★ the WORLD RAT DAY trailer ★

Book trailers are all the rage in children’s publishing these days, so in preparation for its publication in March, I wanted to give World Rat Day proper attention. 

This meant investing a considerable amount of time teaching myself Adobe After Effects, but I think it was time well spent. As an illustrator, it’s so rewarding to make still images you’ve been working on for months and months actually move. If this weren’t already part of my profession, I’d take it up as a hobby.

So without further ado, here it is. Enjoy, share, post, tweet, whatever you choose, but mostly I hope it puts a smile on your face. 

WORLD RAT DAY - by J. Patrick Lewis and Anna Raff

Oh! One more thing—as if I hadn’t mentioned it a million times before—World Rat Day is available for pre-order here. :^)

annaraff.com version 3.0 is live!

After a few fits and starts, I’ve finally completed the relaunch of my new html-based website. Earlier this year, I decided the time had come to let go of my old, animated flash site, to speed up the experience and make it readable for people with mobile devices.

The new site showcases my portfolio with cleaner navigation, and the help of thumbnails and slideshows.

Also featured, is a new books section (see below) which allows viewers to page through portions of my books and links to places where they can purchased.

If you miss the little animations, never fear. No doubt, I will be making more of those in the future. In case you’ve never seen one,  here’s a little something I made for National Pencil Day back in March.

happy national pencil day!

Certain humble holidays demand a little extra attention. Click here and be sure your volume is up. Enjoy!

valentine rebus (this year, it moves!)

annaraff.com/valentine

turn up the volume!

snow shadow shorts

Take two teenagers, a novice animator aunt, a snowy beach, and a VERY sunny Christmas Eve, and this is what you get.

mtv woodie awards animation

Ever heard of the MTV Woodie Awards? Well, I hadn't until about a week ago when my lighting-designer-guru friend Christopher Landy of Vibrant Design called me. He wanted an animation of some figures to project along a 48' balcony for the awards show at Roseland Ballroom in New York, behind nominated band Matt and Kim while they perform their song "Lessons Learned."

So I spent the better part of last week on it. (See below, where you can watch a beginning clip.) If you want to see Matt and Kim's nominated video and hear their terrific song, check it out here on YouTube.

There were definitely some lessons learned on my part technically, but over all it was really fun. I can't wait to see what Chris and his crew do with it—they're going to add lots of color and other effects.

The show will be broadcast on December 4th—more details to come in a later posting.

a (very short) collaboration

My 13 year-old nephew and I collaborated on our first animated short (very short) last evening. While he was director, producer and screenwriter, my primary role was facilitator/key grip. You can view it here. Be sure to have your sound on. Enjoy!