Animated Short Film by Will Maginity
Sparky and Steel: Renegades
Overview
Sparky and Steel: Renegades is a fun action-adventure story that follows 3 anthropomorphic canine characters Sparky, Steel, and Dawn as they follow the path of an ancient treasure, all the while being pursued by the villainous General Arc and his army of white wolf soldiers. The film was made entirely using the software Blender and uses all original characters and assets.
Purpose and Process
There are a lot of pieces that go into creating an animated film. What starts as a script and some concept art then needs to be translated into digital 3D models and then animated to give the story and characters life. For this short film I was challenged with managing the animation for dozens of characters spanning across 9 unique scenes, seamlessly fitting them together to create a cohesive story. Sparky and Steel: Renegades is my most complex animated work yet, and I think it really shows in the scale of the adventure. When creating this film, I wanted to create a piece that shows the potential in independent animation, and that you don't need a multimillion-dollar budget to create one. More in line with works like 2025 Academy Award Winner Flow and Glitch Production's The Amazing Digital Circus, I aim to show all you need for an animated masterpiece is an idea and a creative drive.
Senior Biography
Will Maginity is an Alma College New Media Studies major originally from Boyne City, Michigan. With a primary focus in 3D character animation, he hopes to go on to work at a professional animation studio after graduation.
During summer of 2024 he interned as a social media marketing specialist at Lavender Hill Farm in Northern Michigan.
