Animated Stories by William Block | Hand-Drawn Storytelling

Animated Stories

Hand drawings that are developed along a story line and then scanned into the computer to be animated with movement and sound, engaging an audience.The stories can describe how a place has evolved over time, how a new planned community can be developed to provide for the inhabitants, or stories for children that entertain and teach.

first 6 videos

Glasgow

Evolution Along the River Clyde

Helsinki Central Station

From Drawing to Animation

Union Station Washington, DC

High Speed Rail Possibilities in America

Ventabren, a Village in Provence

A Season's Greetings Card

Leonardo & Elizabeth

A winter Trip from Milan Central Station to St Pancras in London

Union Terminal, Cincinnati

An Incredible Art Deco Train Station & Museum

glasgow

An Evolution of Glasgow

Here are a series of aerial hand drawings created by William Block based on research done of the town from a period of 1763 until present. The drawings were then animated telling a story of growth, and change in function. It shows how the town filled out and how functions evolved. The drawings were created for Event Communications in London for the pre show wait before taking a tower elevator up top to view the city and river.

helsinki

Helsinki Central Station, From Drawing to Animated Story

A video showing how William draws an aerial view based on google satellite and street level photos, then from a pencil set up he inks the drawing then paints it with watercolor. Once the painted drawing is scanned into the computer he changes the color to show a view going from daytime to nighttime, and then animates it in the computer. Here he is able to change the time of day, season and even a change in weather as snow falls.

Union Station dc

Union Station Washington, DC

I created an aerial view of Union Station in Washington after researching the story of its construction by the Chicago architect, Daniel Burnham. Before the grand station was built in 1907 there were seven smaller stations. There has been an interest in America in high speed rail, and as an architect and urban designer I was interested to introduce people to this concept. The station is beaux-arts architectural style at one end of the Washington Mall, close to the United States Capitol building.

Ventabren

Ventabren, a Village in Provence, France

Ventabren is a hilltown village in southern France just next to Aix en Provence and Marseille. I moved here in the early 2000's and lived here with my family. My two sons Jeffrey and Alex were born when we were living here. The main street of the village, Le Grand rue is a series of steps that takes you up through the village. It is for people only (and cats and dogs, which they have a lot of), no cars. The cars can only drive around the outside perimeter of the village. Above the village is the Plateau, a wonderful regional park. From the park you can go on great long walks and see Aix en Provence some 8 miles away in the distance. One might think the south of France has a warm climate, which it does, even warmer with climate change, but it does snow sometimes in the winter which is very beautiful! The spring here is fantastic too! I made this drawing and then animated it for my greeting card after returning here, having been living in California for 18 years. A great place to come back to!

Leonardo & Elizabeth

This is an animated season's greetings card that I put together from two train stations drawings made of Milan Central Station and St Pancras Railway Station in London. I thought to create two characters and then show these stations as the beginning and end points of a great journey by train during the holiday season. Leonardo, an Italian boy from Milan takes a trip by train all the way to London passing though the Swiss Alps, to visit his friend Elizabeth who lives in London.

Cincinnati Union Terminal

Union Terminal Cincinnati

This is an animated story showing Union Terminal Cincinnati, a fabulous art deco building built in the early twenties. The forms, scale, applied art and fountains are strong and wonderful. The circulation pattern for the arrival of the passengers by car, bus, train and taxi are extremely well thought out, where the different transportation systems arrive below the main floor of the station, which is raised a level, dropping them off in a central location as the vehicles continue and then exit the building in a semicircular pattern. They almost demolished the building entirely in the 1970's. Luckily it was saved, and it now functions as a museum with some train use as well.

2nd 6 videos

Les Marches, Savoie

Season's Greetings from a Village Nestled in the French Alps

Gare St Benetictins, Limoges, France

A Beautiful French Train Station from the Early 20th Century

The Phillips Exeter Academy

The Evolution of a Prep School in New England

A Downtown Vision

A New Downtown Concept in Southern California

Jeffrey's Town

A Children's Project about Kid's from all over the World in a Wonderful Magical City

Drawings & Animations

Different Animation Samples Showing Town Evolutions, New Concepts of Place and Children's Stories

Les Marches Savoie

Les Marches, Savoie

Here is an animated Season's Greetings card created from drawings of the village of Les Marches in the Savoie region of France located between Chambery and Grenoble. Les Marches is nestled in a valley located in the French Alps. The architecture style and function is of stone and timber with long overhangs to protect from the accumulation of snow, though these days with climate change the snow now only falls in the upper mountain areas. The Landscape here is dramatic, with rocky cliffs, snowcapped jagged mountains ever-changing with the clouds and light conditions.

Limoges st Bénédictins

Gare St. Benedictins, Limoges, France

Animating drawings of this beautiful station. It has been considered the most beautiful in France. It was completed in 1929, and has gone through a devastating fire, that destroyed the dome, and then re-built.

Phillips Exeter

Phillips Exeter Academy

This Animation shows the evolution of the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1781 by John Phillips, one of the oldest Prep schools in America. It is build in a Georgian style with a modern brick library by the American architect Louis Kahn. The animation was based on drawings that I researched on Bing maps studying the history of the school and was to help create a community of alumni and used as a informational presentation for new students and for fundraising for school building projects. I have lived in New Hampshire in the past and I also wanted to capture the changing seasons in the story.

A Downtown Vision

Taking drawing visions of a new downtown projector Anaheim, Calif that includes office, residential. commercial shopping, restaurants and a new state of the art sports stadium alternative. The initial concept drawings were created for a competition, then as our entry was places with the best, the planner decided to take the drawings and create an animated version to engage the city and audience.

Jeffrey's Town

This is a a project for children featuring a little boy and his international friends that build with special blocks that are magic. I want to stress the importance of living together, taking care of our communities and environments, learning about history and different cultures. This is a magical town where we travel to other places and other times.

Drawings and Animations

Drawings & Animations

Here are different drawings that are animated. They are about places and characters. Places we feel good to be in and characters that we feel good to be around.