Welcome to the behind-the-scenes process of making a short film! Here you will get a glimpse into what went into making “Checkpoint”. In total, this project was worked on for a year and a half from start to finish. All aspects are done by me as this was a solo project, with feedback from my professors during full-faculty critiques, suggestions from classmates, and special guest artists visiting from various studios such as Pixar, DreamWorks, etc.
Below you can find the entire process, from research to vis-dev, to storyboards, and the CG pipeline!
– Pre-Production –
(Jan-April ’23)
Visual Development
Checkpoint went through the pre-production phase for about 10 weeks. Pre-production starts with Visual Development and lots of research and then moves to concept art.
Next came the Character Design phase, my favorite! From the start, I knew I wanted one human character and one creature character. Thus, the designs for Aurelia and Elliot came along!
Of course, our characters need an environment and props to play around with! So naturally, I designed a hero prop and an environment for their story to evolve with.
Storyboarding
“Story is king.” That’s why I spent 10 weeks working out the details and story beats of this project. You can check out the vis-dev slideshow and storyboards for the film below! Including cut frames, I had hand-drawn over 200 boards for this project alone using Photoshop and editing it all together in Premiere Pro.
Here you can also find storytelling images from different stages of production.
– Production –
(Aug-Dec ’23)
Production began at the tail end of August 2023. During this phase, the building blocks for the film were built. From character modeling, texturing, rigging, animation tests, layout, splining, and to top it off, a showcase for the underclassmen to out our in-progress films in front of a fresh audience.
Below you can find some of the progress work that came out of this semester.
Modeling and Texturing
This video showcases the finalized character models that were used in the film. Textures, hair simulation, and character models are all finalized in this turntable showcase.
Emotion Tests
(unfinished textures)
To test the rigs of my characters, I was required to submit a rendered emotions test with the layout progress of my full film. The characters do not have final textures (or finalized rig weights) in this video example, but this is to show how the project was progressing through this time period.
Animation Shot Progression
To showcase how the animation evolved through the filmmaking process, I compiled every version of one of the scenes in the film. From storyboards, through layout and splining, all the way to the finished shot. Although it’s a short scene, it was one of my favorites to animate purely because I could focus on her subtle body movements and facial expressions. I was itching to get my hands on animation this whole semester, and once I got to start, I felt like naturally, it all came together so fast!
– Post-Production –
(Jan-April ’24)
This is where the magic happens! In the final stages of production, the animation became polished and deemed finalized, and VFX began to take shape through various rounds of testing. Sets and textures were more thoroughly fleshed out as well, adding that polished feel to the characters and environment. The film also entered into the final stages of lighting, rendering, and compositing.
VFX Shot Progression – “Poof” Particles
Lighting and Rendering Progression
Here you can see the progression of the environment modeling, texturing, and how the lighting evolved through the rendering process. The final picture depicts the approved lighting and texturing that is featured in the final film.
The final music score was also completed towards the end of post-production, as well as sound design and leveling. These parts of the pipeline were completed by commissioned artists/composers, stated as such in the credits of the final film.
Teaser Trailer
This project was a labor of love, a true passion project! I’m so glad to have created something that I am truly proud to share with the world, and I hope you enjoyed taking a look through my process!
“Checkpoint” is currently running through film festivals around the world, check back on the home page or the thesis film page to see where it’ll be playing next, or follow the film’s official Instagram page for updates! @checkpoint.film
