Baxter

Baxter by Ty Coyle, Savannah College of Art and Design.

Who?

The short was written and directed by myself Ty Coyle and Produced at the Savannah College of Art and Design, alongside 40+ talented student artists.

What?

Baxter the raccoon makes his way into Granny’s Sweet Shop, but upon entering he gets so obsessed with the candy that he creates his own downfall.

Why?

Inspiration for this project came through the challenge I underwent as a young teenager. When I was in middle school, I was diagnosed with a severe case of the obsessive compulsive disorder. I was able to overcome it after taking steps to move forward. The funny thing about this film was that I was writing a story about an obsessive compulsive creature before I realized it. My classmates pointed it out to me before I noticed.

We all at some point try to be perfect at something in some way or form. Some realize sooner than others that not being perfect can be perfectly alright. Through this film I wanted to express exactly that.

We were all constantly being inspired. I remember as a student watching Jeff Gabor’s animation reference videos, and decided I wanted to try a do the same. I recorded myself acting out the entire film, and used that as reference when animating. His process was so in depth, that it was such a great starting point to use as an example.

We also looked at Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs as reference for all of the candy. We wanted to keep it fun, bright, and coloorful. All of the food in this film was the perfect reference.

How?

The film was created using multiple programs which include Maya, Zbrush, Photoshop, Mental Ray, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. But mainly Maya.

We would also hold lots of creative meetings and critiques, at least one every week. This was beneficial to keep the film on track and moving forward. I tried to keep the working process as fun as possible considering the students who were working on the film (who have their own projects and classes) were volunteering their own time on the film. The collaborative process of this film made it very enjoyable. Myself and others made many new friends, and lots of freshman and sophomore students learned new techniques by working with the juniors and seniors. That was part of the reason I enjoyed having alot of students work on the film because it promoted team building and expanded everyone’s knowledge of the programs we were learning.

Next Project?

I am currently wrapping up a collaborative short film with a bunch of co workers. More details would come very soon!

Which animated film would you like to have made?

I would probably have to pick the first Shrek movie. That was one film that made me laugh and giggle so much as a kid. You could tell that those who worked on the film really had a blast creating it. It was also one of those films that led me to pursue a career in computer animation.

Full Production Credits

Written and Directed
Ty Coyle

Co-Producers
Ty Coyle
Michael Bond IV

Visual Development
Ty Coyle
Delfin Gomez
Jerry Suh
Rachel Schmieg

Character Model
Chris Folea

Character Texture
Terry D. Barnett II
Natalie Greenhill

Character Rig
Kate Kirby-O’Connell

Prop Rig
Nelio Naut

Animators
Ty Coyle
Anthony Demeo IV
Ashley Farlow
Monika Gelbmann
Madeline Jackson
Andrew Price
Jaime Russell
Emily Zurl

Environment Modeler
Jordan Hess

Matte Painting
Meg Casey

Texture
Lead texture: Natalie Greenhill and Eric Schultz
Kelsey McEwing
Sarah Beggs
JongJik Kim
Ashley Farlow
Rebecca McKee
Jaclyn Lake

Lighting
Lead Lighter: Alex Corll
Eric Schultz
Jeff Robins
Chris Folea
Rebecca McKee
Kristen Eggleston
Kyle Martin
Jerry Suh
JongJik Kim
Leslie Beldner
William Moten
Dylan Brown
Bryanna London

Dynamics
Jeff Robbins

Sound Designer
Blake Johnson

Composer
Darren Prentice

Foley Artist
Derrick Minyard
Ty Coyle

Voice Over
Joey Nasser

Credits
Jeff O’Neal