griffons - Rowena Sheehan Illustration

Griffons of the Apennines

My Role

Director, Designer, Animator

Client

Rewilding Apennines

Soundtrack

Vishal Bohjane

Voice Over

Joceline Sciamanda

About

Rewilding Apennines, based in central Italy, reached out to me to commission an explainer video to help inform people about the vital role griffon vultures play in the ecosystem and how to help protect them.

A script was provided and I began by creating an animatic and some initial styleframes for the video based on the shots proposed in the animatic. The client continued to see the progress throughout the project to ensure the brief and desires were being met.

Key Illustrations

An illustration of a woman holding a large box in an Italian forest with mountains and hills in the background

An close up illustration of bacterial floating about in an orange space which is the inside of a deer body

an illustration by Rowena Sheehan of a man in a tractor driving through nature with a dead goat in his towed container

an illustration of a burning sun in an orange sky by Rowena Sheehan

illustration by rowena sheehan of two griffon vultures nesting in a cliff face

an illustration by Rowena Sheehan of a muma vulture feeding her chick in a nest in some rocks

An illustration by Rowena Sheehan of a dead wolf with blood pooling from its mouth lies on a green forest floor with plants enclosing it

an illustration by Rowena Sheehan of a little girl asking her grandfather to stop putting poison on a sheep carcass. In the background are beautiful mountains and in the foreground there are living sheep in a field.

an illustration of a man wearing a cap smiling and looking downwards. there are clouds and floaters in the sky behind him

an illustration by Rowena Sheehan of a man in a cap and a tshirt that says "rewilding Apennines" on it high fiving a little girl. They are outside in nature with plants and mountains around them.

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The film needed to feel grounded in Italy and so I gathered image references from the client and their associates including photos of Rewilding Apennines’s Vulture Field Officer, Nicolo – featured at the end of the animation.

The colour palette is warm and dry, much like the colours found in the Central Apennines nature.

Use

The film premiered at the event “The Comeback of Griffon Vultures in the Central Apennines” which was hosted by the Carabinieri Biodiversità, Rewilding Apennines, and the municipalities of Magliano de’ Marsi and Massa d’Albe.

a photo of a wall with a projection of an animation about vultures on it by Rowena Sheehan

a panel of six uniformed and suited men sit at the front of a stage, behind them is a poster in italian about griffon vultures

a panel of six uniformed and suited men sit at the front of a stage, behind them is a poster in italian about griffon vultures. we see an audience listening to the men

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It was really rewarding to be part of this project. Rewilding Apennines does great work for the conservation of fauna in central Italy. I’m grateful to be able to use my craft to help causes I believe in.

If you’re looking for an explainer video for your organisation, get in touch: rowena.sheehan@hotmail.com