Desirae Norem
Behind the Scenes
In recent years, my work has focused more on directing, mentoring, and leading animation teams across a variety of projects—some of which are still under NDA, and many of which don’t easily lend themselves to a traditional animation reel. Instead of showing one big cut of highlight shots, this page walks through the games I’ve worked on, the challenges we tackled, and the specific contributions I made to each project.
From rigging and animation systems to cinematic polish and team leadership, I’ve had the opportunity to help bring a lot of worlds to life—and support some truly talented animators along the way.
A short video showcasing selected work is in progress. In the meantime, I’ve detailed my roles below to give a clearer picture of how I contributed to each game.
The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion: Remaster
Animation Director
(Just released – details under NDA)
​
This one’s still fresh off release, and most of the details are still under NDA, so I can’t say much yet. What I can say is that I served as Animation Director on the project—overseeing animation and rigging quality for both creatures and human characters, including clothing, armor, and gear.
​
It was a huge honor to contribute to the remaster of such an iconic game. More details to come when I'm allowed to share!
The Outer Worlds: Spacers Choice Eddition
Animation Director
(Initially Lead Animator; promoted during production)
​
Working on The Outer Worlds Remaster was one of the most technically demanding—and oddly rewarding—projects I’ve ever been part of. I started as Lead Animator and was promoted to Animation Director midway through production—right in the middle of COVID lockdowns here in Europe. Like most of the world, we were working fully remote, so I ended up setting up the studio’s mocap suit in my living room and recruiting my husband to be our mocap actor. He did great, by the way.
​
We recorded everything we contributed to the game that way, and the team cleaned it up and added layers of stylization to keep it grounded in realism but still match the original game’s witty, exaggerated tone. I led animation and rigging reviews, oversaw new blends and creature animation variants (yes, another mantis!), and worked closely with animators as they took on facial animation, lip sync with FaceFX, and even cinematics.
​
One of my favorite touches: an animator added open/close mouth animations to Moon Man and synced it with a custom clicking sound—super weird, super fun, super effective. I also jumped in where needed, helping with LODs, skinning, and cloth sim work. It was definitely one of the most technically challenging projects I’ve been on, but also one of the most creatively rewarding. I love the satire in this game, and it was great to help bring that world back to life.
Grounded: 1.0 release bosses
Lead Animator
For the Grounded boss update, I stepped fully into the role of Lead Animator, guiding the animation and rigging for some of the game’s most challenging and rewarding encounters. This time around, my role was primarily focused on reviewing and approving animation and rigging work remotely, coordinating closely with both my team and the design department to bring these creatures to life.
One of the biggest challenges during production came from a late decision I made to adjust the idle pose for one of the bosses. Rather than ask the team to redo dozens of existing animations under already tight deadlines, I took it on myself to manually update every affected animation. In hindsight, I’m not sure it was the most efficient choice—but in a moment when the team was stretched and under pressure, I wanted to remove one more frustration from their plate. It was a tough call, but it came from wanting to protect morale and momentum.
Throughout the project, we worked closely with the design team, constantly iterating on attack patterns, timing, and animation feasibility. Getting the feel of the bosses just right—especially under strict timing constraints—was one of the most demanding parts of the process. We had to strike a careful balance between readability, danger, and spectacle.
In the end, two bosses made it into the final release: the Wasp Queen and the Orchid Mantis. The Mantis was a standout for me personally—her sleek, elegant, assassin-like movement was a blast to animate. We gave her fast, deliberate attacks, with an entrance sequence that was a team-wide collaboration. Working with design and audio, we planned it so she’d rustle ominously through the bushes above you, finally landing in front of the player—if you knew where to stand. It’s one of those moments where everything clicked, and I still love how it turned out.
Grounded Pond biome
Lead Animator
Working on Grounded was one of the more unique and personally memorable projects of my career—not just for the game's setting, but also for when and how we worked on it. I served as Lead Animator during the early phases of development, managing a remote animation team at a partner studio while also contributing hands-on animation and rigging work. Most of my work on this project took place remotely, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made strong communication and clear feedback absolutely critical to keeping production moving.
​
My direct contributions included rigging and animating several of the simpler aquatic creatures in the Koi Pond biome, such as the tadpole and water boatman. I also led the review and development process for other pond-dwelling creatures—overseeing rigging, animation sets, and ensuring the consistency of style and functionality across the entire environment. Collaborating closely with character artists reviewing and approving skinning for new gear.
​
This project was both a joy and a personal challenge. The variety of creatures we got to bring to life made the animation work feel fresh and exciting every day—but I’ll admit, it also tested my limits. As someone with arachnophobia and a real fear of deep water, testing animations for spiders and pond diving segments wasn’t always easy. Still, I pushed through those discomforts because I believed in the project and wanted the players to feel fully immersed in the world we were building. I'm proud to say I helped bring that tiny, dangerous backyard to life—creepy crawlies and all.​
Mahokenshi
Lead Animator
Working on Mahokenshi was an exciting opportunity to blend technical problem-solving with stylized, expressive animation. As Lead Animator during the prototyping phase, I helped shape the animation and rigging direction for a game that combined isometric strategy with cinematic, collectible card-based combat.
​
I led a small team focused on building early animation systems and rig prototypes that would support the game’s distinct art style. A big part of this process involved studying movement language and visual rhythm inspired by classical Japanese animation and storytelling, with a focus on timing, elegance, and cultural authenticity. We wanted every attack, idle, and flourish to feel grounded in that inspiration, but still fluid and readable from an isometric camera angle.
​
While developing Mahokenshi, I was also contributing to another isometric roguelite game, balancing leadership across two early-stage projects. That experience pushed me to streamline communication and training—especially around rigging fundamentals—as I helped junior animators and tech artists get up to speed quickly while we refined our tools and workflows together.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
Lead Animator
On the Ordo Eris level of Jedi: Fallen Order, I served as the sole animator and rigger, responsible for all crowd and background animation needs. While holding the title of Lead Animator, my role on this level was entirely hands-on—I developed and implemented animation and rigging solutions independently.
I rigged and animated a variety of ambient NPCs. After completing my animation and rigging work, I shifted into a QA-focused role, helping evaluate and troubleshoot art and animation implementation, timing, and visual consistency across the level to ensure a polished player experience.
​
In parallel with this project, I contributed to another internal initiative where I mentored junior team members on the fundamentals of rigging. While not leading a team on Jedi: Fallen Order, I took an active role in sharing technical knowledge and improving overall animation pipeline understanding within the studio.​
Paranoia Happiness is Mandadory
Lead Animator
As Lead Animator, I guided a small team in shaping the animation style and tone of the game, drawing inspiration from titles like Portal, which I am a huge fan of. We aimed for a quirky, expressive animation style that enhanced the game's dark humor and immersive atmosphere. My primary responsibilities included providing feedback by reviewing the team's animations for quality and consistency, and collaborating closely with the rigging artist to ensure rigs met both technical and creative needs.
​
While much of my role focused on leadership and direction, I also contributed directly to key moments in the game. One highlight was animating a set of player "head implant" sequences—three unique variations designed to play randomly, preventing repetition during the cloning process, which is a core mechanic of the game. This approach helped reinforce the narrative while keeping the experience fresh and engaging for the player.
Batman Arkanm Origins: Blackgate
Animator
I was thrilled that my first game animation credit was on a Batman title—one of my all-time favorite superheroes. My background in teaching animation and motion capture proved invaluable as we retargeted hundreds of legacy animations from the Arkham series to new 3Ds Max rigs, then cleaned and exaggerated them to fit our game’s style. Though the studio primarily used Maya, our team learned Max together to meet the project’s needs.
My main responsibilities included motion capture cleanup and keyframed animations for thugs, Catwoman, stun cape moves, takedowns, and in-game cinematic cutscenes. I worked closely with rigging and engineering to ensure smooth integration and scene syncing across departments.
