2D CEL ANIMATION

through the dust

CLIENT: THE ATLANTIC

September 11th, 2016 marks the fifteen-year anniversary of of the largest terrorist attack ever to take place on American soil. Annual memorials and ceremonies will dutifully commemorate the tragedy and its victims. In this recollection, every one of us is presented with an important opportunity for deeper reflection on how we can offset 9/11’s damaging legacy together. Directors: Jonah Markowitz & Brandon Lavoie Editor: Brady Darragh Animator: Casey Drogin Composer: Fernando Martinez Sound Design: One Thousand Birds Sound Mixer: Jack Goodman Assistant Editor: Woo Hyun An Music Mastering: Kia Eshghi www.jonahmarkowitz.com www.brandonlavoiefilms.com

Fifteen years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Directors Brandon Lavoie and Jonah Markowitz reached out to me to employ animation to retell the experiences of first responders, and the health effects they still experience to this day.

The short film Through The Dust features heartrending testimonies from first responders to the site of the attacks, and unpacks the lingering trauma.

ROTOMATIC

The animated sequence was rotoscoped at 8 frames per second. The rotoscope portion uses a mix of shot footage and archival clips from the 9/11 attack. Director Brandon Lavoie filmed me as a stand-in for Chucky. I then used Mocha to replace my face with his likeness in After Effects, before rotoscoping in Photoshop. This allowed me to easily retain his likeness in animation.

In addition to filming the rotoscope portion, I compiled it with found footage and news clips of the towers collapsing. These had to be stabilized and tracked into the scene, so that the handdrawn animation sequence could feel as close to the reality of that event as possible.