Whiteout | Animated Short Film

Live URL: https://youtu.be/NbTV4RQ4Uyg

Project Overview

Role
Creative Director, 3D Artist & Animator

Deliverable
4-minute animated short film

Industry
Animation

The Challenge

As my bachelor thesis, this project required me to independently produce a complete 3D animated short film. I was responsible for every stage of production.

The film tells the story of a boy who drops his phone inside a moving car. Despite his father’s exaggerated warning not to switch on the interior light, he does so anyway. The challenge was to balance suspense, exaggerated dialogue, and comedic timing within a four-minute runtime, building tension before ending with an absurd and humorous payoff.

My Approach

I planned, designed, and produced every aspect of the project, combining storytelling, animation, and technical execution into a single production pipeline.

Key design decisions included:

– Writing the script and creating storyboards to establish the narrative, pacing, and shot composition.

– Designing and modeling all characters and environments to support a cohesive visual identity.

– Developing a cel-shaded rendering style inspired by comic books and stylized animation.

– Animating on twos and threes to create a deliberate, handcrafted look instead of smooth, realistic motion.

– Designing the characters with simplified geometric forms that reinforce their personalities and relationship throughout the story.

– Producing the lighting, compositing, editing, and sound design to create a consistent atmosphere and support the film’s emotional progression.

– Managing the complete production pipeline independently, ensuring each stage of the project remained aligned with the overall creative vision.

Outcome

The completed short film demonstrates my ability to independently manage a full 3D animation pipeline while combining storytelling, modeling, animation, lighting, editing, and sound design into a cohesive final production.

Additional Material

This project was completed as my bachelor thesis. The accompanying paper documents the creative process, production pipeline, artistic decisions, and technical implementation behind the film.