This was my first ever 3D project.
Assignment:
To produce a 3D character animation using Maya, in a specific genre assigned to us, based on a sound clip of a monologue 15 to 20 seconds long that we had to choose prior to knowing our genre.
Personal Goal:
To create a short animation, by contextualizing my vision within the conventions of a believable narrative in order to produce an interesting audio-visual piece. My main focus was on creating an atmospheric and intense experience for the prospective viewers in order to keep them immersed in the narrative.
Result:
An atmospheric 3d character animation based on a dream-like horror world.
CONCEPT & PROCESS
The genre I was assigned was Horror.
I constructed the narrative concept based on my dreams of being lost in a labyrinth and built a mysterious horror world based on this, deciding to use a first-person POV as it best translated my vision of having the audience experience the animation as we experience dreams. The original idea involved walking through the labyrinth and encountering rooms with different horror tropes, however I made a critical choice to cut down my short film to just the final act due to the limited production time available. The final act features the first-person character – us – entering the closing room of the labyrinth and encountering Minos, the keeper of our nightmare.
• The Minos character is made in 3D-coat using a human template model from the neck down – the head was the product of my first 3D sculpting experience.
• Most assets used in the environment are imported from online libraries, slightly edited and textured to fit my vision.
• I animated both Minos and the first person camera.
• The sound clip features a monologue of Dwight from The Office(US) overlapped with various environmental sounds, edited and compiled in Audacity.
Willem de Kooning Academy, 2018