"The Little Hero"

"The Little Hero" was created in two years and finalised in 2018 as part of my MA graduation project at the National University of Theater and Film "I.L. Caragiale" in Bucharest, Romania. Being my first frame-by-frame animation I wanted to make it a learning experience by taking inspiration from the work and process of Hayao Miyazaki, one of my favourite directors, but I also wanted to pay tribute to the heart-warming animations that I grew up with. Therefore the style is reminiscent of the classic animations of the '90s.

film poster of short animation about the adventures of a little boy, flying little boy chasing a butterfly and a magical forest above the clouds

Storyboard samples

storyboard page sample in Japanese style

Exploring story ideas

pencil sketches of a fantasy forest and an old fairy tree

Early exploration of background styles: watercolour & gouache

watercolour paintings in the Ghibli studio style of backgrounds for an animation

Final background style

animation backgrounds of a magical fairytale forest

animation backgrounds of a world above the clouds and the front yard of a house

Character development

line drawings of facial expressions of a little boy, character development for animation

Animation Process

Final Film

Technique and Process

Finishing this project was one of the hardest things I ever accomplished and it was also my first time animating in the classic frame-by-frame technique. Being my MA graduation project, I worked on it almost entirely by myself. My aim was not to create an exceptional story, but rather a simple one where I could focus instead on achieving the look that I wanted and to learn as much as I could in the process. My tools were TVPaint Animation, Wacom Cintiq tablet and the Adobe Suite (Photoshop, After Effects and Premier Pro).

Animation