Working on Goosebumps Horrorland was a wild ride, full of challenges, lessons, and memories I still think about today. It was also the project where I did the most cutscene work in my games career. Initially, I was hired as a model maker and environment artist, a shift from my previous roles, where I was typically brought on as an animator. For context, I was a generalist in earlier jobs and had experience across all areas of game art—animation, modeling, texturing, and more. However, animation was always my main ticket in.
At the time, I had decided to pivot from animation to focus on environments, props, and texturing. I wanted to explore other facets of game development, especially as motion capture seemed to be taking over much of animation. That said, the opportunity to dive back into narrative animation through the cutscenes for Horrorland was too good to pass up, even if it came with plenty of hurdles.
Above is the first cut scene I did on the project. I got the most notes on this one and I was very worried as I really struggled to get up to 8 seconds a day which was my initial goal, but I knew I needed to increase it to deliver on time. It took ages to approve and I think I was still doing notes on this up till the end. The publishers used to give a lot of notes when we had close ups on the characters faces. We didn't have many controls to work with and it was difficult to make them stay appealing and expressive.
The Cutscenes That Keep Getting Views
The cutscenes I worked on for Goosebumps Horrorland have become the most-viewed content on my YouTube channel. Many of these videos have over 100,000 views, and they’ve been the source of fan mail. While it’s gratifying to know people enjoy them, it’s a little surreal. These cutscenes were created under immense pressure, with tight deadlines and resource constraints. As much as I wish they showcased my best work, they represent a time when I had to balance speed with quality—a constant tug-of-war.
I often get questions like:
- "Why is the render so low quality?"
- "Why does the sound seem unfinished?"
The answer lies in the tools and processes of the time. These videos are playblasts—viewport renders from 3D Studio Max. They capture what I saw while animating: low graphical settings, no lighting, no textures, and no anti-aliasing. The low settings were essential for smooth playback in the software. These playblasts were quick and functional, designed to get publisher approval before integrating the animation into the game engine.
The sound is unfinished the final version in the game was likely tweaked at a later date so if there is music it may not be final.
From Props to Cutscenes
Initially, I worked on environments and props for the game. There was another animator handling the cutscenes, but the tight schedule made it clear he needed help. After some back-and-forth, I was brought on to assist. Before long, I found myself taking the lead when the original cutscene animator left the project.
The work was daunting, especially given the process: storyboards, animatics, animation, and multiple approval stages. Each cutscene had about a week’s turnaround, with some days lost waiting for feedback. Despite the challenges, I enjoyed the chance to focus on hand-keyed animation for narrative scenes, even if it came at the cost of long hours and stress.
The Freelancer Fiasco
One particularly frustrating chapter of the project was the freelancer we hired to help. He chose to work on the final cutscene—the most important and action-heavy sequence of the game. Unfortunately, his skills didn’t match the task. His work was so poor that I had to redo about 70% of it. By that point, I was running on fumes, but I managed to salvage what I could.
This final cutscene is a sticking point for me. I often get comments on YouTube asking why I haven’t posted it. The truth is, it’s a strange mix of my fixes and his original work, and I’m not comfortable showcasing it. It’s frustrating because I know how much better it could have been if I’d had the chance to start fresh.
The last clip shows animation as it was used in the cut scene (I think unless I got asked to alter it). All of this work is long before I started working in TV and is from 2008. I get a lot of comments on the half way done animation and the first rough animation telling me they suck. Well it all sucks but thankfully I can animate better now! Although most TV jobs also have a lower seconds per day out put then this did and with doing the sound editing storyboards and camera direction it was pretty crazy. Also the last time I worked in the main stream games industry.
A Baptism of Fire
Looking back, Goosebumps Horrorland was a trial by fire. The tight deadlines pushed me to animate up to 20 seconds a day while juggling sound editing, storyboarding, and camera direction. It was exhausting, but it taught me resilience and how to prioritize under pressure.
A strong memory on this project was that the games testing was done in studio behind me. So all day everyday I used to hear "Yo Yo Yo it's bumper carnage" along with all the lines from the cut scenes like "Double Wow!"
While the cutscenes may not be my proudest technical work, they hold a unique place in my career. They’re the only project that’s brought me fan mail and consistent YouTube views—even after all these years. For a game released in 2008, that’s something.
If anything, this project reminds me how far I’ve come as an artist and animator. It may not have been perfect, but it was a stepping stone that helped shape my journey.
