Heartstrings
[ABOVE] Click above to watch the full animation.
Heartstrings
Heartstrings tells the story of Ailidh, a young Irish woman who immigrated to New York City in 1910 with little belongings except for her father's old violin. Ailidh comes home from a long day of performing in the streets of Hell's kitchen with a broken string, discouraged, and covered in rain. Although she is on the verge of giving up on her new life in the United States, she is surprised to find that by playing her father's violin that she hadn't had the heart to touch since her journey began, she is able to bring him back to her for one final goodbye. Though the encounter with her father is short-lived, it gives Ailidh the encouragement she needs to continue to follow her dreams of becoming a performer and she is left with a newfound confidence that she will be okay in her new life.
My Role
For Heartstrings, I had the role of Sound Supervisor and Sound Mixer. My tasks included: keeping a close relationship with the animation team, working closely with the composer Miles Kredich and sound designer Jules Santamauro, conducting frequent meetings with the animation and sound team in order to ensure that we were keeping on schedule for the due date and release date of Heartstrings, mixing the final sound effects pass with the score in ProTools in order to fix any last-minute volume adjustments, panning, reverb, and automation. I also kept track of various other organizational and administrative duties.
A unique aspect of Heartstrings was that everything was done online and out of the studio. The composer Miles Kredich wrote and performed the score in his own bedroom and Jules and I had to cut effects, mix and master, and edit all of the sounds from our home studios/offices.
Awards and Official Selections
[ABOVE] A screen grab with of the awards and final selections laurels that Heartstrings received while on the film festival circuit.
Project Workflow & Session Files
Official Credits
Date: SCAD Spring 2021
My Role: Sound Supervisor & Sound Mixer
Directed By: Erin Donahue
Written By: Erin Donahue
Screenplay By: Erin Donahue
Produced By: Alexandria Rivero
Logo By: Yuanshiyu Gao
3D Modeling By: Erin Donahue, Sam Coulter, Yuanshiyu Gao, Nicole Keefe, Ryan Marsden, Rongchen Ye, Alexandria Rivero, Nicole Duerr, Noah Heilveil, and Jing Lyu
Visual Development By: Erin Donahue and Nicole Duerr
Character Animation By: Erin Donahue, Alexandria Rivero, Nicole Duerr, Noah Heilveil, Nicole Keefe, and Tashi Sherpa
Character Modeling By: Sam Coulter and Ryan Marsden
Texturing By: Erin Donahue, Yuanshiyu Gao, Noah Heilveil and Rongchen Ye
Story Boarding By: Erin Donahue and Alexandria Rivero
Lighting By: Erin Donahue, Sam Coulter, Noah Heilveil, Ryan Marsden, and Rongchen Ye
Look Development By: Erin Donahue, Sam Coulter, and Noah Heilveil
Rendering By: Erin Donahue, Alexandria Rivero, Nicole Duerr, Yuanshiyu Gao, Jing Lyu, Ryan Marsden, Rongchen Ye
Editing By: Erin Donahue
Visual Effects By: Jing Lyu
Layout By: Erin Donahue, Alexandria Rivero, Sam Coulter, Nicole Duerr, Tashi Sherpa, and Rongchen Ye
Compositing By: Erin Donahue, Sam Coulter, Noah Heilveil
Riggin By: Erin Donahue, Noah Heilveil, Ryan Marsden, Rongchen Ye
Simulation By: Sam Coulter, Noah Heilveil, Nicole Keefe, Rongchen Ye
Shader Development By: Noah Heilveil
Set Dressing By: Yuanshiyu Gao, Nicole Keefe
Technical Training By: Noah Heilveil
Research and Development By: Tashi Sherpa
Original Score Composed and Performed: Miles Kredich
Additional Violin by: Erin Donahue
Sound Supervised By: Elizabeth "Liz" Moore
Sound Mixer: Elizabeth "Liz" Moore
Sound Design By: Jules Santamauro