About the Project
Ember is a short film developed by the 2013 Class of Visual Language/Character Animation at UCF. It was produced over the course of 2 years by a team of sixteen students, reaching its completion in March of 2013 in time for the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival Submission. Ember is notable among the student films of the program for being ambitious in scale and for featuring advanced effects on both characters.
Synopsis
Among the frigid mountains of Mongolia, a young man is sent deep into the mountains to a mysterious shrine to ask the heavens for protection against the increasing cold. Inhabiting a mystical amulet left behind by the man as an offering, a spirit of fire materializes in a world foreign to him. Searching for answers, he comes across the young Mongol, and the two befriend each other. But Ember's destructive power soon leads to a disaster. Ember redeems himself by fulfilling his original purpose and heroically protects the man against a ferocious blizzard.
Involvement
- Director - Responsible for providing a holistic vision for the movie from start to finish, supervising and leading the entire team.
- Art Director - Responsible for concepts, style guide, paintings, and general look dev of the AetherEdge universe.
- Lead Story Artist - Responsible for storyboards, staging, pacing, shot composition, and animatic creation.
- Matte Painter - Responsible for all matte paintings in the movie.
- Lighting TD - Responsible for shot specific lighting as well as all character lighting rigs.
- Cloth TD - Responsible for all cloth simulation and rig integration.