Cosmic Cackle Trilogy

An animation of little star circling around a fox, causing him to levitate. Then, it rushes toward him in a bright burst of light.

An experimental semi-animated short film trilogy, following a fox whose destiny becomes entangled with a strange falling star.

SKILLS: Animatic Development, Background Illustration, Character Illustration, Compositing, Storyboarding, Storytelling

SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender, Paint Tool SAI

YEAR: 2023

#1 - The Cosmic Cackle

A storyboard for the first film's initial concept. A 3D fox modelled and rigged in Blender, displayed in various poses. Six still shots from the first film. Text reads, The original storyboard for this first film was shortened, with the rest being incorporated into the second film, Unearthly.

The Cosmic Cackle is the first part, in which a mysterious fox constellation appears above Earth and explodes into an array of stars. A fox on Earth approaches a falling star, mesmerized by its glow.

The first part blends the line between fantasy and reality with the dichotomy of a cartoon star character and a realistic fox. The fox was originally animated and keyframed in Blender, and it was painted over in Paint Tool SAI.

#2 - Unearthly

A storyboard for the second film. A page of research sketches showing the fox's bipedal transformation and anatomical changes. Fifteen still shots from the second film.

Unearthly is the second part, in which the falling star causes the fox to become bipedal. The fox is overjoyed by these changes, but his mate and cubs mistake him for a human hunter.

The second part is drawn in an entirely cartoon style, unlike the first part's realistic style, to convey the range of emotion between characters.

#3 - A Stellar Skulk

A storyboard for the third film. A page of research sketches for the space fox's fashion and for what some celestial objects surrounding the fox planet might look like. Twelve still shots from the third film.

A Stellar Skulk is the third and final part, in which the fox who has been abandoned by his family meets a fox from space, who is also bipedal. The space fox shows him that there is a distant planet where bipedal foxes live together happily, and offers to take him to that planet.

The third part is the first instance of colored sequences, in which dreamlike colors are used while the space fox tells him about a utopian new home.