Homecoming Week: Behind the scenes with a W&M animator

Brianne Charnigo is an animator and motion graphic designer for William & Mary’s Office of University Marketing and Advancement Communications. Charnigo created this year’s “All Roads Lead Home” animation for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend.

How did you become an animator?

Animation kind of just happened. I went into college undecided as to what my major would be. While exploring my options, I took a video class that I really enjoyed and decided to major in digital media communications. I added on art minor and ended up combining it all.

How long have you worked at William & Mary?

I’ve been at William & Mary since June 2015.

What do you like best about creating animations?

It’s neat — like how unicorns eating sandwiches are neat. I can animate a unicorn eating a sandwich if I want. I can make stuff happen in the fake world, or I can make the real world more fun. Or maybe less fun if I’m grouchy. In general, I think what I’m trying to say is that it’s fun to make impossible or implausible things come to life.

What is your favorite part of this animation?

The random mountain goat is my favorite part of this video. I also really liked making the stickers on the suitcase because I snuck in a bunch of fun things like a llama, cheese and a lion.

What was the hardest part of creating this animation?

The travel theme and stylish invitations from the University Advancement design team gave me a lot to work with. To go with that theme, I decided to show people traveling to campus for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend through multiple methods of transportation. Working out smooth transitions between all the different scenes in the video was probably the hardest part. The scenes were visually similar but geographically different, so keeping the video flowing nicely without getting completely illogical took some work.