ABOUT RABID RABBIT PRODUCTIONS
My name is Tony Wyatt, a Motion Media Designer behind Rabid Rabbit Productions.
My motion-media work blends VFX, SFX, cosplay, and art to build worlds that feel both handmade and cinematic. I'm drawn to the moment when a crafted object, a performed character, and a digital illusion click together and become believable. At its core, my practice is about immersion - making fantasy feel physically present, emotional, and lived-in.
A major driver of my character design comes from years of playing TTRPGs. Creating characters in Dungeons & Dragons, Traveller, Marvel Super Heroes, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Battletech, and Warhammer taught me to think in backstory, motivation, and visual readability: silhouette, gear, and role. That way of thinking naturally leads to crossover mashups across sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, combined into a single character or world that still follows consistent rules. I like designs of realism that feel like they could walk off the page of a campaign and into a film frame.
I build each project like a short, story-driven production. I start with a what-if scenario, then design the look through costume materials, wear and tear, and texture. Cosplay is part of my pipeline, not just an outfit: it forces real-world decisions about movement, weight, and how something holds up on camera. From there, I use VFX to extend the practical work through compositing, atmospherics, environmental scale, and impractical to digital tricks– always aiming for grounded lighting and a shared sense of space. My process is heavily iterative because believability is built through small refinements.
Why influences reflect that balance of grit, engineering, and motion. Ralph Bakshi inspires my raw, rebellious energy and stylized texture, including the tension he creates when live action and animation collide. Richard Edlund shapes my problem-solving approach with camera-first thinking, practical realism, and illusion over spectacle. Joe Letteri and Weta FX are a constant reference for performance-driven realism: detail and simulation that support character and feeling, not just technical flash.
Looking forward, I want to push beyond screen-based imagery into effects that engage all five senses. My goal is to develop 3-D X – 4DX experiences that connect visual effects, sound, practical effects, and haptics, and can extend into scent, and even taste when it fits the story. (I think of the playful, immersive spirit of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory, and the three-course dinner of gum, or Harry Potter's Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans). I'm interested in designing effects as a single system: light, rumble, texture, and atmosphere all reinforcing the same moment.
This direction ties directly into the evolution of VR and AR, as well as live-action, adventure experiences. VR lets me control the full environment and surround the viewer with the story and scale; AR lets me overlay fantasy onto real spaces and props, blending digital layers with handmade costumes and set pieces. Walk-through and role-play-driven experiences, such as escape-room-style adventures or interactive scenes, are a natural home for this kind of work, where performance, practical builds, and sensory cues can combine into an embodied narrative.
At SCAD, I'm refining this practice into a focused motion-media portfolio and a blueprint for my next step: building an independent studio centered on character-first storytelling, practical texture, technical rigor, and multi-sensory immersion. Ultimately, my work is a conversation between performance and illusion-worlds that feel tangible, and characters that feel like they live there.