Wickmore’s Afraid of the Dark is an independent short film I worked on during my junior year at the University of Oregon and was the first real project I ever took on in 3D. In hindsight, my first real foray into this medium being a 15-minute film was perhaps a naive undertaking, but I still see great value in the time I spent working on it. It served as an exploration of the entire creative process that goes into making a full-fledged animated project, although in this particular case everything from concept art to storyboarding, from modeling to animating, was performed by myself. While I may have tabled the project, I don’t think my time with Wickmore has come to an end. My hope is that as I grow as an artist and develop my abilities within this medium, I can one day revisit the project and see Wickmore’s story through to completion. For now, please enjoy this insight into the work!

2D work: Procreate and Photoshop

3D work: Cinema4D


- THE STORY -

Wickmore’s Afraid of the Dark is the story of a young, sentient candle boy attempting to make his escape from a haunted house. Wickmore finds himself thrust into an unknown environment, in which the only outlet for making sense of his surroundings is the light emanating from the top of his head. In this way, darkness takes on the role of a silent presence, both following and retreating as our waxy protagonist makes his way through the decrepit building and a variety of undead personalities plot to keep him there. 


- THE CHARACTERS -

Original Wickmore Concept

Original Wickmore Concept

My focus in storytelling is always crafting characters that feel as though they exist in their own world, and the personalities of Wickmore’s Afraid of the Dark are no different. The first illustration I did of Wickmore was originally intended to be a one-off drawing, but as I worked on it I found myself drawn to the character in an interesting way. The idea that this character whose ‘practical’ purpose was to provide light was so afraid of the dark that he also carried a flashlight really amused me, and I knew before I even shared the drawing with anyone that I wanted to expand on the little guy’s story. While he’s since ditched the flashlight (and put on pants), the character and those thematic contradictions that drew me to him remain the same.

 
Siren Concept

Siren Concept

Wickmore’s silent demeanor and innocent naivety contrast sharply with the colorful, albeit intimidating, personalities of the ghosts that make his acquaintance as the story progresses. While the ghosts are certainly there primarily to frighten Wickmore and move the story along, they each have distinct roles to play, whether it be The Siren reluctantly luring the candle boy or The Chef, as an undoubtedly dangerous force, driving him into The Host’s seemingly hospitable clutches.

When designing the ‘side ghosts’, I knew I wanted a ‘creepy’ character and a ‘scary’ character. The creepy role ended up being filled by this lovely lady right here. Originally titled ‘The Crone’, The Siren’s role in the story and her character design go hand in hand. I knew I needed something to pull Wickmore further into the seemingly unoccupied house and I decided that this character would function similarly to tales of sirens luring sailors to their deaths. However, instead of the beautiful melodies of beautiful fish women, this siren’s song would be spooky, old gramophone music. Paired with the implication that she bears no ill-will towards Wickmore and only goes along with the Host’s plot out of fear, I knew I had an interesting character on my hands.

 

Whether it’s because I’d been watching a lot of Gordon Ramsay with my roommates or that he literally serves up Wickmore to The Host just before the story’s finale, I knew I wanted the ‘scary’ role to be played by The Chef. The idea of a crazy, dead chef who exists in some ridiculous gray area between stereotypes of French and Italian cuisine (brought to life by the voice acting of Pressley Myer) immediately amused me. While the character lacks some of the subtle nuances that The Siren has, the combination of humor and danger makes his scene a bright spot in the film, in my opinion.

 

Host Concept

Finally, The Host (played excellently by Sean Nelson) plays the complicated role of being both Wickmore’s only ally within the house and the central villain of the story. This role is mirrored both by the character’s fascination with the relationship between light and dark, as well as the house itself, which initially serves as a necessary shelter to Wickmore, but quickly becomes his prison. Once The Host reveals his true intentions and the farce is stripped away, so is the darkness — as the story comes to a head in the ghost’s candle-filled study. This moment not only symbolizes Wickmore’s realization, but also flips the trope that the film had relied on up to this point on its head: the dark isn’t always what you have to be afraid of.

The character’s design is also directly impacted by the role he plays in the story. Given that Wickmore’s flame is the only actual source of light (until the final scene), The Host’s mask does a lot to convey how he’s being perceived from moment to moment. When he originally steps in and ‘rescues’ Wickmore from The Siren, the happier, friendly side of the mask is illuminated while the other is cast in shadow, and when he opens the door to his study and commands Wickmore to enter, only the stern, angry side of the mask is visible.


- Portraits -


- STORYBOARD and Animatic -

Not having a lot of experience in long-form animation prior to taking on this project, I wanted to make sure I spent considerable time on each step of the process. I wanted to make sure that if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. Thus, I took the 36 pages of storyboard that I had put together and added movement, an entire original music score produced by Pressley Myer, and some placeholder voice acting to create 15 minutes of something that ended up landing somewhere between moving storyboard and rudimentary animation.


- Animation -

This is where the project got a little dicey for me. Simply put, being so new to the medium (and animation in general) at this point meant that my own technical limitations really stood in the way of seeing the project through. Instead of finishing up my junior year with a fully finished independent short film as I’d planned, I had about two and a half minutes of some pretty rough animation. Dear reader, I cannot express just how much of a letdown that was for me, but I truly believe I came out the other side as a stronger artist. I treated that humbling experience as a sort of soft reboot to my entire creative practice, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be as proud of the work that I do today if not for my defeat at the hands of this quiet little candle boy. The project’s impact on my work, as well as my lasting adoration for the story and personalities within it, are why I hold it so dear to my heart even still. My hope is that one day I’ll be able to truly bring the project to fruition, but for now please enjoy this very rough cut of the film’s first scene. Please be kind with its rougher edges.