Damsel in Distress - Short 3D Animated Horror Film

Set in a Victorian London not too far removed from our own, a green damselfly with broken wings climbs the tallest building he can see to watch the sunset. But little does he know, he's entered a whole heap of trouble when his curiosity gets the better of him...

Produced at the University of South Wales, Damsel in Distress was created by a small team of Animators and Artists across the academic year. Heading the project as Director, as well as Character and Environment Designer; I was responsible for modelling and texturing the main protagonist "Wic" and the Victorian attic-office room; in addition to the lighting and composition of the final animation.

Wic the Damselfly was box-modelled in Maya and textured in Substance 3D Painter, before being rendered in UE5. I purposely shaped their limbs to be joined together like an "action-figure", in order to show their fragility, as well as mimic the process of stop-motion in the character animation, which was animated on twos. Above and below you can view their wireframe and in-engine stills.

Taking inspiration from late 20th century and Edwardian décor, the Attic room evolved from a living-room lounge to the cluttered office we see now. Handling the room and other assets; I was responsible for the walls, skirting boards, window, doorway, shadowboxes and glass dome. Box-modelled in Maya and textured in Substance 3D Painter, they were then built in UE5. 

The overall style was kept relatively realistic, as the environment had to be enlarged to match the 2-metre tall character. Below you can view close-ups of the final textured models in-engine and their wireframe.

On top of modelling and texturing, I was also responsible for building the environment, which was a combination of assets created by the team and assets packs found online; as well as lighting and rendering the film in UE5. This involved importing the character animation from Maya into Unreal Engine and setting up two lighting arrangements to set the mood. The process can be seen below.

Thank you for reading!

This project wouldn't have been possible without my lecturers Gareth Hutchinson, Nick Hood and Christian Fletcher; as well as John Benson, Paul Autric and Jan Solis supporting me and my class throughout the year.