passcode: MEM6155
Memory Lane is a short film I directed during my time at the School of Visual Arts. This story was inspired by my grandmother who suffered from a traumatic brain injury that left her with chronic dementia. It is a dedication piece to her for being my primary childhood caregiver in place of my working parents.
The story takes an old lady on a journey down memory lane, where she faces obstacles and struggles to recollect her lost memories. The film highlights how much we take shared memories for granted but also how we must come to terms with the nature of human life- how life goes on despite traumatic experiences. The time we share with our loved ones is limited and we cannot prepare for everything life throws at us. But we have each other and the memories to guide us through the paths of life.
Karizma Francis
Seogene Lee
Doris Huang
The film was created as a team of three.
I worked on it as a Director, Character Designer, and an Environment Artist
along with other participation in Lighting and Compositing.
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF GRANDMA
CHARACTER DESIGNS
EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF KATY (GRANDDAUGHTER)
FINALIZED DESIGNS
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SOFTWARE USED
ENVIRONMENTS
REFERENCE PICTURES FOR THE CLOCK WORLD
STEP BY STEP PROCESS
After building a rough block-outs of the set in Maya, I built vines using SpeedTree that are curated to different walls of the envrionment, which then were brought over to the Maya scene. I experimented different textures and colors in Substance Designer in order to create a unique metal texture that fits the overall atmosphere of the Inner Clock World.
Fantasy Inner Clock World-
Trees were handmodeled with a twist of variations to add its own uniqueness to each composition. I wanted to create a grand maze where Grandma and Katy are lost, trying to find their way out. Due to the scale of the scene, it was crucial to find a way to optimize each shot while still capturing the grandness. Creating a main scene and tweaking the assets curated to each shot was necessary for a smoother workflow and better scene optimization.
Flashback from the Kitchen-
I created a kitchen where both Grandma and little Katy spent time together. Adding elements like her drawings made the scene more cozy and lived-in. Crowding the limited set with different kitchen supplies created a more realistic setting.
Flashback from School-
Figuring out the scaling as well as executing the grassfield was challenging because it was my first outdoor environment I have ever done. I debated whether to create a realistic grassfield using Houdini or to use a texture for more cartoony look. After exploring my options, I decided to create grassfield using MASH in Maya considering limited amount of data. MASH tool helped me build just enough realistic grassfield I needed for a short flashback scene with a great optimization. Balancing the priorities and the quality was essential in a tight production schedule.
Hospice Room (present)-
Setdressing the room required constant revisions, which made it the most enjoyable part for me. All of the assets in the cart from the Clock world are placed in Grandma's room from the real world. Grandma carrying her belongings in the cart symbolically and metaphorically indicate Grandma carrying her "memories". I wanted to connect the Clock world back to the reality.