VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
ANIMATION
STORYBOARDS
SOBAKA (DIRECTION)
OUROPOLIS (WRITING)
PERSONAL
ABOUT
Hello! I'm Rory K Sato, a 2D animation senior at the School of Visual Arts in NYC with an interest in visual development, story boarding, writing, and directing.
I love video games, comics, movies (proud AMC A-lister), and my cat Natasha. Big inspirations for my art include Batman, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, and Station Eleven. In my junior year of school, I directed my class's group film, SOBAKA.
Thank you for taking a look at my work.You can reach out to me at [email protected] or at my LinkedIn, RoryKSato.
STORYBOARDING
Storyboards for my fall 2024 independent film, "Ghost in the Stall" following three teenagers in Japan as they hunt town a legendary ghost.
[email protected] - RORY SATO
Boards from my first year film "Diver", depicting an old-fashioned diver descending deeper and deeper into the depths.
[email protected] - RORY SATO
A fan project re-imagining the Teen Titans, formatted as a TikTok/Youtube Short shot by Beast Boy.
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
Higashikuni - A Japanese action-fantasy following Takashi and his sister as they traverse demon-infested lands.
The main character, Takashi
Outfit explorations for Takashi
Sketches of a side character, Ryuuji
Concepts for an underground demon realm
Explorations of that scene
An interior scene
Thumbnails for interiors
[email protected] - RORY SATO
Misc.
A line-up of teenage friends
The concept line-up for the three characters in my film, Ghost in the Stall
Color Script for Ghost in the Stall
Character concepts for a 4-page horror comic
Character design challenge
ANIMATION
SOBAKA (DIRECTION)
Natalie Frank (Art/Design), Andy Weaver & Gina Flora (Typography)
In a fictional setting inspired by 1917 Russia, a scrappy thief pursued by two royal guards escapes through the Czar's palace.
Sobaka is a three minute long short film directed by myself, Rory Sato, created by my Animation Workshop class D and produced by Alexandra Donsky. All work shown was drawn and crafted by my hardworking and skilled classmates under my vision in a 14-week semester.The third-year curriculum at SVA calls for one of my favorite projects; a group film in which teams of 20 students vote on a pitch and come together to create something great. Luckily, my idea for a "Dog Russian Revolution Chase Sequence" was picked and I was able to take on my dream job as the director!Sobaka literally translates to "dog" in Russian - reflecting the anthropomorphized dog characters we went with that help reinforce the distance between the fictionalized story we are telling and the true, complicated, and messy events that took place during the Russian Revolution. I've always loved Russian literature and stories told by authors that depicted grand, beautiful, warm upper class societies contrasted by the poor, cold, desolate common folk that had been outcast by their royalty.
As a director, I was constantly "clocked in", communicating with my classmates at all times during the day and giving feedback on all aspects of the project. When someone needed help with completion, I would step in and find a way to reassign work - or take on the responsibility myself. We had weekly check-in meetings on top of our usual class time and I worked closely with our producer to ensure that deadlines are met and submitted work is up to our standard. I created technical guides to make sure everyone was on the same page about specific programs and skills and animated my own shot in the film as well.
PRE-PRODUCTION EXAMPLES
Full credits here
Character Lineup
Character Rotation (Natalie Wren Frank)
Natasha Walk Cycle (Natalie Wren Frank)
Prop Colors (Jade Yang/Colors, Angela Hao/Props)
Throne Room Design (Andy Weaver)
Balcony Designs (Eva Lim)
Balcony BG (Amaya "Moon" Seraphine/Paints, Eva Lim/Layout)
Color Script (Eva Lim and Sophie Lefebure)
Snow FX (Angela Hao/Animation, Amaya "Moon" Seraphine/Compositing)
[email protected] - RORY SATO
STILLS
OUROPOLIS
Writing/Pitch Deck
Ouropolis is an adult animated series pitch following a plucky archaeologist who wakes up in a foreign, future world. The pitch deck is complete with character descriptions, a world description, and episode synopses.
