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Hello, how are you?

I would like to share an important chapter of my journey when I decided to finally execute a long-term plan to enroll in a course, and as a bonus, I ended up with a short film.

In 2020, my journey began as I achieved the long-planned goal of taking a 3D course at Melies College. I encountered the various stages of the short film production process and, facing the challenge, committed myself to completing it within a year.

1 - Pre-production – Idea and Script

The idea arose from a concept of a 3D Wizard that I created as a result of an online ZBrush course I took in 2019 on the Pluralsight website. I became so attached to it that I felt the need to give it life and personality in some way, and the need for an idea for a short film was the perfect opportunity to make that happen.

2 - Pre-production – 2D Character Concept

The main character is a short and friendly wizard. I thought of using shapes that reminded us of someone with great wisdom, so I used visual elements of an owl. I used various other wizard characters as references.

Reference Sheet:

Result of creation:

3 - Pre-production – Scene Concept

The scene was all designed so that all scenes took place in one place; I drew the workspace behind a window and the cauldron on the side. The elements were all designed in a very ancient, medieval setting with a fantastic and imaginative mood.

Reference Sheet

4 - Pre-production – Animated Storyboard / Animatic

Animatic made under the guidance of Professor Jo Vy Chou (Zoe) for the short film. This stage is basically an animated storyboard, focusing on timing to ensure that the time is appropriate.

Some Screenshots

5 - Pre-production – Blocking the Scene

Hands-on! Here I start modeling and inserting objects into the scene, testing sizes, positions, and initially started testing colors and textures.

6 - Pre-production – Layout

Layout made under the guidance of Professor Jo Vy Chou (Zoe) for the short film. Here we have a first animation with 3D elements, whether used in the final render or as a placeholder, the animation is still raw. Here, we will focus on timing, framing, sounds, and elements in the scene. At this point, we can see things better before modeling or doing something that we won't use in the future.

7 - Pre-production – Color Scheme and Color Script

Color Scheme:

Color Script:

8 - Production – Sculpting the Character

I used ZBrush to block out the character, add details, creases in the clothes, and a base for the hair and beard. A lot of feedback from the professors was necessary to achieve the final result.

Software: ZBrush

9 - Production – Retopology

Rebuilding the mesh by redesigining the topology is one of the parts I enjoy the most (believe it or not). Attention must be paid to the main deformations that we will use in the animations, for example, the eyes, the mouth, the skin fold at the joints, etc.

Software: Maya

10 - Production – UV Unwrap and Texturing

Texture and grooming:

Mesh opening:

Used references:

11 - Production – Rig and Setup

Rig developed with guidance from Professor Larissa Cardoso Paz using the dpAutoRig script as a base (Danilo Pinheiro - https://nilouco.blogspot.com) and developing additional controllers.

12 - Production – Planning and Texturing the Scene

Throughout the year of producing the short film, I collected references of objects and surfaces in the medieval/fantasy style as I saw them in games, movies, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. I used textures on slightly worn wood and period-appropriate objects that a wizard would use.

Software: Substance Painter

13 - Production – Animation (Playblast)

It's time to record references and animate. Personally, animation is the area where I had the most difficulty completing; I needed a lot of feedback from my professors. But gradually, scene by scene, the playblasts were created. At this stage, we only have the animation of the workspace, without lighting and rendering.

14 - Production – Rendering and Post-production

And the time came to render. As we were in social isolation during the pandemic, I rendered remotely from my computer to the college's RenderFarm. I let the render run during the days, and gradually, I had the images to later put together in After Effects. After that, I edited, created the motion graphics, added the smoke, created the credits, received the SFX and soundtrack produced by Rogério Bordini, and finally tested the final product.

Below is a part of the animation + render + post-production + motion graphics test, showing how it was in the Playblast and then how it looked with the final edit.

End!

And finally, see the result of my short film: Watch
Portuguese Trailer: Assista
English Trailer: Watch

Visit the blog for more details: Shazem! Blog

Extra Content!

Mentions during a Melies College video on 11/04/2021

During Melies React on the Melies College YouTube channel, Professors Larissa Paz, Gabriel Portella, and Will Mur, with the participation of director João Boldrini, discuss some short films, and Shazem! is mentioned in the middle of the video.

Executive Production and Screenings at Festivals Worldwide

I won the executive production as a prize in a contest, enabling the short film to be featured in various festivals worldwide, including the BangAwards (Portugal), CAFF (United States), 6th Chaniartoon (Greece), Chilemonos (Chile), 31st Divercine (Urugay), XVI Big Cartoon Festival (Russia), Festival Internacional de Cinema de Arouca (Portugal), 8th Santos Film Fest (Brazil), Festival Curta Campos do Jordão - FCCJ (Brazil) and many others.

Director Maiara Araújo's Testimonial

Thank you for reading!
See you soon!