GREG ARAYA

ANIMATION REEL

Here’s a short compilation of my professional work.

FULL VERSIONS

Detailed shot breakdowns are provided beneath each clip.

Mulligan “The Egg Hunt” - Netflix
As Retakes Director on Mulligan, my primary role was providing supervisory direction to animation teams. However, my background as a character animator allowed me to dive directly into tasks ranging from “plussing” shots by revising expressions and performance, to animating new shots from scratch. This sequence features character animation done to address re-written dialogue. New character timing, poses, performance and lipsync were created to correctly accent the emotional beats of the re-recorded dialogue. (Toon Boom Harmony)
These are the final animation takes without fine editing, music or sound effects.

Mulligan “Grand Old Party” - Netflix
As Retakes Director on Mulligan, my primary role was providing supervisory direction to animation teams. Sometimes this required drawing over existing animation to provide visual reference for animation revisions. This sequence of non-consecutive shots is an example of how to address foreshortening or subtle motions that are challenging for a rigged model to achieve. (Toon Boom Harmony)

HouseBroken “Who Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts?” - FOX
As Retakes Director on HouseBroken, I also handled more technical aspects of the animation, including developing effects treatments for natural, (or more frequently, supernatural or hallucinatory) phenomena. In addition to doing an animation pass on this shot to address turning the Poodle from one side to the other while speaking, I also developed rim lighting and ghost/hovering templates that were distributed to the animators and applied to existing animation to efficiently attain consistent art direction at high quality and at scale. (Toon Boom Harmony)

HouseBroken “Who’s Afraid of Boomsday Again?” - FOX
This episode was a departure from the usual visual style of the series, and I ensured the art direction was consistent and correct in each separate story arc. In this sequence of shots, I was also responsible for layout continuity, character animation, and developing the lighting effects, as well as the psychedelic transition effect at the end. Some of these takes are in-progress, and still show my draw-overs, or lack shot hookups and final lip assignment. (Toon Boom Harmony)

MAD - “Wimpy Vikings” - Warner Bros. Animation
Based on MAD Magazine, this Cartoon Network series was pitched and executed as a Robot Chicken for kids. I was a Story Director, and typically created animated storyboards to provide animation direction for the several short clips we produced.
Occasionally, I would be given a script to take to broadcast-ready completion on my own. I was given freedom to do design, animation, sound design, editing, and compositing entirely by myself. This level of ownership is rare in TV production, which is usually a collaborative pipeline-driven process. I was responsible for everything you see in this clip. (Adobe Animate, AfterEffects)

MAD - “Jedi Negotiator” - Warner Bros. Animation
Like the Wimpy Vikings clip above, I was given the script for this Star Wars-themed parody of the Expedia commercials that were popular at the time. I was responsible for all design, layout, and animation. (Adobe Animate, AfterEffects)

Transparent Investing - Book Promotion
This was some freelance work I did for a client who wanted to promote the release of a book of financial advice. I was provided a written script with the only direction being a preference for the speaker to not be human, and not to be too cartoony or otherwise undermine the content. I provided the visual concept, and was responsible for the entire production of the video including design, animation, and audio. (Toon Boom Harmony)

EPCOT Food Festival - Noble / Disney
Responsible for sequence layout, character & prop animation, and lipysnc. (Adobe Flash/Animate)
Eric Goldberg directed this ad campaign and specifically sought animators from Cartoon Network’s Foster’s crew for our timing sensibilities and proficiency with Flash. We worked from his storyboard beats, and were given freedom in expressing the animation performance.

Powerpuff Girls Rule! - Cartoon Network
Responsible for sequence layout, character & prop animation, and lipysnc. (Adobe Flash/Animate)
Animators followed storyboard beats, and there was a specific style of timing to follow, but we had freedom in expressing the animation performance.

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Ticket to Rod” - Cartoon Network
Responsible for sequence layout, character & prop animation, and lipysnc. (Adobe Flash/Animate)
These are the final animation takes without fine editing, music or sound effects. Placeholders for missing assets or storyboard panels are visible in some shots.
Animators followed storyboard beats, and there was a specific style of timing to follow, but we had freedom in expressing the animation performance.

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Go Goo Go” - Cartoon Network
Responsible for sequence layout, character & prop animation, and lipysnc. (Adobe Flash/Animate)
These are the final animation takes without fine editing, music or sound effects. Placeholders for missing assets or storyboard panels are visible in some shots.
Animators followed storyboard beats, and there was a specific style of timing to follow, but we had freedom in expressing the animation performance.

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends “Can’t Keep A Good Mac Down” - Cartoon Network
Responsible for sequence layout, character & prop animation, and lipysnc. (Adobe Flash/Animate)
Animators followed storyboard beats, and there was a specific style of timing to follow, but we had freedom in creating the animation performance.

The Ricky Gervais Show “Animal People” - HBO
Responsible for sequence layout, character & prop animation, and lipysnc. (Adobe Flash/Animate)
This show provided animated visuals to the pre-existing podcast from Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Carl Pilkington. The directive was to not let the animation upstage the dialogue, so we focused on subtle movements and supported the lipsync with more mouth shapes than usual.
These are the final animation takes without fine editing, music or sound effects.

El Sabor del Peligro - Student Film
This is a film I created in the MFA program at USC.
I was responsible for the story and all visuals. (Adobe Flash/Animate, AfterEffects)

ONLINE INSTRUCTION - ADOBE INC.

Adobe commissioned me to create this in-depth series of character animation tutorials for Adobe Animate.
I break down the process of building and animating a nested hierarchical rig in a series of how-to videos.