Vanessa struggles with authority figures some more.
I feel bad. A good chunk of this pilot is spent putting Vanessa through the wringers. First, she gets betrayed by her friends. Then she gets expelled. Then she says too much truth again and gets in a fight with her mom. Now she’s in trouble with the police. And she has yet to get the worst news of the night. This poor kid can’t catch a break. (no surf pun intended)
I had a lot of fun trying to figure out the cheapest, easiest way to convey that the police have arrived at Vanessa’s lowest moment. Changing the character matte from blue to red really helped. All I have to do is throw in some sound effects and voice work for the cops and the vibe will be perfect. (Looking forward to working with my Animation Partner on the sound design).
Of course, not all authority in this story is heavy-handed. Vanessa’s mom cares. She loves her. She just happens to be overwhelmed with her responsibilities. The point of this sequence is to show even moms with the best of intentions have their limitations.
Shout out to all those kids who had that immigrant mom experience. The sweet always comes with salt.