Nickelodeon & Sisler’s Orange Tree Project
Established in 2020, The Orange Tree Project stands as a beacon of innovation and collaboration in the realm of education. Born from what some might call a “Crazy Idea,” this transformative initiative is the brainchild of Nickelodeon Community Efforts and Sisler High School’s Create program. At its core, The Orange Tree Project is dedicated to providing high school students with unparalleled access to mentorship opportunities, guiding them through the intricacies of the animation pipeline and immersing them in a dynamic, studio-like environment. With a focus on fostering creativity and teamwork, this partnership has empowered hundreds of Winnipeg students to unleash their potential, resulting in the creation of seven 2D animated shorts, one 3D animated short, and the development of six series. How amazing is it that this year’s Orange Tree Project concludes in a showcase at Nickelodeon Animation, a testament to the extraordinary journey and achievements of these aspiring animators.
Students pitch at Nickelodeon
Educational Approach
OTP SERIES DEVELOPMENT
Timeline of Series Development Mentorship:
September:
- Nick provides a series intro course (pitch breakdown) and provided their template bible
- Students met and pitched ideas to mentors
- Mentors assigned
October:
- Character exercises provided to students
- Meet and presented their findings of character exercises and first pitch deck to mentors
November :
- Series bible and Story Exercises
- Meet and presented to mentors
December:
- Revised pitch bibles, breaking down synopsis of episodes
- Meet and presented to mentors
January:
- Scriptwriting masterclass with Nickelodeon writers, worked on Series Key Images
- Meet and presented to mentors
February:
- Revising scripts, key images
- Meet and presented to mentors
March:
- Finalized script, thumbnailing episode, voice actor recording, rough out animation test, began poster design
- Meet and presented to mentors
April – May:
- Animatic, animation test, poster design, post card designs, other printables, revise seriesbible and pitch deck
- Meet and presented final short to mentors
Deliverables:
- Bible
- Animation test
- Animatic
- printables
Printed Deliverables:
- Series Pitch
- Beat board presentation
- Thumbnail presentation
- Storyboard
- Layout & Backgrounds
- Animatic
- Character Builds
- Final Animation
- Poster
- One Sheet
- Social Media Campaign
- Shorts travel posters & buttons
OTP SHORTS DEVELOPMENT
Shorts Development Timeline:
October:
- Develop story beats, Beatboards, character design, world design, develop online project management
- Meet and pitch to mentors
November :
- Develop minor beats, revise and further develop Beatboards, character turnaround, line up sheet, develop colour palettes, character concept art, world design,
- Meet and pitch to mentors
December:
- revise Beatboards, thumbnail entire short, begin character design rigs, write script, compose music, finalize colour palettes, finalize worlds for animation layout
- Meet and pitch to mentors
January:
- Begin storyboard, finish character rigs, create score, record voice acting and compile audio beds,
- Meet and pitch to mentors
February:
- Compile Animatic with score, voice acting and audio beds, develop prop rigs
- Meet and pitch to mentors
March:
- Begin Animation Layout, Export storyboard pro file in Harmony scenes, begin rough animation, develop prop rigs
- Meet and pitch to mentors
April:
- Begin posing and animation, fine tune audio, visual effects and compositing
- Meet and pitch to mentors
May:
- Final touches, compositing, lighting, sound, preview/feedback sessions with other students
- Meet and present final short to mentors
Hardware and Software:
- Miro (free for educators) for project planning
- IPads and Procreate for Beatboards and Concept Art
- Storyboard Pro
- Wacom Cintiqs
- Harmony Premium (animation and compositing)
- Adobe Premiere CC
- Adobe audition and Protools for Audio.
- Google Drive & Sheets for project management
The Mentorship Process
Posters
