Ryan Bone’s Video Art Portfolio
2D Animations & Editing Showcases
“Memory Mugged”
Made during Ryan’s Fall 2022 (9th) semester at GMU. Created for the “I Remember” assignment in Professor White’s AVT 382 2D Experimental Animation course.
“Memory Mugged” [Additional assistance is listed in the end credits]
Assigned to make an animation based on memories, Ryan decided to animate a true story about how he remembered a time in his life differently than his brother did. After Ryan wrote the script (basing it entirely off a true phone call the brothers previously had) and recorded the dialogue, he got to work drawing out each scene in Adobe Photoshop with an XP-Pen tablet. To create the fluid, comic-book style that he wanted to portray, Ryan made as many elements of each scene into different layers, so that they could be keyframe animated individually within Adobe Premiere and After Effects. With the many layers each created and exported, Ryan spent many days and hours keyframing each element, timing their rotations and positions to utilize the eye-catching overlapping and follow-through principles of animation.
“Abstract”
Made during Ryan’s Fall 2022 (9th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Everyday Moments Revealed” assignment in Professor White’s AVT 382 2D Experimental Animation course.
“Abstract” [Audio sources not created by Ryan and are listed in the end credits]
Assigned to make an animation based on people’s different views within everyday life, Ryan decided to focus in on how hard it can be to unsee other people’s negative perspectives. To create this narrative, Ryan drew three abstract images in purple, then drew an optimistic take on the art in blue, and a pessimistic take on the art in red, all within Adobe Photoshop with an XP-Pen tablet. With the drawings in the background complete, Ryan drew the two characters and their expressions before taking them into Adobe Premiere and After Effects to keyframe their motions throughout the scene. Finally, make it clear to the audience that the smaller character’s perspective was changed irreversibly, various elements in After Effects were used to distort the abstract art on the wall, timing the changes in the background with the interactions in the foreground. The finally piece portrays the importance of staying true to your vision, no matter how challenging it can be, especially when it is so positive and healthy.
“The Comic Comet”
Made during Ryan’s Fall 2022 (9th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Alternative Worldlines” assignment in Professor White’s AVT 382 2D Experimental Animation course.
“The Comic Comet” [All audio sources are not created by Ryan and any additional assistance is listed in the end credits]
Assigned to make an animation based on an alternate universe, Ryan decided to create a comedic animation that explores a world where elements of comic books and the real word interact together. Ryan started the project by coming up with as many jokes he could think of within this universe, then creating a script and storyboard that tied the best ones together within a short story. With the help of his two roommates, Henry Torres Gomez and Camila Anderson, Ryan acted in and filmed the live-action segments of the video. Afterwards, Ryan edited the footage together, and recorded clean audio using Adobe Premiere. To create the comic book visuals, Ryan drew each element in Adobe Photoshop with an XP-Pen tablet, then brought them into Adobe After Effects to use many different effects to create the many visually complex jokes. Comedy is a difficult genre to create art in, but Ryan enjoyed every second of working on The Comic Comet, bringing each wacky moment from storyboard to animation.
“The Life Cycle of Leaves”
Made during Ryan’s Spring 2021 (6th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Natural World” assignment in Professor Durkin’s AVT 280 Introduction to New Media Art course. All art is created and edited by Ryan Bone, except for the sound effects and music which are credited at the end of the video.
“The Cycle of Leaves” [Audio content and informational sources that are not directly made by Ryan are shown in the end credits]
Ryan was tasked with making an educational video about a part of nature, Ryan chose to focus on a topic he always thought was interesting, plant leaves. A leaf’s life is a perfect circle, from growth to death, and in death, used to grow anew. The life cycle of a leaf is a cycle that includes a lot of physical motion and transitions, which allowed Ryan to create interesting visuals. Interesting and constantly changing visuals is key to keeping educational content for all ages engaging the whole way through. In creating these visuals, Ryan used many different video editing and animation techniques to bring his ideas to life, with Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and an XP-Pen Tablet.
“Drag Me”
Made during Ryan’s Spring 2021 (6th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Self-Portrait Video” assignment in Professor Durkin’s AVT 280 Introduction to New Media Art course.
“Drag Me” Without Effects
“Drag Me” With Effects
In order to make a self-portrait video, Ryan decided to animate a self-portrait of himself going through a burnout. Representing a part of himself that Ryan is working on, he sometimes finds himself suddenly exhausted, ‘burnt out,’ and needs something or someone to drag him out of it. This usually comes in the form of a quick break from whatever Ryan is doing, usually to enjoy some media like comics, YouTube videos, or TV shows. This drag him out of the burn out, and Ryan is able to quickly get back to work. The version of the animation without effects shows the animation by itself, while the version with effects showcases objects that Ryan often uses to get out of his burnout in the glitching background.
This video was made using an XP-Pen tablet and Adobe Photoshop to animate this, frame-by-frame. Ryan started the process by drawing the key moments of the animation first, then slowly drawing frames in-between to blend those moments together. For the effects in the background, Ryan used Adobe After Effects to create a glitchy effect on top of images that pass by the screen at increasing speeds as Ryan melts in the animation. This chaotic, intentionally visually inconsistent background is meant to invoke a feeling of stress, a feeling often felt by Ryan when he is burnt out.
3D Animated Videos
“Exit”
Made during Ryan’s Spring 2022 (8th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Final Animation” assignment in Professor Rhoades’ AVT 383 3D Experimental Animation course. All art is created and edited by Ryan Bone, except for the sound effects and music which are credited at the end of the video.
“Exit” [Audio content is not directly made by Ryan and is shown in the end credits]
Exit is a short film made by Ryan Bone, where a thief chases after a glowing orb, but the thief painfully fails his mission. Made in Autodesk Maya with the Arnold Renderer (with textures made in Adobe Photoshop and the video edited in Adobe Premiere), Ryan wanted to make a video that focuses on several moving light sources in a dark area. The bright orb causes the thief to glow a sharp blue color, while the lights in the background pass by quickly, giving the audience occasional bright glimpses of the thief’s silhouette. The motion displayed in those flashes of light need to be striking, so Ryan animated the thief to have large, exaggerated motions throughout every bone in his body. Distinct silhouettes, lighting, motion, and colors make for a video that is striking to watch.
“The Goo Cleaner’s Slimy Demise”
Made during Ryan’s Spring 2022 (8th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Midterm Animation” assignment in Professor Rhoades’ AVT 383 3D Experimental Animation course. All art is created and edited by Ryan Bone, except for the sound effects and certain 2D textures which are credited in the description of the YouTube video.
“The Goo Cleaner’s Slimy Demise” [Video edited and animated by Ryan Bone. All outside sources are listed in the YouTube video description]
Ryan made The Goo Cleaner’s Slimy Demise in Autodesk Maya. Since he was tasked with making a short video, Ryan decided it would be fun to make an animation where the focus is on the shifting size of objects. Doing this, Ryan had a slime of shifting size absorb and shrink down a table. The camera follows the shrinking of the objects, being sucked into the slime as well, adding to the effect. Eventually, the slime seemingly gets its comeuppance when it is shrunk and absorbed by a cleaner, though his cleaning device expands and explodes, ending the video. The camera is frequently in motion, following the action as close as possible, being sucked into the chaos and danger of the inconsistently sized objects in the room, keeping the audience on edge, following along with the changes.
“Wildest West”
Made during Ryan’s Spring 2022 (8th) semester at GMU. Created for the “Final Motion Capture Animation” assignment in Professor Willis’ AVT 399 Motion Capture for Game Design course. Part of a group project, but writing the script, drawing the storyboard, acting for the thief and the bank teller, voice over for the patron, and video and sound editing were done by Ryan Bone.
“Wildest West” [Video edited and partly acted by Ryan Bone. All outside sources are shown in the end credits]
Ryan, in a team of four, was tasked with making a short film using motion capture suits and software. The team consisted of Brendan McDermott, who edited one scene’s data, then found, organized, and compiled 3D assets from online storefronts, Brennan Richardson, who edited three scenes’ data and transcribed the script, Trevor Simonson, who brought the animations and sounds into Unreal Engine, where he worked with the lighting and camera, and Ryan Bone, who drew the storyboards, edited three scenes’ data and edited the footage and sounds together in Adobe Premiere. The motion capture data Ryan acted for was captured at George Mason University’s Black Box venue with Professor Willis’ equipment. The data was recorded into Autodesk MotionBuilder, where Ryan and the team cleaned and edited the data. Together, the group came up with the plot of Wildest West, with the intent to have as much fun motion capturing the characters as possible, while telling a funny story.
