Jumpin' Jack is a Jazz Age inspired, animated music video about a short kid in a tall world who finds a way of measuring up on his own.

Stills from the Film

Model Sheets

Animatic/Storyboards

Color Script

SENECA FILM FESTIVAL 2018 Q&A

(Watkins Glen, New York)

Posters

Process Book Entries

Lars and the Stilts is the name given to the group I put together in order to complete the track for the film. I sing, and I am accompanied by Jackie Contreras on drums, Kirsten Warkow and Nick Lawrence on brass/winds, and Stephen Picher and Jon Montesinos on keys. Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Supervising Sound Editor, Eric Beaudin.

Process of Jumpin' Jack

TALL

Tall is a short short film that helped me to explore the aesthetic of Tallywood.
In Tall, Jack finds himself at a crossroad between keeping his favorite toy and giving it up for the benefit another.
Jack makes the right choice, and uses his creativity to make the most of what he has leftover.

Core Layouts

Process of Tall

THE LEGEND OF JUMPING JACK

Before Jumpin' Jack's narration was transformed into a song, it had quite an awesomely "Seussical" feel.
After the project's Early Concept stage, I realized that I needed to consider the story's main themes and build only upon those.
This is where I asked myself, "What if he was just a short kid in a tall world?"

JUMPING JACK BIBLE // The Legend of Jumping Jack Concept Bible

JUMPING JACK NARRATION // The Legend of Jumping Jack Narration (edited with Joshua Callandret and Craig Hartz)

Process of The Legend of Jumping Jack

EARLY CONCEPT

Before The Legend of Jumping Jack, and ultimately Jumpin' Jack, this was Jack's story.
Jumping Jack was going to be a Dutch-based folk lore/origin story protagonist who fought off a terrible monster called the Water Wolf.
Honestly, none of it made sense at all.
But I would never have gotten where I am now with Jumpin' Jack if I had not first explored this path.
I had a lot of fun developing this first concept primarily during my time at SCAD Lacoste in 2014 while studying screenwriting under Geoffrey Fletcher,
following the winter where my friend Bo Kitzman said, "Make an origin story for jumping jacks."
I thought it was brilliantly simple, and this was my first attempt at executing it.
And I've never forgotten about the Water Wolf...