FantasticFeats at UChicago

Problem

With the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2 in 2018, there was a brief but real window of cultural attention on the Wizarding World — and a ready-made audience of Harry Potter fans who already had a relationship with the aesthetic. The University of Chicago has a remarkable history of discoveries, Nobel laureates, and world-changing research. The question was whether that history could be presented in a way that felt like an experience rather than a list — something a prospective student, an alumnus, or a Harry Potter fan would actually want to watch.

Decision

A team of four creatives developed the concept together: a motion graphics video built to look and feel like the Marauder's Map — parchment texture, ink-line illustration, animated footsteps wandering across a hand-drawn campus as UChicago's accomplishments revealed themselves along the way. I served as art director, guiding the illustration of the map and its buildings while the team brought the world to life in After Effects. The footsteps move. The buildings animate. The whole piece is faithful enough to the source material that it reads immediately to anyone who's ever read the books or seen the films. I also composed the original score — orchestral, magical, and mysterious, in the spirit of John Williams — giving the piece a cinematic weight that a licensed track could never have provided.

Outcome

The video lives on YouTube and has accumulated over 15,000 views — a number that reflects genuine audience interest well beyond UChicago's own channels. It found the Harry Potter fan community it was designed for, while also doing the quieter work of showing prospective students and alumni that UChicago has both an extraordinary history and a creative team willing to do something unexpected with it.