In my Animation II class at Champlain College, I was tasked to create two highlight intros for a character. One was required to be a medium shot focusing on facial animation, with the other being a full body shot showcasing a weapon or personality trait. I hand-keyed both animation in Autodesk Maya, and then imported them into Unreal Engine 5.

My first animation is made to be a comment on the male gaze. I intentionally picked a female rig that shares similarities with many characters tailored towards men, and made choreography to reflect her distain towards how the camera is choosing to frame her. She notices the camera focus on her body, and forcefully brings its attention back towards her face. I gave her a look of disgust, followed by a mocking, pitiful look towards the camera.

The second animation focuses both on her weapon and wings. She launches herself into the air, and references an angelic pose as the sun falls behind her to create a silhouette. Simultaneously, she throws her knife to catch it in a more favorable position before striking the ground with her dagger. The contrast between her angelic pose directly followed by a brutal and animalistic ending pose highlights both her grace and power as a character.