Dreamscape Animation of Complex Modern Architecture
Design and animation studio Infinite Fiction recently showcased their diverse artistic and technical talent by concepting and producing this year’s AICP Southwest Sponsor Reel. Their piece, which premiered at the AICP show last Thursday, follows a graceful crane through an airy dreamscape of complex modern architecture. Accompanied by a breathtaking original music track composed by BREED, the journey feels like a stroll through an MC Escher painting, often compelling the viewer to adjust their heads to approach the story from different angles.
“I was really excited when AICP approached us about doing this reel,” says Infinite Fiction Executive Producer Amy Aitken, “It gave us an opportunity to step outside of our comfort zone and push ourselves farther than we ever have before.” The company’s recent addition of new team members along with its updated systems and render farm allowed them to create the extremely complicated piece in the project’s very limited time frame.
To highlight their artist’s respect for all the talented members of the Southwest AICP community, the team decided to treat AICP itself as a piece of art. “That’s where the idea for the museum came from” says Creative Director Cody Clack, “When I was younger, I used to visit the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth once a month. Walking through there was always a very personal journey for me – I wanted to incorporate that emotion into our story.”
The team began concepting in the spring, and decided to incorporate as many different influences as they could for the story’s environment. “The architecture is based on museums from all over the globe,” explains Clack. “There’s Italy in there, Japan, a museum in Berlin… it’s a world tour.” Once the environment was established, a crane was chosen as the hero to help drive the story forward. “We needed a creature that could be both graceful and abstract,” says Clack. “Plus it’s long and crooked legs played really well with our aggressive shadows.”
Production began in early fall when the details of the sponsors highlighted in the reel began to get locked down. “Once we were able to start moving on things, it was a complicated and fast moving process, ” says Aitken. “Luckily we have some very talented artists who specialize in everything from 3-D modeling to character animation to compositing, even hair and feather simulation. It took a full team effort with a lot of back and forth to get this one right.”
“The crew from Infinite Fiction knocked it out of the park this year,” says AICP Southwest President Brian Hwang. “On a night where we’re celebrating the year’s best work, their sponsor reel was definitely one of the highlights.”
Watch reel…
