THE COACH
ANGIE JONES /DIRECTOR
PROJECT STATUS
Proof of Concept Complete / Short Film in Development
CATEGORY
AI Filmmaking / Character Performance
TOOLS
OpenArt Director, Nano Banana, Seedance 2.0, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro
ROLE
Creator / Director
Animation Director
Editor
Character Designer
Generative Workflow Design
Behind the Work
Project Overview
The Coach is an original animated short currently in development. The completed film is planned to run approximately three minutes. This initial 26-second sequence was created as a proof of concept before committing to full production.
Purpose of the Test
The primary goal was to determine whether generative AI could keep the characters on model to my original designs while producing movement and performance that met my standards as an animation director.
The test focused on several essential questions:
Could the character remain recognizable from shot to shot?
Could her proportions, clothing, and visual personality survive changes in pose and camera angle?
Could the generated movement communicate weight, intention, and appeal?
Could separate generated shots be directed and edited into a continuous performance?
The Sequence
The test follows a young soccer player as she controls the ball, notices a butterfly, and becomes distracted by it. The sequence was designed to test physical action, facial performance, eyelines, emotional transitions, and continuity through a series of connected shots.
Creative Direction and Process
I began with my original character designs and developed the action as a planned shot sequence. I generated and evaluated each shot for character fidelity, staging, movement, emotional clarity, and its relationship to the surrounding shots. I revised or rejected material that drifted from the designs or failed to meet the performance standard.
The final sequence was assembled editorially to establish timing, continuity, and a readable progression of thought and action.
What the Test Demonstrated
The process showed that AI could support the production of the larger film, but only with strong design references, precise direction, selective generation, and careful editorial judgment. The result is not the completed short. It is a development test establishing the visual and performance foundation for the approximately three-minute film planned to follow.
