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Pine stands in front of the burning Firewatch Tower

FIRE WATCHERS

The last year of high school for a group of friends, all going their separate ways.

FIRE WATCHERS is a story about how four kids, Pine, Cocoa, Hornfels, and Cynthia, spend their last year of high school. They’ve created their own hangout spot at an abandoned firewatch tower a short hike away from their town in the mountains. The short follows the group and how they use this space as a way to escape but also share the struggles of their lives. I am now working on an animated short adaptation in pre-production that will become my senior thesis.

Some color and environment keys for the short.

Pine and Cocoa walk along a mountainous road talking to each other Pine stands in front of the burning Firewatch Tower

Character sheets and sketches, getting a sense of their personalities and identities.

The Fire Watchers crew lineup, showing height, example outfits, and color keys Experiments with Cocoa's expressive eyes, poses, and getting a feel for their character Initial concept sketches for Cynthia, the snowy owl A more detailed posed sketch of Cynthia sitting down pine sitting down all four of the Fire Watchers crew in the dark, only their eyes visible

Below are some early concept sketches for the characters of the short, as well as the abandoned firewatch tower where the short takes place in.

When concepting this story, I initially came up with the setting, so making characters to fit the setting was quite the task. Only a few quick sketches later though, my first character, as well as the whole vibe of the story I'd say, formed. Pine was made.

character sketches and creation of Pine

I've also made an early version of a script that will no longer be in use for the final project. It can be found below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tnt0DoDfd_Dn111PSMfEC-w-P3jow5lLolSV6381k9Y/edit?usp=sharing

An early and quick storyboard test for the beginning of the film.

storyboard 1 of FIRE WATCHER short storyboard 1 of FIRE WATCHER short

Below is an early-production sequence of story art for the beginning of the climax of the film, with early designs of Pine and Cocoa.

Pine opens the door to reveal Cocoa Pine and Cocoa walk and talk Cocoa looks devastated Cocoa and Pine laugh it off Pine and Cocoa walk towards a forest path entrance Pine and Cocoa see a waterbomber plane fly close overhead A waterbomber plane leaves a streak of blinding red across the pastel sky Cocoa and Pine in shock, looking at the plane Cocoa and Pine looking at each other, realizing what the plane means The camera pans to be upside down, showing Cocoa and Pine running towards the forest

I made a short clip of animatics for the part of the film which I drew story art for.