Tidy Town
Tidy Town
Tidy Town is a 2D animated graduation film made by Thirza van der Zee and me at the University of the Arts, Utrecht (HKU) – which I directed, wrote, and produced. The film is about a raccoon cub named Joy, she has a plan to get rid of the plastic trash that has overwhelmed her island.
visual development
During visual development, I oversaw and worked on the overall art style of the film, concept art of the characters and the environment, the storyboard, and the colour board. I wanted the visuals to be cute, with a hint of realism. Reminiscent of animations I loved when I was little. Simultaneously, I added the visual details Thirza and me came up with into the plot and story, and rewrote the script several times as I received feedback from industry professionals. My ultimate goal was simplifying the plot to counter our tight deadline: graduation.
CONCEPT ART
Characters
environment
CHARACTER DESIGN
STORYBOARD
During storyboarding, I focused on amplifying Thirza’s strengths – axing unnecessary shots whilst adding relevant ones.
Storyboard snippet
colour board
After readjusting the planning as covid-19 hit the Netherlands, I painted the backgrounds based on layouts created by Thirza van der Zee, Charlotte Lemmers, Cecil Eijgendaal, and myself.
ebsynth
I created a workflow for using Ebsynth to incorporate a painterly style. First, we (the team) finished all character shots with flat colors. Then, I painted most of the key poses to render in Ebsynth. Finally, I cleaned up all the shots in Tvpaint as sampled below.
Animation
During production of animation, I worked on both visual effects and character animation for Joy and Wolf. I also adjusted some final shots of Joy for the sake of consistency, as we had three animators working on her, with too little time to get 100% comfortable with her design.
Selections & Awards
cinekid
best dutch animated short – nominee
Noordelijk filmfestival
Best student Film – Winner
Netherlands film festival
Student competition – official selection
Giffoni film festival
Elements 6+ – Official selection
FFTG Awards
Quarantine Film – Multiple wins
Canadian cinematography awards
november 2020 animation film – winner
Queen City Film Festival
Animated Short – Official selection
credits
original concept by
Dana Alink & Thirza van der Zee
Written, Directed, & Produced by
Dana Alink & Thirza van der Zee
Componist
Isabella Calmet
Sound Production
Jose Varon
sound effects
Milovan Güich
Final Mix
Geoffrey Cannock
Voice acting
Joy & Mayor – Dana Alink
Linnaeus Wolf – Jon Adams
Secretary – Wesley Eagle
CONCEPT ART
Dana Alink & Thirza van der Zee
CHARACTER DESIGN
Dana Alink & Thirza van der Zee
LEAD STORYBOARD DESIGN
Thirza van der Zee
ADDITIONAL STORYBOARD DESIGN
Dana Alink
LAYOUTS
Dana Alink
Cecil Eijgendaal
Charlotte Lemmers
Thirza van der Zee
BACKGROUND ART
Dana Alink
BACKGROUND ART
Dana Alink
LEAD ANIMATION
Dana Alink
Charlotte Lemmers
Thirza van der Zee
ADDITIONAL ANIMATION
Cecil Eijgendaal
Jil Siu
Noémie Bajor
VISUAL EFFECTS
Dana Alink
COLORING
Dana Alink
Dara Dharmaperwira
Cecil Eijgendaal
Tobi Springer
Emelia Waterman
Thirza van der Zee
