Aria - BFA Senior Thesis

This is my senior thesis project that was entered into BGSU’s 2021 BFA Show.

I created a hybrid animation where the characters are animated in 3D and the backgrounds are 2D paintings. I am really inspired by media that combines 2D and 3D, so I wanted to experiment with this for my project.

Plot summary:

A creature called Aria is flying through the sky with her flock. Aria gets separated from her family in a thunderstorm. She then crash lands onto a floating island in the sky. There, she is drawn by the sound of a music box. She follows the music inside the house, where we meet Quinn, who is fixing a music box. When she is done, Aria begins singing and dancing to the sound of the music box. Quinn is startled, but soon realizes Aria needs help getting back to her family. Quinn decides to help Aria, and they set off after the family on a hover bike. They overcome the storm, but when they come out on the other side, the family is nowhere to be seen. Quinn then pulls out the music box in hopes that it will draw the family to them. Just when it seems like it will work, the music box breaks once more, but this time Aria continues to sing. We then hear singing coming from the clouds, and as the music builds, Aria’s family rises through the clouds and surrounds them. Aria is reunited with her family and they fly into the distance.

Full Animation