2022 UConn DMD BFA Senior Exhibition

Student Work

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Illusions and Witchcraft

Jaret Ostop

Madison, CT

BFA (Motion Design & Animation)
Advisor: Sue Huang

2D Animation
4 min

Link to Illusions and Witchcraft

Illusions and Witchcraft is a short animated teaser that follows two special girls with magical abilities that they must hide from the rest of the world. Despite both being magical, magician Alex Azam and witch Abi Cadabra don't quite get along and are often getting into magical fights and scuffles with each other over their differences. However, one day during school, their feud ends up turning a regular squabble at the library into a terrible accident that could very well expose the both of them and their powers to the rest of the school. Will the two be able to put aside their differences in order to save themselves, or will this be the day the world finally finds out about their powers?

With the people of the world these days becoming more and more separated from each other, whether it be cultural, political, economical, or even physical, I personally feel it's important to remind everyone that regardless of our differences and in spite of our fights, we’re all in this together, and at the end of the day we’re all more similar to each other than we are different. This short features characters I’ve been working on for quite some time, and is presented in an art style similar to that of children's media. The colors are bright and colorful, the textures are rough to mimic that of crayon drawings, and the sound design was set up to add a sense of energy and fun to the story. The animation is 2-D and features a blend of traditional frame-by-frame cells and moving animated cut outs, drawn in Photoshop. The character of Abi Cadabra was one of the first I’ve ever created, so it’s exciting to finally see her alive and animated, as well as to be able to pair her with a brand new character created specifically for this project. It’s also thrilling to be able to use the both of them to tell a fun and approachable, yet nuanced and important story. I hope you enjoy these characters as much as I do.


Artist Bio

Jaret Ostop is a Digital Media & Design student at the University of Connecticut who is looking to earn his BFA with a concentration in Motion Design & Animation. With interests such as playing video games, watching cartoons, and reading books, Jaret was always exposing himself to new and engaging stories from a young age, and he knew early on that he wanted to be able to create characters, stories, and worlds of his own one day. Jaret started writing at an early age, coming up with stories for his toys when he was a kid and eventually started writing down his early ideas and characters by the time he entered high school. When the time came to enter the college field, Jaret decided that he wanted to use animation as his prefered medium as opposed to novels, so he applied into the University of Connecticut in order to learn all he could about the field of animation and grow his skills. While attending the University of Connecticut, Jaret has used the resources and opportunities available for him to experiment and attempt all manner of creative projects, from animated shorts, to short live-action films, to graphic novels, to even video game projects. Jaret has managed to maintain consistent Dean's List status and continues to support himself and his efforts through school scholarships and on campus work-study programs. He is expected to graduate with honors in Spring 2022. Once he does, Jaret hopes to continue sharing his stories and characters with as many people as possible through his own independent projects.

https://www.jaretostopstoryteller.com/

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