This project, inspired by Animal Farm, focused on building a fictional dystopian environment using a PBR workflow with Substance Painter. I created modular assets like fences, walls, and propaganda boards, applying weathered materials such as rusted metal, chipped concrete, and decaying wood to reflect neglect and oppression. Using smart masks, decals, and custom textures, I layered dirt, rust, and worn edges to enhance realism and storytelling. The scene was assembled with careful composition and lighting, using muted colors and fog to evoke an eerie, authoritarian atmosphere, capturing the breakdown of control and ideals central to the story.
The process for this project was very complex, starting with sculpting a stylized character to match the dystopian theme. After completing the high-detail sculpt, I had to retopologize the model to create a clean, optimized mesh suitable for animation, ensuring proper edge flow and manageable topology for rigging and deformation. This workflow required balancing artistic detail with technical usability, making sure the final asset retained the stylized look while being efficient enough for use in animation and the overall scene.
For rigging, I used Auto-Rig Pro as my solution, which significantly streamlined the process but still required a lot of time to set up and refine for the layers of animation I needed. After animation, I composited the final renders in different passes, separating elements like characters, background, and effects, which gave me more flexibility to tweak colors, lighting, and atmosphere during post-production, ensuring the final look matched the dystopian tone of the project.
During this simulated work experience, I found myself extremely disappointed, both in the tasks I was assigned and the overall planning of the project. The only task given to me was finding references and gathering a model list, but the list itself made absolutely no sense. Many of the objects on the list were extremely simple — things that could easily be found online for free or modeled from scratch in literally five minutes. There was no logic behind outsourcing such trivial work to team members when the group leader could have handled it independently in less time than it took to type out the request.
This left me feeling like my role was completely insufficient and unnecessary, with no real opportunity to apply my skills or contribute creatively. What made it worse was the fact that the entire assignment was scheduled to last two weeks, yet my actual workload amounted to barely 30 minutes of effort. The mismatch between the timeline and the amount of work was frustrating and illogical, and it felt like a complete failure in project planning and team management.
On top of that, the group leader’s refusal to meet or discuss the project properly only added to the disorganization. Even though I asked to meet in person to clarify the goals and workflow, he insisted on communicating purely through text messages, which made everything slower and less clear. With almost 80% of the work already completed by the group leader himself, there was practically no room left for the rest of the team to contribute anything meaningful.
This experience stood in stark contrast to my time working with the Brown RISD Game Development Club, where communication was smooth, the work was well-distributed, and everyone had a clear role with real creative input. That experience taught me how important collaborative planning and communication are for any successful team project, and this simulation highlighted exactly what happens when those are missing.
Overall, this project felt like a waste of time and a missed opportunity to learn anything useful. It also showed me just how irresponsible and inefficient poor project planning can be, especially when the work isn’t properly matched to the schedule or the skills of the team. I hope future projects will be better structured, with clearer communication and more meaningful work for all team members.
The following images were assigned to me by the team leader as part of my tasks for this two-week project. However, upon reviewing them, it became clear that these are some of the most basic, primitive shapes imaginable — objects so simple that they could either be sourced online for free or modeled from scratch in just a few minutes. Assigning these for a two-week period is completely illogical and unnecessary, showing a lack of consideration for both time management and team members’ skills:
The team leader mentioned that the project would follow a low-poly art direction, and as part of my assigned tasks, I was asked to find reference photos to support that style. Below are some of the references I found and selected, which I dedicated time to developing into a useful collection.
However, this task raised several concerns for me. Researching references is something that should typically be part of the pre-production phase, where the overall visual direction is decided before the actual work starts. Being asked to do this after the project was already underway felt unorganized and unprofessional, especially for a project with such a tight and simple scope.
This kind of disorganized workflow — assigning basic pre-production work mid-project — wastes time and prevents the team from focusing on actual production tasks, where creative and technical contributions are more valuable. It also made it difficult to feel like the project had any clear direction or plan, which contributed to the overall lack of efficiency and clarity throughout the experience.
As an animator, I’ve found the 12 Principles of Animation to be invaluable in shaping my approach to both the technical and creative aspects of animation. These principles, originally established by Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, have influenced the way I think about movement, character development, and storytelling in animation. Here’s a reflection on what each principle has meant to me and how they continue to shape my work.
Squash and Stretch: This principle has been central to my understanding of how to make characters and objects feel more tangible. The exaggeration of movements, such as the stretching of a character during a jump or the squashing of a ball as it hits the ground, adds a sense of weight and volume that makes the animation feel more alive and realistic. This dynamic quality has become a fundamental part of my animation toolkit.
Anticipation: I’ve come to realize how important anticipation is in creating engaging, believable movements. When I began incorporating anticipation into my animations, I noticed that actions became more fluid and natural. Whether it’s a character preparing to run or an object getting ready to fall, building up to an action helps the audience understand what’s coming next, creating a smoother experience and heightening emotional engagement.
Staging: Staging has taught me the importance of clarity in communication. By carefully planning the composition and positioning of characters within a scene, I can ensure that the focus remains on the key actions or emotions I want to highlight. It’s not just about where things are placed, but about directing the viewer’s attention to what’s most important.
Straight-Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose: I’ve experimented with both approaches to animation and learned to use them based on the needs of the scene. Straight-ahead action allows for more fluid and dynamic movement, while pose-to-pose provides better control over the overall structure and timing of the animation. By combining both techniques, I’ve been able to strike a balance between spontaneity and precision.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action: Implementing follow-through and overlapping action has made my animations feel more realistic. I now pay close attention to how different parts of a character’s body continue moving after the primary action has stopped. This subtle detail adds weight and fluidity to movements and enhances the overall believability of the animation.
Slow In and Slow Out: This principle has been crucial in helping me understand how to convey weight and fluidity in motion. By easing into and out of actions, rather than having them start and stop abruptly, I’ve learned to create more lifelike and natural movements. It’s these small touches that make the animation feel grounded and believable.
Arc: Realizing that most natural movements follow an arc has greatly improved my animations. Whether it’s the swing of a character’s arm or the path of a bouncing ball, animating along curved trajectories adds a fluidity and organic feel to movements that makes them much more engaging.
Secondary Action: Adding secondary actions has helped bring my animations to life by making them feel more layered and nuanced. For example, when a character takes a step, adding small movements like the swaying of their clothes or a shift in their posture brings the character’s actions into sharper focus, creating a more complete and immersive experience.
Timing: Timing is the backbone of effective animation, and I’ve learned how it influences the perception of speed, weight, and emotion. Whether it’s a quick, snappy action or a slow, deliberate movement, precise timing helps me convey the right emotional tone and make the animation feel more natural.
Exaggeration: I’ve found that exaggeration is key to making animations more compelling. By pushing the limits of movement or expression, I can create more engaging, visually striking animations that capture the audience’s attention. This principle has taught me that animation is about exaggerating reality to make it more appealing and expressive.
Solid Drawing: Understanding the fundamentals of drawing has improved the way I approach character design and animation. Solid drawing is about ensuring that characters have a clear volume and structure, making them feel three-dimensional and believable. It’s a principle that has pushed me to refine my skills and focus on creating more convincing characters and environments.
Appeal: Finally, appeal has become one of the most important aspects of my work. Whether it’s a character’s design, personality, or how they interact with their environment, creating something that resonates with the audience is essential. By focusing on creating engaging, likeable characters with depth and personality, I can forge stronger emotional connections with my viewers.
Looking back, these 12 principles have shaped not just my technical skills but also my creative process. They serve as a constant reminder to focus on the details that make an animation feel alive and engaging. As I continue to explore and experiment with these principles, I am reminded that animation is a craft that requires both creativity and precision. These principles provide the foundation for that balance, allowing me to push my work to new heights.
“Rebooted” is a short film that explores the intersection of technology, identity, and transformation. Set in a world where machines constantly evolve through software updates, the story follows a once-cutting-edge robot who wakes up after an unexpected reboot, only to find itself outdated and out of place in a rapidly advancing environment.
Blending visual storytelling with a touch of humor and heart, “Rebooted” reflects on what it means to adapt — or fail to — in a world that never stops upgrading. With stunning visuals and a layered narrative, the film invites the audience to question whether progress always equals improvement and whether identity can survive constant reinvention.
My Workflow for “Rebooted”
The creation of “Rebooted” involved a mix of 3D modeling, animation, and compositing techniques, blending both technical precision and creative storytelling.
The process began with concept development — defining the story beats, visual style, and overall tone. Once the core narrative was set, I moved into asset creation, designing the robot character and environment, ensuring every element fit the film’s slightly glitchy, futuristic aesthetic.
For animation, I focused on expressive movement to bring personality to the robot, even with its mechanical design. Lip-sync and facial animations were especially important to convey subtle emotions during the robot’s reboot sequence.
In After Effects, I handled compositing and post-production, fine-tuning colors, adjusting contrast, adding glitch effects, and enhancing the overall atmosphere with sound design and subtle VFX to emphasize the reboot process.
Throughout the workflow, I maintained a balance between technical accuracy and creative flexibility, allowing the film to evolve naturally while staying true to the original vision.
