Animation Production
The Wandering Mummy
Project type: Academic Preproduction Project — Fall 2025
Role: Creator, Writer, and Preproduction Lead.
Team: Individual Project.
Duration: Six weeks.
Tools: Google Docs, Excel, Photoshop, and Premiere.
Project Goal
The Wandering Mummy was developed during the Fall 2025 semester for my Advanced Animation Pre-Production course at California State University, Chico. The assignment was to develop a one-minute animated short from an original concept through the preproduction stage. I created the story, wrote and revised the script, developed the beat board and storyboard, planned the shots, and adjusted the scope to fit the required runtime.
My Responsibilities
As the project's creator, I developed the original story concept, characters, setting, and the short's emotional direction. I wrote and revised the script, organized the main story beats, designed the mummy dachshund, and planned the story's visual progression.
My responsibilities included:
- Concept and story development
- Scriptwriting and revision
- Character design
- Beatboard development
- Storyboard planning
- Shot organization
- Visual development in Photoshop
- Runtime and scope management
Creative and Production Process
I developed a story about a mummy dachshund searching for someone from his past, inspired by my family’s dachshund, Dutchess, and my grandmother’s early Alzheimer’s. My grandmother shared a close bond with animals, and that emotional connection shaped the heart of the project.
After writing the initial script, I translated the story into beat boards and storyboards to test the pacing, remove repetitive actions, and clarify unclear moments. I created the character and storyboard artwork in Adobe Photoshop, revising the visuals to strengthen the action and make the dachshund’s design easier to recognize.
Story and Scope Challenge
Another challenge was fitting the complete story into a one-minute runtime. The original idea contained more actions and story moments than the assignment could realistically support. I reviewed the story beat by beat, simplified repeated actions, and focused on the dachshund’s main objective: finding his owner. Reducing the scope helped make the story clearer and more achievable while preserving its emotional core.
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Story and Scope Challenge
Another challenge was fitting the complete story into a one-minute runtime. The original idea contained more actions and story moments than the assignment could realistically support. I reviewed the story beat by beat, simplified repeated actions, and focused on the dachshund’s main objective: finding his owner. Reducing the scope helped make the story clearer and more achievable while preserving its emotional core.
Final Result
The final result was a complete preproduction package for a proposed one-minute animated short. It included the developed story concept, script, character design, beat board, storyboard, and visual-development materials. Although the project was not produced as a finished animated film, the final materials established the narrative, visual direction, character design, and shot progression needed to move the project into production.
