I believe that through comedy, the initial barrier blocking individuals from having a meaningful dialogue is broken. Humor is sort of my natural defense mechanism when discussing uncomfortable subjects. Going into my senior year at Massachusetts College of Art and Design I knew I wanted to create a work that was more politically driven as opposed to just being beautiful and visually appealing. So I figured I should do it they best way I know how, by being funny. The subject matter of "Black Friday" came through a fusion of my time working in retail, "All-American Values," my love for internet pop culture, and as a way to express my frustrations of the 2016 United States Presidential election and the social atmosphere that erupted from it.

I definitely knew that I wanted to create an animation using Maya and going into the beginnings of animating I was still fairly new to the inner workings of this beastly program. The MassArt animation department, although extremely strong, does not offer an in-depth digital 3D curriculum. I took whatever classes I could offered in learning Maya, and spent countless hours learning just what it was capable of. This film definitely pushed me more than anything I have previously done before. I spent most of my time modeling, rigging and texturing. It was my first time doing lip-sync, any sort of real character animation and making a real narrative driven story. I learned a lot through the process – and though the computers may have crashed many many times, I am happy with the outcome of my final piece as an undergrad.