tuwhiri: stories of port waikato
Employer: ARA Journeys
Tools: Procreate, Photoshop, After Effects
Date: April-May 2022
Categories: Illustration, Animation
Stories of Port Waikato tells the tale of the waka Te Winika, which spanned over almost 200 years. My task was to create an impactful, respectful, yet cost effective animated trailer (shown above) to promote the in-game story.
Successfully navigated the contradictory priorities of respectfully representing indigenous stories and indie production budget constraints.
Using concept storyboards from the project creative lead, sketched compositions and created test animations for interim milestone approvals.
Developed a distinctive yet cost effective art and animation style for the project.
Found solutions that addressed client feedback that would not compromise production timelines.
Painted all 5 keyarts with a view to maximise flexibility when animating.
Animated the keyarts with a focus on bang for buck - effective camera movements, parallaxes, and simple movement transitions.
The birth of the waka Te Winika from a mighty Tōtara.
The colonist invasion of the Waikato during the New Zealand Land Wars.
The burial of Te Winika's carvings, to keep them safe from the invaders.
The renewal of Te Winika's carvings
Composition exploration for the final regatta day scene
Initial regatta day sketch - focusing on bold silhouettes/shapes.
Colour exploration for the regatta day scene.
The completed regatta day artwork, as Te Winika sails down the Waikato River to her current home in the Waikato Museum.
Indigenous Storytelling in motion, for indies
In this talk from NZGDC 2022, I speak about the creative decision making that went into creating this trailer, and how we balanced the needs of the story with the needs of production.