GRIND
Matthew Lago
Matthew Lago is an aspiring designer utilizing his experience to pursue film production and motion graphics. With skills in 2D animation, video production/editing, Photoshop, Illustrator, and social media he is versed in a wide range of software and specializations. He graduated from The College of New Jersey with a B.A. in Interactive Multimedia and minor in Communications and is based in the Greater New York City Area.
Email: lago.matthewj@gmail.com
Phone: 973-525-0506
Project Overview
GRIND is a fully hand drawn, 2D animation. This is a project that combines my love for video editing, animation, and of course skate videos. When thinking of what I would create for my senior thesis I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone. This decision led me to consider animation, one of my favorite forms of media. Before starting the process I had never animated anything to this extent, much less hand drawn it all. With the ample amount of time I had on my hands and the help of my tablet I decided to test the waters. The end product is a trailer for what I plan on creating into a full length short.
My Process
The process of making a lengthy hand drawn animation was a lot more work than I initially thought. Over the course of these past two semesters, I’ve created over 1,000 individual frames. The entire project was done completely with ProCreate on the iPad and later edited on Adobe Premiere.
My initial idea for the project was a completely different idea and story. However when I finally got to drawing it out, I first made a short skateboarding sequence for the intro. It inspired me to switch gears and make something I was more passionate about and the change motivated me to continue pursuing a project that I would enjoy through the arduous animation process. I’ve always enjoyed watching skate videos and went back to some of my favorites for some inspiration. From there it came down to the drawing.
In the past I’ve made motion graphics and effects for videos that I was editing. I had not dabbled in character animation until my thesis however. For the most part I only had experience doodling characters in the back of my notebook. I had to practice for a while before settling on a style that I thought would fit me. When I was comfortable drawing with my style, I spent countless hours on each sequence.
Reflection
I set out to create project that I would challenge me along the way. To date this has been perhaps the most difficult project I have ever worked on. Before my thesis I had almost no experience whatsoever with hand drawn animation. The learning process was rough, but in turn it allowed me to gain an immense amount of tools that I have added to my arsenal for my future in the design field. It has inspired me to continue being involved with animation, whether it be in my career or as a past time. While I spent some late nights being a perfectionist on certain parts, I found the entire process to be therapeutic. Seeing each finished sequence pushed me to keep going. That being said I am not yet satisfied, and I plan on turning this trailer into an actual short. It has been a crazy year full of many unexpected issues but I am proud of the work I have accomplished and grateful for what I have learned.