Hard Knock Life

'Hard Knock Life' was a self initiated and directed image making project created as a pilot episode to a series of animated shorts based on a group of teenagers in Brooklyn, NY. Set in the early 80's, a time known as "The Reagan Era" where New York was experiencing somewhat of a drug epidemic and crime rate was at an all time high, this project depicts a day in the life of teenagers growing up in such environments. The story expresses the effects caused by drugs that some may experience, through comedic values, helping teenagers with related issues understand the problems caused by drug use. Inspired by hip hop music and the culture that surrounds it, I chose to use animation along with a hip hop inspired soundtrack to create this project as it would attract viewers of a younger audience and give insight into the harmful effects caused by drugs.

Storyboard.
Character reference sketches.
Further sketches. Characters were iterations of these sketches.
Concept illustrations for the teenagers bedroom. Inspired by 80's tv shows!
Original concept for each piece was to use a mixed media approach, mixing illustration with photography.
When creating animation tests, I used hundreds of photos like this to test character movement.
This is the final image from the animation. Using one cel for the background and hundreds for each character movement. ALL hand painted !
Final piece, the trailer.
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