I Scream Dodgeball! is an animated short currently in development that grew out of my work in story development, character design, and collaborative production at Clemson University. The project follows Quinn, an anxious young boy who would rather enjoy his ice cream than join a dodgeball game, and Katie, whose very different approach to the game transforms an ordinary afternoon into an increasingly chaotic confrontation.

The project began as part of a larger story concept before evolving into a focused short through successive stages of writing, visual development, storyboarding, character design, rigging, and production. As the project developed, it also became a framework for involving students in different stages of an active animation pipeline.

Finding the Story

I Scream Dodgeball! grew out of an earlier project, Bub and Creak’s Guide to Making Fiends, which I began developing alongside students in Advanced Storyboarding. That larger concept introduced Quinn, Katie, and a world populated by both ordinary characters and imagined monsters.

As I continued developing the story, I realized that the dodgeball sequence contained the strongest dramatic and visual possibilities. Rather than treating it as one episode within a larger narrative, I began developing it as its own animated short. The narrower focus allowed me to concentrate on the relationship between Quinn and Katie, using their contrasting personalities to drive both the comedy and the action.

The project therefore reflects a process I encourage in my teaching as well as my own practice: developing broadly, identifying what is working, and being willing to reshape a project around its strongest idea.

Designing Characters for Performance

Once the story became centered on the dodgeball sequence, I refined Quinn and Katie around the specific performance demands of the short. Their designs needed to support broad physical action while remaining readable through subtler emotional beats.

Quinn’s rounded proportions and softer shapes reinforce his hesitant, anxious personality, while Katie’s more energetic posing and expressive silhouette support a character who approaches the same situation with confidence and enthusiasm. I developed turnarounds, expression studies, head-angle guides, and action poses to establish consistent construction while exploring how each character would move and act.

These drawings were created not simply as presentation artwork, but as production documents intended to support storyboarding, rigging, and animation.

Designing a World for the Story

Because the short is built around an extended action sequence, the playground needed to function as more than a background. Its layout establishes the spatial relationships necessary for staging the dodgeball game while providing areas for spectators, character entrances, the playground, and a snack stand operated by the school’s coach.

I developed an overhead plan to establish the geography of the location before individual areas moved into visual development. From that foundation, students explored color, atmosphere, and specific environmental elements through color keys and concept paintings. These designs are now informing the three-dimensional assets being constructed for the playground set.

The process allows students to see environment development as a connected production pipeline—moving from story requirements and spatial planning through visual development, design, modeling, and ultimately the environments in which the animated performances will take place.

From Character Design to Rigged Performance

The character designs were developed with animation in mind from the beginning. Turnarounds, expression studies, pose exploration, and head-angle guides provided the visual information needed to translate the characters into production-ready 2D rigs.

As the project moved into rigging, these drawings became practical references for determining how Quinn and Katie needed to deform, turn, emote, and perform. The process creates a direct connection between character design and animation: decisions made during visual development must ultimately survive movement and support the acting required by the story.

This stage also provides students with experience translating expressive drawings into functional production assets rather than treating design and rigging as isolated disciplines.

Collaborative Production in Progress

I Scream Dodgeball! remains an active production. The project has progressed from writing and early story development through character design, storyboarding, environment planning, 2D rigging, and asset production, with students contributing to different stages of the evolving pipeline.

That ongoing development is an important part of the project’s pedagogical value. Students are not working from isolated classroom exercises; they are encountering the kinds of dependencies that shape collaborative animation production. Story decisions affect design. Designs affect rigs. Layout affects staging. Environment construction affects what can be accomplished in animation.

My role moves between creator, designer, director, instructor, and production collaborator—developing material myself while creating opportunities for students to contribute meaningful work to a larger project.

As I Scream Dodgeball! continues into production, the project will continue to evolve through this exchange between individual creative practice and collaborative learning.