The Moving Pyramid

Here are a few stills from a shortfilm I did while working at ILM. The film won several awards and I am very happy how it turned out. I am so thankful to ILM for allowing me to get it produced under their "independent short film program". A lot of great animators and technical directors helped me to get it all done. Originally I had planned to do this film in 2D. But in order to get it produced by ILM I had to add a 3D element to it. Being a big fan of "Monty Python" and Terry Gilliam's animation I chose "paper-cut on computer." I handpainted all characters and back ground elements. I then got them all scanned and used them as textures. I applied them to flat geometrical shapes and created simple 3D-characters. 

The 3D environment allowed great multiplane effects. also I loved the possibility of using lighting in a very interesting way. The lights inside the pyramid were animated to suggest a burning candle. A grain was later added to the image to give the film a more "natural" camera feel. 3D images are very clean and sometimes appear too synthetic and cold. The film-grain gave it a more natural look. 

Highlight was the mix at Skywalker Ranch. I was privileged to be able to work with the very talented sound designers over there. The film got mixed in dolby stereo surround sound and the short is a real treat to watch in a cinema environment. 

Many thanks to all the people who helped me finish this movie. Without your help this shortfilm would have never been finished. Thank you so much. You can watch this movie on youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_4WMRnpvVM

enjoy