls, Pink is enthusiastic about thinking outside what it is assigned, and it gets discouraged when their ideas are pushed aside.
I remember being younger and liking toys in the toy box that weren't always picked-- dolls with the hair gone, cars that had mismatched wheels, etc. In retrospect, it was most likely other kids who misshaped it as such, but as a kid I always wondered who made those toys the way they were. I remember wanting to meet them one day and thanking them for making me happy. I styled this unnamed girl's look and behavior after that nostalgic wonder and feeling.
Early Concept Art
As for the colors, I chose Yellow and Pink to avoid biased implication from any pre-conceived associations that comes with pairing (i.e. pink & blue being commonly known for girl & boy). Furthermore, Pink and Yellow can have any pronoun the viewer wishes (as the creator, I often refer to the star creatures as it or she).
Storyboarding
Planning for the action as well as the characters, this storyboard animation was formed from one of my earliest drafts. Even though much of this material has changed, it still aided me in timing and overall look of this short film.
Animation
1) Develop every shot manually in Photoshop
2) Separate the layers & export the png files in each folder
3) Import it to AfterEffects & animate each shot's action
4) Export into new folders and import to Premiere. Stitch the clips together to create a sequence.
Depending on the shot, a single one takes at least an hour to produce, and can be up to two hours to animate. This stage was the most challenging because I haven't faced animating on this scale before, so I had to keep things in mind like timing, squash & stretch, exaggeration, etc.
Ongoing Thoughts
Challenges: Writing, animating, & illustrating all at once. Soon to be sound designing
Successes: Clear storytelling, fluid movement, emotional connection
Plans for the future: Complete the sound design (sounds & score). Be involved in any of the areas of production I've encountered with this short film-- a writer in a writer's room, an animator for a studio, or an illustrator for concept art.
To this moment, I'm constantly thinking about editing, rewriting, and reworking, but I'm learning to just be satisfied in what I've accomplished so far while moving to completion. To me, this is just the starting point in developing my storytelling arsenal in more ways than one.