Carve Your Own Path - A Snowbowl Advert

I created a short 2D animation for the popular snowy destination of Snowbowl, one of Arizona’s few ski/snowboarding destinations. They have been my go-to destination for snowboarding over the last few years, and have been a household name in the city of Flagstaff for many decades.

The Problem:

Snowbowl (and Arizona in general) has received increasingly less and less snow each year. This leads to poor conditions for skiing and snowboarding, which in turn means less revenue and earnings. I wanted to make an advertisement to help drive attention and interest in the ski resort by depicting the most fun aspects of skiing in an animation.

The Process:

I had decided I would use a 2-Dimensional rig to animate the skier throughout the advert. The only issue being I had never made or utilized a 2D rig. For this project, I was determined to not only apply my skills but also learn something new along the way, so I watched many tutorials online and became familiar with how to construct and operate a humanoid rig.

I am also a career snowboarder and not a skier, so I found myself doing a lot of research to learn about the mechanics of skiing, and how they differ from what I am more familiar with. I aimed to make the skier look as realistic as possible, so I focused a lot of my effort in weight transfer and balance.

The Results:

Although the finished advertisement never “hit the air” so to speak, I was both proud of the work I was able to accomplish and the skills I learned in the truncated time allotted of half a semester. I received good marks on my project, as well as helpful feedback for the next time I create something in the same vein of work.