Production, Animation, VFX & Compositing
Hi, I'm Sasha, a Bristol-based animation professional with close to 15 years of studio experience, including work at Aardman Animations and on productions for Sesame Street. Specialising in children's TV and film, my background spans 2D animation, VFX and compositing, giving me a deep understanding of the craft from multiple angles. I'm now moving into production, bringing my creative and technical foundation to future projects and studios.
My Showreel
This showreel features all animation, visual effects and compositing work up to 2023.
Features projects for Aardman, A Productions, Blue Peter, Channel 5 (Milkshake), Sky Kids, music videos and feature films.
Software used: After Effects, Photoshop, Toonboom, Adobe Animate.
As well as my most favoured medium: hand drawn traditional animation in pencil and paper.
Music: Count Basie - Corner Pocket (1956)
Studio Work
I have been very fortunate to have worked with some of the biggest companies in the business. Namely Aardman & A Productions, working on projects for Sesame Street, CBBC, Blue Peter, SkyKids, Channel 5's Milkshake and HBO.
I am most at home working in studio environment and enjoy being part of a team. Although recently my circumstances mean more working from home, I am just as happy to be part of the workforce remotely.
Sesame Street: Nature Explorers
This project was a joy from start to finish. I had very professional and excellent team to work with. I was in charge of setting up entire episodes, adding depth of field, parallax, adjusting lighting, adding shadows and volumetric passes. Making sure scenes had seamless continuity among other final checks.
The final composited effect was created using a combination of Toon Boom to extract animation from the rigs correctly and After Effects to put it altogether.
![Our Planet Now Winning Animation COP26 BLUE PETER [TubeRipper.com].mp4-high (2).gif](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/075350_09326681ef6641c2aad2b0b92ab9fddd~mv2.gif)
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Our Planet Now
On this project I produced all the atmospheric animation and VFX, including fire, smog, smoke, particles, shadows and lighting. I also composited scenes with a parallax as well as animating background and foreground props such as automatic doors and cars.
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Milo
My role was compositing 2D animation onto backgrounds, animating shadows and adding VFX assets. Setting up shots and connecting the assets to work intuitively with the animation. I also used Toon boom to extract the animation.
I worked on this project as a compositor and VFX artist. I started the project setting up the shots and adding beauty passes and colour correction. I also created VFX for different weather conditions, volumetric passes, transitions and animated movement lines. Eventually I was given the opportunity to work on 4+ song sequences, these featured more advanced compositing, animating and visual effects.
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The Makery was a children's show shown on SkyKids. It's an imaginative arts and crafts show for ages 3-8.
On this project I integrated CGI & 2D assets into live action. I was also in charge of compositing set up.
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Earthworm Heart - Tom Fun Orchestra
A fun but gruesome music video for Tom Fun Orchestra. I worked as a 2D animator on this project working in Adobe Animate. This was combined rigged animation and frame by frame. Was one of the most fun projects I've worked on.
Freelance
As much as I love studio work, my freelance work can be just as exciting, lending a very diverse set of projects. From compositing, traditional animation (pencil & paper) and illustration work. I have enjoyed working on many projects for different people. I hope to continue my freelance work and hopefully revisit my love for hand drawn traditional media in the very near future.
I have created work for TV & feature films as well as for charities such as WWF & also work for the NHS.
The Seventeenth Kind is a satirical science-fiction movie starring Tony Curran, Brian Blessed and Miriam Margoyles.
I was approached by Hydra Films (Loose Canon) to create a completely hand drawn, traditionally animated scene inspired by the 1950's version of War of the Worlds. I animated in pencil and paper, coloured using Photoshop and composited with After Effects.
Below you can see the scene with Miriam Margoyles and the uncomposited animation.
The Seventeenth Kind
No Reason To Stay - Turbo Fruits
I created selected animation for this music video. Most pieces are traditionally animated with pencil and paper and composited and edited using Photoshop and After Effects. I worked closely with the editors and made sure they were provided with all pieces of animation in the correct format and frame rate.
Hidden Worlds Charity Event
This was one of the most stressful projects, giving me just 4 days to create, from scratch and immersive underwater scene.
This was traditionally animated with pencil and paper, composited in after effects.
WWF: Save the Polar Bear Campaign - Denmark
Entirely hand drawn animation and painted backgrounds. This was actually created in my 3rd year of my degree and used as part of the WWF campaign afterwards. I always cnsider this my first credit and as a true animal lover, very proud it was with a charity like this.
ABOUT ME
Hello, I'm Sasha, originally from the Isle of Wight and now happily settled in Bristol. I live in our home in Henleaze with my partner Owain, our little boy and our dog Suzy. As a family we love nature; we feed the birds and foxes in our garden, grow our own fruit and veg, and head out on road trips to remote places whenever we can. One of my greatest pleasures is showing my son the world and seeing it through his eyes. I feel incredibly lucky to have this time with him, it's a privilege I don't take for granted.
Travel has always been a big part of my life and I've been lucky enough to explore many corners of the world. One of my favourite things to bring home is the food. I love recreating dishes I've discovered along the way, particularly from South East Asia and India.
Another passion of mine is watercolour and ink illustration. I'm a huge fan of children's books and their artwork, and draw inspiration from the likes of Beatrix Potter, Quentin Blake, Ernest Shepard and Thelwell. There's something about watercolour specifically that I love, it's that you can't rush it. It forces you to slow down, and I find that incredibly grounding, particularly in times of stress.
In addition to my love for children's book illustration, I am traditional animation and classic cartoons fan, with a keen focus on the "Golden Age" spanning from 1928 to the late 60's. Exploring the captivating relationship between animation and music, particularly classical, ragtime, and jazz. This holds a special fascination for me, especially when delving into its profound influence on cartoons during that era. My passion for this collaboration of animation and music runs so deep that I even dedicated my dissertation to the subject.
Animals and wildlife have always been a huge part of my life and naturally find their way into my art. I'd struggle to find a piece that doesn't feature at least one creature somewhere. Beyond drawing them, I've always wanted to do more, which led me to volunteer with the Soi Dog Foundation in Thailand, working in behavioural support and rehabilitation with rescued street dogs. It was one of the most meaningful things I've ever done and I happened to spend Christmas there, which made it completely unforgettable. That experience has never really left me.
