MothMan, BigFoot, FrogMan
Character Animation
“Hey, so I've been working at this To-GoMart forever!! And this started up pretty recently but, you won't believe this but the famous cryptids BigFoot, MothMan, and FrogMan? ARE ALL REAL AND THEY SHOP AT THE PLACE I WORK! No one believes me but I swear it's real so here you guys go! I set up my security footage to show everyone I am not crazy and BigFoot, MothMan, and FrogMan are real!!!”
This animated short takes place in a rural undisclosed location and has a fun and endearing found footage quality. The poor To-GoMart employee has been getting harassed by loitering cryptids! To try to prove their experience is real to the world, they released the security footage online. Do you believe them?
Each character is based on a cryptid. BigFoot obviously being well known, and MothMan growing in equal popularity. FrogMan is known as the Ohio Loveland Frogman who was spotted by a cop late one night in rural Ohio.
Summer Character Animation Course Project Final | Junior year
VHS Glitch made by Christopher Huppertz, "VHS Glitch - Volume 3 - Stock Footage - 3 Hours - Free to use for movies and video clips" Check out for full video here
VHSedit
The typeface of the end credits is 'ToughHorror', the typeface for purchase is found here; ToughHorrorhttps://www.d
Accessories
When designing the accessories for the cryptids I based them on products and stuff my friends use commonly. As a teen growing up in rural Ohio, I had my fair share of Polar Pops and Funyuns. I wanted to give the characters the same feel as loitering teens, somewhat modernized.
BigFoot Character Design
When designing BigFoot’s character I was basing his style on granola men. Mainly a hippie-like person that is really about the earth and outdoor activities. I wanted it to seem that he picked up clothes and habits from campers’ rave festivals he watched from the forest. In earlier designs, BigFoot has a man bun. BigFoot does enjoy EDM but prefers to spend time alone. His character design came through easily and was fun to work with. He reaches close to 8 feet tall but is surprisingly graceful with his giant feet and height, he claims it’s cause he has great balance.
(He/Him)
MothMan Character Design
Designing MothMan definitely had its challenges. It was hard to choose how to depict the ethereal creature in a cute but mysterious way. And as you can see the wings went through multiple variations. I wanted to make sure they had fur and an interesting texture. Their claws are based on real moth’s feet who have tiny talons covered in fluff. They reach up to 8 feet tall with their wings, and when learning how to skateboard was very clumsy. And still, crash pretty badly when learning new tricks. But they absolutely love it and will never stop and they always get better each time. They stole their skateboard from a group of teens that were looking for them in the woods late one
night. They are also nonbinary and use
they-them pronouns. And, their favorite drink of choice is Voodoo Ranger IPAs.
(They/Them)
FrogMan Character Design
FrogMan was the hardest to design. I wanted him to share the same features to make him cohesive with BigFoot and MothMan, but his design took longer and had some changes. Creating him was fun because the Loveland Frogman is our local cryptid in Ohio. I wanted to keep froggy features while also making him endearing. He found the hooters tank top in a dumpster; his favorite snacks are funyons and red bulls. He is sensitive about his height (4 feet) but he’s a pretty outgoing guy. And he loves thrifting. He found an old thrift store near the cryptids’ loitering spot with a blind old woman that runs it. She just thinks FrogMan has a skin condition but he’s her favorite customer.
(He/Him)
Background
When designing the background environment for the video I heavily based the style off of ‘The Amazing World of Gumball’. I absolutely love the environmental design and character design that splices illustration and real images overlaying each other. It creates a sense of make-believe within the real world. I incorporated a real photo of forestry from ‘Unsplash’ for the background. And within the mart and outside I incorporated stock images of Convenient stores and signs. This proved overall successful and added more texture.
Storyboard
Making the storyboard I always had a clear plan of having FrogMan and BigFoot sitting and drinking polar pops while they watched MothMan skate by. I used a VHS edit to incorporate the security static. And took real-life footage of my friend holding my handwritten sign in a circle K to incorporate into the opening sequence. Originally MothMan was going to do a kickflip, but to save time and to focus on the characters more I simplified it to skating by. But future projects should show MothMan doing some sick tricks.