The Ralphie 6 Animation - Cooper O’Hearn

The Ralphie 6 Animationencompasses the whole process and meaning that went into every slide. On top of that, my film goes into where this idea came from, why it has been approached, and what it’s for.

Artist Vimeo

The Ralphie 6 Animation

The work is a supplement for a docuseries I will be directing this fall about the Football team. The animation will be used to introduce each episode, allowing us an extra creative edge over all of the other schools making the same type of documentary project for their own football team. Football documentaries are a very tried and tested topic for films, and after a while, they all start to blend together. For the coming season, I want to bring something to the table that fans haven’t seen before, and the animation will surely help with that.

This next football season, the team will be bringing on a new Ralphie, Ralphie VI. To pay tribute to her and use her as a kind of theme, I have made the animation surround a running buffalo. The buffalo runs through a series of 6 backgrounds that illustrate the vast history of Colorado. The buffalo starts running in a herd of many other buffaloes, which then changes to being chased by Native Americans. After this, the buffalo runs by a wagon train, and then a gold mine, and then a mountain range. To cap it off, the buffalo finally runs past the flatirons and into Folsom field, where everything will fade away and the title of the series will appear.

Collection of hand drawn stencils and concept art on a table

The collection of hand drawn stencils and concept art.

Collection of hand drawn stencils and concept art on a table

The “memory” of part one. Each bubble represents a different buffalo, numbered by the stage of their run cycle. A very maddening process. Each slide was an extremely rewarding experience.

Collection of hand drawn stencils and concept art on a table

The stack of parts one, two and the original buffalo stencils

Artist Talk