Lucky Whisker 2024 Reel
Unlock the fun!
Chris oversaw all aspects of our 2024 reel —from pre-production and storyboarding to filming and motion graphics, editing, and final delivery. The footage inside the reel is from a variety of projects that we also filmed, edited, casted, wrote, animated, etc.
Lucky Whisker
Client
Role
Producer, Illustrator, Animator, Editor
The Process
It had been a few years since Lucky Whisker published a demo reel. With such an array of fun projects ready to show off, we really wanted to highlight the best and most fun ideas we were able to bring to life.
First and foremost, we are NOT illustrators or drawers or any of that. We are thinkers and users of premade assets. In other words, you give us your cool stuff and we’ll make awesome videos out of it.
That said, Chris gets an annual bug to try out some illustrating, and this was the perfect project to test the waters.
Our idea was to emulate some of the art and style from Persona 5 (an incredible JRPG with a super groovy soundtrack and visuals).
We used AI to help generate some ideas for how to proceed on framing and characters, then built out the frames. Chris drew the buildings, alleyway scene, the cat, the fun splashy lettering, etc.
The cat was a play on Chris and Katie’s cat Luna (which you can see in the logo) acting as a mascot for the reel. You can also see some anime-styled characterizations of Chris and Katie in the smart phone texting screen.
Two more big scenes that required illustration were the skyline of Fort Wayne and the back alley scene.
The skyline sketch is actually Fort Wayne (Lucky Whisker HQ city). The pop up animation style is inspired by a calendar/load screen from Persona 5 that we later created a demo reel teaser for (you’ll see this one further down the page!).
The alleyway scene combines a 2-point perspective look down a retro/techno alley and various 3D layers and a camera track. We wanted to create something kind of fun and lively that gets us into the video.
As you can see from the storyboard and outline, we actually scrapped quite a bit from the original direction. Keep it simple stupid, I suppose.
The illustration and “rigging” in this project were new territory.
The cat mascot is probably too detailed and has a few too many split ends, but we think it fits us as a company.
We love brainstorming big ambitious ideas, and even if the budget comes in lower than our dreams, we still work hard to create a full service experience for our clients.
Lucky Whisker is all about trying new things and taking big steps into the unknown. The work speaks for itself, but uncharted territory is where we thrive.
The Projects
We wanted to highlight a tiny bit of our live-action shoots but we mostly wanted to focus on our motion graphics.
Picking the right projects for the reel wasn’t easy.
Featuring a number of games industry customers was also important to us. We carved a niche in the industry and this video pays some homage to some of the amazing people and brands we’ve been blessed to work alongside.
Credits
Client | Lucky Whisker
Executive Producers | Chris and Katie Hecox
Projects Featured | Gemstone Caverns, Cranium 25th Anniversary Edition, Disney Happiest Day Game, Indiana Jones: Throw me the Idol, Five Nights at Freddy’s Night of Frights Game, Disney Mickey’s Christmas Carol Game, Ted Lasso Party Game, Parks and Recreation Party Game, Disney Return of the Headless Horseman, Sixem, Cranium Hoopla, Illumine Conference, Linder, Inheralink, Reusser Logo, Marvel Battleworld Ultimate Armory
Let's make something reely cool!
Let's make something reely cool!
Wanna see something adventurous?