Mirage

Collaborative animated short film

Mirage (noun) - "A hope or wish that has no chance of being achieved."

A tale of love unfolds between two individuals from opposite social classes, revealing the struggle to overcome societal boundaries in their quest for happiness and love.

Collaborative project with Jeffrey Su and Michael Wang. As huge sci-fi nerds, we wanted this short film to serve as an homage to the cyberpunk genre. We also took this opportunity to explore new technologies, such as character rigging and motion capture, to reenact the workflow of a small motion studio.‍
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→ Indie Suspense Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival, Best Micro Short 3rd Place
→ Red Movie Awards 2024, Selected
→ Los Angeles Cinematography Awards 2024,
Best Animated Film Cinematography, Best Animated Film
→ ARFF Amerstdam 2024, Best Animation & VFX Honorable Mention
→ Filmmakers Connect Awards 2024, Best Animation
→ New York Film Awards 2024, Best Picture
→ New York Film Awards 2024, Best Animation
→ Monza Film Fest 2024, Best Animation
→ PRINT Awards 2024, Motion Graphics & Video
→ ADC Young Ones 2024, Gold Cube
→ ADC Young Ones 2024, Merit
→ Dumbo Film Festival 2024, Semi-Finalist
→ Absurd Film Festival 2024, Best Micro Short
→ Fantasy/Sci-Fi Film Festival 2024, Best Micro Short
→ Festigious Los Angeles 2024, Best Animation
→ Los Angeles Film Awards 2024, Best Sci-Fi
→ The Cine Saga Review
→ Reale Film Festival 2024, Best Micro Short
→ Top Shorts, Best Animation
→ Film Critical Space Review
→ MovieFest UK Review
→ Short Films Matter Review
→ Behance Feature - 3D Motion, After Effects

Styleframes

Promotional Posters

Premiere

The final release was premiered in the Ahmanson Auditorium at ArtCenter's Hillside Campus during the Motion Connect event.

Character Development

The characters were developed with background stories, archetypes, and character arcs. The 3D models were made using Daz 3D, while Marvelous Designer was used to dress the characters.

Motion Capture

Motion capture was used for all of the character animation. This process was enjoyable and sped up the workflow since characters did not have to be hand-animated.

World Building

World building and 3D animation was done in Cinema 4D and rendered with Octane.

Corporation Branding

In every cyberpunk story, there's often a mega-corporation as the antagonist. Thus, CODA was developed as a simple branding project alongside the film.

The brand elements were incorporated on to a kit-bashed security drone. The color palette and shape languageexpands into the HUD interface from the drone's perspective.

Editing & Compositing

After Effects was used for 2D animation and color correction. Premiere Pro was used for the final editing and sound mixing.

Dream Machine

In this cyberpunk universe, one has the ability for shared dream experiences. This is brought to life through the dream machine, creating a unique environment for shared multiplayer dreaming.

Credits:
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Jeffrey Su: 3D Animation, Simulation, Post-Production
Hanson Ma: Editing, 2D Design, Animation, Producer
Michael Wang: 3D Animation, World Building, Mocap Actor
Jennifer Li: Screenplay, Mocap Actress
@THR_BHLD: Helmet Design
David Parrella: Mocap Suit
Harvey Fisher: Sound Design
Miguel Lee: Instructor

Special Thanks:
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Ming Tai, Elaine Alderette, Harper Chen, Kenneth Kuh

Software:
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Cinema 4D, Octane, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, XD, Blender, Photoshop, Rokoko Capture, Daz Studio, Marvelous Designer, Gravity Sketch, Topaz Labs

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