Made for FILM 303: Advanced Animation
Medium: Animation
Date Made: April 2025
Against All Odds
description - Notes
tools!
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Procreate Dreams
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Blender
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Photoshop
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Premiere Pro
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After Effects
Media Player
Against All Odds is a story about Vanessa, an 18-year-old student who plays basketball for her high school team. During her night hoop sessions, she must face a vicious opponent who challenges her to a quick one-on-one. Originally made for FILM 303: Advanced Animation, Against All Odds is an animated story about fear, imposter syndrome, and resilience. Through a basketball game, Vanessa must overcome the fear of never being good enough. All her deepest fears are personified through the antagonist, Shadow. As she battles through her mental and physical state, she must prove to herself that she is worthy of playing basketball. As someone who grew up in a basketball family, I played almost everyday - I still do sometimes. I am so competitive. I hate losing. I would verse my dad, my uncles, my cousins, and strangers who happen to be at the park or gym we were playing at. As I grew older, I let fear win. My love for the game started to dwindle every time I overthink and let fear take over. Over the past few years, I learned how basketball is a mental game, and it can be very limiting if you don't know how to tame it. This animation is dedicated to my younger self.
inspo.exe
When Kobe Bryant died in 2020, I was heartbroken. Ever since I was little, my dad and I would watch his games. A little after I heard the news, we started watching his highlight videos on YouTube. I came across a video dedicated to Kobe - MVP: An Animated Short Film Inspired by Kobe Bryant. Basically, it is an animation where Kobe is fighting (one-on-one) with his most terrible enemy, himself. Again, it is a film about overcoming our weaknesses. As an inspiration, I wanted to make my own version incorporating both 2D and 3D animation.
process - Windows Help
concept to creation.exe
After writing the script, I filmed reference videos of each camera shot. To animate the characters’ movement fluidly, I would study their behaviour and mimic it playfully on screen. In Blender, I created a basketball gym in 2D and 3D. Using the space, I placed multiple camera angles for export. Then, I added those “empty” videos into Procreate where I drew everything in the scene from scratch.
Breakdown of steps:
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Solidified Storyline
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Character Design & Shot List
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Filmed reference videos
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Build 2D/3D Basketball Scene
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Export "empty" camera angles
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Import video and draw each scene
