A 30-second animated short film telling a small story through visual storytelling. The project combines a storyboard, hand painted assets, a highpoly to lowpoly workflow, and fully rigged and animated Assets. Camera direction, timing and composition were used to guide the viewer through the story and create the intended atmosphere.
Storyboard
The storyboard served as the foundation for planning the story, composition, camera movement, and pacing. During production, some elements were adapted to improve clarity and strengthen the storytelling.
For example, the transition from the alarm clock was simplified. Originally, the clock was planned to shake back and forth when going off, but this movement was reduced to make it easier for the viewer to follow the action. Additional shots were also added at the beginning to establish a calm and harmonious atmosphere before interrupting it with the main event, creating a stronger contrast and impact.
The hand-painted textures were intentionally kept warm and inviting to create a contrast with the unsettling events of the story. When viewed as a still image, the scene feels relatively calm and harmless, while the animation gradually introduces the darker elements. This contrast was used to make the appearance of the zombie hand feel more unexpected and impactful.
Most of the small details in the assets are represented through hand-painted textures rather than additional geometry. This allowed me to keep the meshes lightweight while still achieving a detailed and visually rich result. To reduce the processing requirements, the entire background and some smaller details were created as 2D planes.
Two different hand-painted texture styles were explored during the development of the project. I ultimately chose the more cartoon-like approach, as it better supported the warm visual style of the scene and created a stronger contrast with the darker elements of the story.
What I Learned
This project taught me how to bring different parts of the 3D and animation workflow together into one cohesive piece. I gained a deeper understanding of storytelling through camera movement, timing, and composition, while also developing my skills in rigging, animation, and creating optimized assets.
Software: Blender, Procreate
My thanks to Axel Ganz for support and sound design