"This is Me" MAP Part 9 + Progress // Warriors with Disabilities

I think my new MO is disappearing for a year and then investing all my animator energy into a single MAP part that I spend several months going all out on before returning to hibernation and forgetting all about it.
Wow okay so this beast took up my whole summer but it’s done! And how lovely that I finish this right as I complete my online physical geography course. Now I just need to finish the statistical analysis of my summer research project and then I’ll finally be able to enjoy two weeks of true summer freedom before returning to college for the fall semester :,)
ANYWAY on to the actual MAP part. This is for AlexHarrier’s “This is Me” Warriors with disabilities MAP! I feel so honored to have been chosen and absolutely adore the idea. As someone diagnosed with epilepsy, the idea of a MAP focusing on Warriors characters overcoming their disabilities really resonates with me, so I wanted to put my all into my part! I also understood I was tasked with animating a very iconic scene involving the death of one of the most beloved characters in the series, so I wanted to handle it with tact. The first challenge (of many) was approaching the scene of Cinderpelt’s final battle with the badger in a unique way since it has been animated so many times before. This led to some fun but ~challenging~ scenes, like figuring out how to make a badger POV shot as it runs towards Cinder. I also ultimately decided not to show the actual moment Cinder dies because (1) it’s been done a LOT and (2) considering this is a MAP focused on disabled characters persevering, I wanted the last shot of Cinder alive to be her up and fighting.
If my goal for “Good For You” was to explore character acting then my goal for this part was to practice lighting, atmosphere, and camera movements. From a technical side, this MAP part was a huge learning experience and brought with it a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I’ve animated at 24 fps, the first time I’ve animated primarily on 2’s instead of 1’s, my first time animating a badger, my first time utilizing a 3D camera, and the first time I’ve extensively used After Effects (which I was finally able to use after remembering it’s included in my college tuition). That meant it was also the first time everything other than character animation was done outside of my animation program, which was both exciting and terrifying.
And for the record, I’m a STEM major so NONE of my classes cover After Effects which meant I had the fun task of taking all my previous video editing software knowledge (i.e. iMovie) and figuring it out myself :,). The steep learning curve is likely what dragged the latter half of work out so long, but the project’s Discord chat was kind enough to help me out on more than one occasion so shout out to them. All in all I learned a lot and despite some moments of frustration I had a lot of fun making this and hope to continue exploring the deep dark caverns of After Effects! I already have so many fun ideas for how I can use it for future videos (whenever those might come).
Final thoughts: Honestly, I’ve looked at this far too long to draw a proper conclusion on whether I’m proud of it or just “meh.” I’ll say I’m really proud of the effort I put into it and all I learned in the process. With each new MAP part I try to find a new way to push myself out of my comfort zone and I think this is my biggest example of that.
Thanks for having me, Alex! It was loads of fun :)
Script: "Single image transition to the lake, then fast forward to the badger battle. When Keala sings her Oh-oh oh Cinderpelt knows it’s time, and she is killed. Brightheart and Longtail both are present and mournful. Pan the camera down to black."
Characters (in order of appearance): Unnamed badger, Sorreltail, Cinderpelt, Brightheart, Longtail, Leafpool
MAP call: • This Is Me - Disabled ...
Song(s): "This is Me" - The Greatest Showman
Fingerstyle Guitar Cover by James Bartholomew: • The Greatest Showman -...
Characters owned by Erin Hunter
Art and animation owned by me - please do not repost without my permission
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[@Adrianimations]

Yesss, I've loved watching your progress on this. it turned out fabulous!! I love the idea of Cinder throwing a moss ball to get the badger's attention

[@QuillWorks]

Thank you!

[@mushroomanimals]

Man this is awesome! I love the part where Cinderpelt throws the moss ball to get its attention.

[@QuillWorks]

Thank you!

[@amberestie6605]

The way she just comes out of the shadows after throwing a mossball is absolutely amazing

[@lightraptor1]

AHhhh! I love this map so much, this part was so great too! Super well animated!!! :D

[@QuillWorks]

Thank you!

[@seigedrakonera5689]

This is amazing, it's smooth and the "camera work", I liked the scene transition with the bushes, very neat.

[@tamatkya5922]

This is awesome! It's so well-done and the animation is GREAT!!! :D Amazing work!

[@QuillWorks]

Thank you!

[@matchedpowerofthesun]

I love this!

[@plumedevanille6256]

It's really awesome ! I love your style of drawing, and it's really smooth! You are really underestimated! I'm a little embarrassed to ask but ... I really like your artstyle, and I would be very happy to have you take part in my Voice Acting MAP about Snowfur's death, but if you're not interested, no problem :3