# Godmothered

> An alternative animated opening for Godmothered, Disney+'s comedy about a fairy godmother in training.

Canonical page: [Godmothered](<https://gergely-wootsch.com/projects/godmothered>)

Project ID: aka\_god

Year: 2020

Role: Art Director

As art director, I helped Marc Craste with early design, then worked on layout, set dressing, compositing supervision and test composites.

Work: Godmothered (2020)

Production: [Studio AKA](<https://studioaka.co.uk/>)

Client: [Disney+](<https://www.disneyplus.com/>)

[Studio AKA](<https://studioaka.co.uk/>) made an alternative animated opening for Disney+'s 2020 film *Godmothered*, a comedy about a fairy godmother in training who sets out to grant a wish from a letter written years earlier. The opening combines hand-drawn 2D animation with 3D backgrounds.

## The Sequence

[Godmothered: Alternative Intro](</media/video/aka_god_comp.mp4>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

I worked on the opening shot, one of the longest of the project. We used Houdini to populate the scene with foliage, Maya for layout, lighting and rendering, and After Effects for compositing. I made test composites in After Effects and supervised compositing to keep the shots visually consistent; the compositing team handled the final shots.

[Women in teal gowns and tall hair sit by a magic fountain with a stag, a red fox and squirrels.](</media/image/aka_god_artwork4_xxl.webp>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

## Making Of

The sequence was made during the pandemic. I began by helping [Marc Craste](<https://studioaka.co.uk/marc-craste/>) with design, then worked on layout, set dressing and compositing supervision. The timeframe was tight, so the team built the backgrounds in 3D for reuse.

I built 3D models for the Fairy School in Houdini and Maya, with 2D texturing in Photoshop. [A church](<https://gergely-wootsch.com/media/image/aka_god_church.webp>) inspired the design of the central tower and the library building, and [Dermot Flynn](<https://dermotflynn.com/projects/godmothered/>) designed other elements.

[Godmothered: Fairy School Model Turnaround](</media/video/aka_god_turnaround.mp4>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

## Design

These drawings come from my early design work. Nikolas Ilic designed the final characters, and Dermot Flynn led the production design.

[Five color studies of a smiling young woman with long blonde hair and a maroon dress.](</media/image/aka_god_char_xxl.webp>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

[Painted view down from a tower onto a courtyard fountain, a red-tiled roof and bare trees.](</media/image/aka_god_artwork3_xxl.webp>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

[Grayscale courtyard with a statue on a fountain plinth before a Gothic hall in shafts of light.](</media/image/aka_god_artwork2_xxl.webp>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

[Pink hand-drawn castle with purple flags and glowing sparkles against a pink sky.](</media/image/aka_god_artwork1_xxl.webp>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

## Layout

[Three gray 3D layout frames of a courtyard, a tower clock and a staircase with a small figure.](</media/image/aka_god_layout_xxl.webp>) (Studio AKA for Disney+)

Studio AKA's 3D team worked out the shot layouts, blocking cameras and placing background elements. The 2D animators used the layouts to support their process, as hand-drawn animation had to sit against 3D backgrounds. The 3D team later used the layouts to light and render the scenes.

## Links

- [Watch on Disney+](<https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/godmothered/5xCSclU8XGKM>)
- [Project on studioaka.co.uk](<https://studioaka.co.uk/godmothered/>)

## Credits

- Production Company: Studio AKA
- Client: Disney+
- Creative Supervisor & Animation Director: Marc Craste
- Producer: Nikki Kefford-White
- Shotgun Coordination: Beverly Yeang, Ren Pesci, Ellie Goffe
- Art Director: [Gergely Wootsch](<https://gergely-wootsch.com>)
- Production Design: Dermot Flynn
- Character Design: Nikolas Ilic
- Storyboard: Zhihuang Dong, Yi Shen
- Supervising Animator: Aya Suzuki
- 2D Animation: Uli Meyer, Michael Schlingmann, Andrea Simonti, Thierry Torres, Andy Powell, Andrew Brooks, Peter Dodd, Slaven Reese, Victor Ens, Jorge Duran, Allan Fernando
- FX Animation: Duncan Gist
- Production Coordinator: Justine Waldie
- Assistant Coordinator: Jonathan Wren
- Assistant Animation: Simon Swales, Alan Henry, [Matthew Armitage](<https://mattarmitageanimation.com/>), Denise Dean, Kay Sales, Ryan Fairbanks, Martin Dray, David Leick-Burns, Judit Boor, Dominika Brodowska, Alison Oxborrow, Katerina Kremasioti, Helena Bonastre, Marion Boisrond, Andrea Freidrich, [Janina Putzker](<https://vimeo.com/janinaputzker>), Sasha Balan, Alejandra Guevara
- 3D Supervisor: [James Gaillard](<https://uk.linkedin.com/in/james-gaillard-76bb2a8>)
- CGI/Compositing: [Jerome Ferra](<https://jeromeferra3d.com/>), Clarisse Valeix, [Will Eagar](<https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4896534/>), [Daniel Garnerone](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-garnerone-4607257/>), Adam O'Sullivan Avery, Kristian Fjellerup Olesen, Joshua Crew, [Vincent Husset](<https://uk.linkedin.com/in/hussetvincent>)
- Editing: [Nic Gill](<https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nic-gill-5a81929>)
- Technical Support: Fabrice Altman