In the project 'Game Heist', my role was to be the Lead Animator. As this was a collaboration with Visual Effects we aimed to make everything as realistic as possible. I took a lot of inspiration from the film “Small Soldiers”. When the characters moved they looked like real toys and had certain limitations. For example, their bodies couldn't bend or stretch as they were made out of hard plastic. To ensure the group kept consistent with the “realism” style I created an animation bible. It was filled with many reference images/videos and tips on how to convey emotion using body language for each character. The film includes three different toys with their own personalities that I wanted the viewers to feel when they watch the film. I was in charge of handing out feedback to the animators, to check if they were meeting the desired style. Another responsibility I had was to test the rigs. Creating body language for the characters was very important as there was no dialogue. I wanted each character to feel unique, and the rigs needed to be accessible for animation. A good example was the robot. His walk waddles from side to side. Before the rig was very limited, but after discussing ideas with the riggers we were able to create a “foot tilt” control, which instantly increased the quality. Overall the animation team did a great job and were able to follow the bible with ease.