Croaked: An Interview with Rohan Gnaniah

Please tell us a bit about yourself to start. How did you become interested in animation, and how did you learn it? Did you have an academic education, or were you self-taught?

The theater has always been a “home away from home” for me so I think my love for watching movies and making movies is deeply intertwined. Growing up alongside YouTube gave me a deep appreciation for not only what played on the big screen but also the homemade works that were independently released online. As a kid, I used to spend all my time making little stop-motion films with Legos, clay, and whatever action figures were lying around the house. I quickly branched out and would hop between different types of animation (and even live-action) to tell whatever story I wanted to tell.

In middle school, my science teacher gave me permission to turn in my projects as animated shorts instead of typical PowerPoint presentations. This helped ignite the flame for me to really take animation even more seriously. I'm very thankful that my parents and several of my teachers encouraged me to keep pursuing my interests. I attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where I majored in 3D Character Animation. It was there that I got to work on collaborative animation films for the first time which is, of course, an entirely different approach compared to solo projects. I made some of my closest friends there and I can’t wait to keep making movies with them in the future.

How many works have you produced, with the short animation Croaked! being among them? Had you made any animations before Croaked!?

I’ve been making short films and videos almost my entire life but it wasn’t until college that I started working on animated projects with full teams. I took two collaborative animation classes before Croaked! where we made very silly shorts in ten weeks. One was about two brothers who discover a shrinking potion and the other was about a space alien trying to meet his favorite actor. While I was not the director on either of these two films, they still really helped prepare me for Croaked!. These quarter-long classes were structured like a shortened version of our senior capstone film class (which was three quarters long).

Where did the idea for Croaked! come from? And how long did it take to finalize the script?

I began to deeply analyze film in high school when I saw Double Indemnity. This classic noir story by Billy Wilder left a profound impact on me and remained in the back of my head. A few years later, as I progressed through my degree, I became very fond of stylized and cartoony animation. Taking courses on animation history helped cultivate my deep appreciation for the exaggerated squash-and-stretch found in old Looney Tunes. When it was finally time to develop my pitch for senior capstones, I wanted to find a way to mash together my love for expressive animation with the moody feel of old detective films. I’ve always described Croaked! as a “bubblegum noir”: something with bright, cheery visuals and a dark, gritty protagonist that takes himself too seriously.

Before our academic quarter began, I would hop on video calls with my teammates John Oleniacz [producer] and Cristiana Woods to work out the story elements. After each call, I wrote a new draft based on our discussions and we continued the cycle of picking apart what was and wasn’t working for the rest of the summer. Once school started, we would present the scripts to the class and get feedback every week.

I wrote and pitched the initial story knowing things would change along the way as everyone’s visions seeped into the film. The collaborative nature has become one of my favorite parts about filmmaking. It took 12 drafts for us to finalize the script. Even though that was our final script, we were still iterating on minor things throughout production. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite subtle visual gags in the film was only added a couple days before the film was finished! The most important thing that remained consistent until the end is that the final product expresses love and gratitude for the films, songs, humor, and artists that inspired all of us– from the smoke-filled neon cities of Fallen Angels to the brooding protagonist of Sunset Boulevard to the jazzy soundscape of Twin Peaks.

Your work is visually stunning and incredibly beautiful. How long did it take to make this

animation?

Thank you so much for your kind words! Croaked! took a little over one year to go from concept to final film. Our school has a process where at the end of our junior year, anyone who wants to direct their capstone film has to pitch it to the entire class and faculty. I created a presentation going over the characters, story beats, inspiration, etc. and then we all had to vote on the best pitches. After the voting process, Croaked! was greenlit and I recruited a core team of nine others: John Oleniacz, Davi Trueblood, Cristiana Woods, Marley Stroud-Glidewell, Valerie Manning, Alexis Cole, Bella Khoury, Jonathan Stewart, and Faith Loudon.

Though we worked on the film over summer, once our classes officially began, each stage of the pipeline took ten weeks. We spent pre-production finalizing the script, drawing concept art and storyboards, building the 3D models and rigs, and animating a short “proof of concept” shot. The next ten weeks were devoted to the production stage. This was the busiest crunch period as we had to complete all the animation and finalize any remaining models and textures. The final stage was post-production which is where we lit, rendered, composited, and color-graded the entire film.

Making this film was a big task but I am so proud of my team and forever grateful to have worked with them. Because of the small team size, most of us had to wear multiple hats and learn all areas of the pipeline– even outside of our degree focus. I’m really happy that the final product doesn’t feel like “my” film but like “our” film in that you can see each and every one of our fingerprints all over it. It truly would not have been possible without their talents and incredible work ethics.

What was your biggest challenge while making Croaked!?

Due to the tight time constraints, we had to pull several consecutive all-nighters to get the film done. While this was definitely not healthy, we stayed awake by doing constant movie marathons. I lost track but I think we watched over 40 movies together during this time.

What did the audience who watched Croaked! think of it?

Right before graduation, our school hosted a showcase for all the senior films. One of my most cherished memories was hearing the crowd cheer loudly when the title-card appeared onscreen. It was so rewarding to see our film on the big screen surrounded by friends, family, and strangers who all laughed and aww-ed at the right times. We are still in the film festival circuit but I can’t wait to share our film with more people and read their online reviews.

Is this short animation a step for you towards making a feature-length animation? If possible, tell us about your next project.

I would love to make a feature-length animation! Currently, I am still focused on short films to hone my skills further and build a bigger portfolio. For the past couple of years, I have been working on a sci-fi comedy short film by myself in my free time. I am nearing the end of that one and can’t wait to share more details. As far as collaborative projects, a couple members from the Croaked! team have paired up on another short film post-graduation (directed by Cristiana Woods). I can’t say much yet but it has a very different feel than anything I’ve worked on, which makes me really excited to explore that world and story!