What Even Is A Churger?

Have you ever had one of those projects where you have a narrow glimpse of an absolutely stunning idea and you can’t stop until you see it through? That is exactly what is happening to me with this animation that I am calling Churger. The word Churger is the combination of the words church and burger, and the animation is a total mash up of those concepts. 

Churger

This image is an early test render of my short film animation called Churger.

This all started with my character Burger Man. I have been animating my character Burger Man since the summer before freshman year of college. I have watched Burger man grow and adapt with how many skills I’ve gained throughout the years of my college. Everytime I learn something new from my classes, from my animation assistant internship, or even from just scrolling through other artist’s animations online, I am thinking how these skills could apply to Burger Man. It might sound silly to have so much focus on how I can improve this one character, but the most rewarding thing about Burger Man is feeling so accomplished when I can figure out a new aspect of his story. When the story evolves with new ideas, I am constantly making edits and upgrades to the technical sides of my animation process. 

Churger (by far) has been my most ambitious Burger Man project. Not only does Burger Man have an entire hand modeled, rigged, and textured cathedral, he has a new and improved rig that can keep up with the new story developments. I spent a lot of time learning about different lighting techniques and texturing strategies to make Churger feel ethereal. Even though I am aiming for an elegant and dramatic feel for Churger, there are so many layers of humor in how far I can push this piece. In the final animation I aim to show how as an artist we all are obligated to indulge in our passions in order to create something new and exciting. Churger is a ridiculous concept executed in a hilarious way, but it also serves as a serious piece for me. It's serious to me because I feel inspired to create seeing how far artists can take their passions. In the end, Churger defines my enthusiasm for burgers but also communicates absolute excitement when it comes to animating and creating something new. 

I will have another post for when this animation is completed! Stay tuned for more Churger updates! :D