Il Ponte dei Diavoli (Devils bridge) is a school project made in 2022. The goal was to pre-produce an animated short movie, from the first idea to the animatic.
The story and the complete storyboard is the result of a collective effort, while all the art shown here has been made by me.
THE STORY
The story is based on a local italian tale: there is a medieval aqueduct in the city of Salerno that, according to the legend, was build in one night by the alchemist Pietro Barliario, with the help of demons.
The idea for the short originates from this tale and builts a modern yet fantastical story, in which a little boy, Daniele, makes a strange encounter with a curious group of black cats, exactly close to this ancient acqueduct. In this occasion Daniele, who happens to learn the story of the weird monument, has to deal with a difficult situation that will test his timid and self-conscious nature.
CONCEPT ART
CHARACTER DESIGN
Daniele (7) is a shy and self-conscious child, but very gentle and curious. At the beginning of the story, Daniele is sad because he just experienced the loss of his beloved grand-father. That morning, his mother dressed him up and took him with her to attend the funeral.
Daniele takes his stuffed animal (a black cat with yellow eyes) with him everywhere he goes. It was given to him as a present by his late grand-father.
Elena (33), Daniele's mom, is a strong, sweet and caring woman. She can be apprehensive but she knows that the little ones have to experience the world freely from time to time.
Marco (11) is a precocious and smart boy who, because of an unstable family, vents his anger bullying weaker kids and vandalizing the public property.
There is a mysterious group of black cats roaming the streets close to the aqueduct. They are its guardians and the judges of the ones that do not respect their territory.
Secondary characters.
Line up.
SETTING
The setting is based on the italian city of Salerno, in particular on the area where the medieval aqueduct meets the modern streets and buildings.
THE LEGEND
At a certain point of the story, the tour guide tells the legend of the creation of the aqueduct. We get to know the ominous figure of the alchemist, a man that lived during in the Middle Ages who, according to the legend, is the creator of the aqueduct.
While the short is classic 2D animation, this part looks more like a series of animated illustrations, making great use of the parallax effect, the camera and the layers movements.
STORYBOARD
The storyboard of the short was realised by the whole team. I was in charge of scene n.7. In this scene, Daniele faces another kid, Marco, who is vandalizing the aqueduct, but fortunately the cats come and save Daniele from the aggression.
Thumbnail.
Some layout panels.
