Project Background
Following the success of the 2008 Animated/Interactive Undergraduate Christmas Card, I was approached by Dallas Baptist University to do a follow-up card for the 2009 Christmas Season.
As was also the case from 2008, another department/program wanted to “piggy-back” upon the main card that was being developed for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
In 2008, the “piggy-back” was the Office of Alumni Relations. In 2009, the “piggy-back” was the College of Adult Education Office of Admissions.
Like the 2008 cards, the idea is that both cards would be identical with the exception of the closing screen which would be for the College of Adult Education as opposed to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
As was the case with the 2008 card, the storyboarding process was completed in the early-Summer of 2009. Image collection was completed by mid-Summer of 2009 and rights to the musical selections were acquired in late-Summer of 2009 in the pre-production testing of the animation.
The storyboard for the 2009 card called for a much longer and interactive story than the 2008 card. The idea was for the DBU mascot (Patriot Man) to walk across campus finding different “gifts of Christmas” which represented different themes of Christmas.
The idea was that then at the conclusion of the animation, visitors could use the ornamental gifts they had collected to decorate a Christmas tree.
The greatest challenge for the card was the development of a moving Patriot Man from a single static image. Animation motion testing took approximately 2 months.
Here are the various motion tests that were undertaken to get the walking motion correct:
As was the case with the 2008 card, the 2009 card closed with 4 options for the viewer and a “signed” card from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
The final product was completed during the week of Thanksgiving and “proofed” by the administration of Dallas Baptist University early the following week. After a few minor edits, the card was posted live to the DBU web servers and the e-mail invites were distributed to all current and prospective undergraduate students.
