BURN

ANIMATION
PERSONAL PROJECT
SUMMER 2024


Created a short animation based on the concept of “evil superman.”

CONCEPT

The “evil superman” trope is an interesting one that imagines what typical superhero stories would look like if the ultra-powerful being decided to wreak havoc and destruction instead of help people. This has been explored a lot in recent media, with the most notable examples being Brightburn (2019), Homelander from The Boys (2019), and Omni-Man from Invincible (2021).

This is a short scene that realizes this trope in a motion graphics format, depicting a city burning at the hands of a villain.

SCENE BUILDING

To create an ominous and unsettling atmosphere, the scene was be dark and mainly comprised of lightly detailed silhouettes. The only source of light comes from the implied fire. The city is viewed from a distance in the water to make the viewer feel far from the action, and subsequently catch them off guard when confronted by the villain.

Details like fire, smoke, orange colors, and subtle heat waves are utilized to convey the burning and destruction.

CHARACTER CREATION

A 3D model was used to bring dimension to the character, making it feel less like a dark cutout and more like an actual person. The character was posed using a default model from PoseMy.Art

To match the 3D character and create a realistic cape flapping animation difficult to achieve in After Effects, a cloth animation was created in Blender.

The final character was then given hair and stylized to blend into the scene.

VISUAL EFFECTS

Many effects were applied to various elements to achieve the desired look and feel of intensity and fear. Some of these include Deep Glow, static/noise, and different blur effects.

The intense lasers coming from the being’s eyes were mainly achieved using the Saber plugin.