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"Under The Bed" is a short film concept about a 12 year old girl and her best friend: the monster under her bed! Everything is perfect, until the coolest girl in middle school comes over to work on a project. Feeling embarrassed of her childish interests, she hides who she truly is, and pushes away her monster friend in the process. I created this story to explore themes of growing up, rejection, and staying true to who you are.
And, of course, I had a great time revisiting a nostalgic, early 2000's aesthetic while developing the setting.
This is a layout of the main character, June's, bedroom. I wanted it to be a full reflection of her personality. I gave it a mismatched vibe that reflected changing interests over the course of her life, and also included a juxtaposition between very childish elements (stuffed animals, stickers, etc) and “tween” things (maxi pads, overstuffed backpack, training bra, etc).
The three characters in this concept are June, an awkward tween, Pony, a friendly monster, and Laila, the coolest girl in middle school. It was difficult to capture the awkwardness of adolescence in one design, while sharply pivoting to what would have been seen as the "ideal" girl in another design. Of course, even a popular middle school girl has insecurities and awkwardness, but I had to design her from June's point of view: someone she would have seen as completely perfect and put together.
However, the most difficult design of all was the monster, Pony. I wanted to keep his design somewhat big and monstrous, while still making sure he could realistically be June's best friend. I initially started with a bug-like design, but slowly incorporated elements of dogs and horses overtime. And of course, I had to make him a little bit fluffy, too!