SALEM HOAG
Animator, Illustrator, Game Designer, Digital Marketer, & Storyteller
Animation
Storyboards, Sketches
Visual Development
Graphic Art
ANIMATION
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
GRAPHIC ART
STORYBOARDS
"Girls' Night"
"Playing By The Rules: Parts 18-19"
"The Necromancer Encounters a Secondhand Vanity"
SKETCHBOOK
PROJECTS
NOCTIFER
Set in a high fantasy world rife with myth and legend, Noctifer is a personal graphic novel project about a pyromancer embarking on a journey to the ruins of her fallen kingdom.
BLOOD FOR THE WOLF GOD
A board game prototype where every player must pay reverence to the omniscient Wolf God. Inspired by Tsuro, find your path through the forest, collect Blood Drops as sacrifice, and strategize your journey before reaching the end of the woods.
Accepted into the 2022 CHROMA: Best of CCAD art show.
DIGITAL GUYS
I successfully pitched and led this prototype project for the Spring 2022 Programming for Play class at CCAD. Digital Guys is a strange and quirky virtual pet simulator, complete with a real-life model functioning as an alternative game controller.
Accepted into the 2022 CHROMA: Best of CCAD art show.
"GIRLS' NIGHT"
A revisitation of my senior capstone. A 2D animated and experimental short film about a young girl who makes a strange friend online.
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
PASSWORD?
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M
PASSWORD?
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M
NDA WORK
Aha Media Internship 2023
Project involved following the animation pipeline on a short of the Aha Media logo morphing to and from an assigned character. Pictured above is Castor, a superhero boy. Character sheet courtesy of Aha Media and as reference for work below.Duties were as follows: storyboards & brainstorming, visual development, concept art, mild rough animation, and character clean-up animation. My supervisor was Hannah Schonfield, and my teammates were Annika Mills and Tom Ball.
Storyboard Ideas
I concepted all except "Super Strength Throwing," Tom brainstormed that one and I drew it.
Final Storyboard
I frankensteined my board (V1) with Annika and Toms' boards of the same idea, and redlined (V2 and V3).
Visual Development
Had to make quick visdev sketches due to executive feedback wanting the logo to turn into a "training orb." Also a scrapped rough animation and accepted frost breath concept work.
Clean-Up Animation V1
After Tom finished the roughs, I tested out the pencil tool by tracing the model sheet, and eventually came out with V1 of clean-up. I was instructed to provide feedback and give notes, so I will transcribe those here to make it easier."Push everything to the left a little bit. Follow the rule of threes. Castor gets pushed almost off-screen later on. Maybe we can do this once everything is clean?" "Haven't taken out these frames to speed it up yet." "Maybe add a pushback frame to show force from the stop?" "Example of Castor getting too close to off-screen." "The first scene is tricky since it's done on 1's. I wonder if we can do clean-up on 2's and shift the frames to preserve smoothness and make drawing faster?"
Clean-Up Animation V2
This update consisted of not only more clean-up progress, but I also had to do a second-pass rough animation over some frames that were more difficult to get on-model.
Clean-Up Animation Final
My finished portion of character clean-up animation.
CASUAL ART
ABOUT
A denizen of northeast Ohio, Salem Hoag found immense passion in the arts during childhood, indulging in writing and drawing relentlessly throughout grade school. This led to an acceptance letter from the Columbus College of Art & Design, where they would later earn their Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Animation in May 2023. Hoag had also received a minor in business alongside a concentration in game design.Hoag is accomplished in artistic achievements, both before and after graduation. They have two internships under their belt: one at innovative 3D metal printing company Fabrisonic LLC, and the other at mission-driven media company Aha Media. Hoag has published work in several zines, including CCAD’s Botticelli magazine, and has had their work screened internationally. They were the lead developer on demo video game Digital Guys and solo developer on tabletop game BLOOD FOR THE WOLF GOD, both of which were shown at the 2022 CHROMA: Best of CCAD award show.Aside from capturing the fantastic, whimsical, and horrific, Hoag is also interested in the intersection of art with scientific research and initiatives, and incorporating new ways to do this through marketing, games, and other forms of storytelling. They find joy in harnessing their visual development and animation skills on personal projects, which tend to draw from dark themes, aesthetics, and gothic visuals. Their artistic inspiration lies in the natural and mythological environment. Hoag has a profound love of worldbuilding, character design, background illustrations, and especially art direction.When not scribbling away at their latest piece, you can find Hoag researching about their various interests, including mythology, folklore, ecology, and meteorology. They’re usually haunting their town square’s bustling cafe or the local library.
RESUME
