ABOUT
Lilli is a 3D animated short film created with five other students as a part of Texas A&M University's 10-week long Summer Industry Course. My teammates and I were supported along the way by mentors from DreamWorks Animation as we worked to create a photo-realistic 3D animated short based on the prompt "a toy comes to life." Lilli tells the story of a little girl's doll who leaves her heart at a curbside shrine in New Orleans.
To see these designs realized in a 3D short film, click here!
MY ROLE
Concept Lead – Responsible for all character and costume designs; contributed sketches and texture callouts for look development lead (Ryan Applebee)
Character Modeling Lead – Responsible for hero character model. Also modeled hair bows, curtain inside building, and character's dress
Sound Design Lead – Responsible for all sound design and mixing
Surfacing – Surfaced chrysanthemum vase, lily vase, and lunchbox
TEAM MEMBERS
Ryan Applebee – character look development, rendering, surfacing, compositing
Sean Kerrigan – layout, rigging, animation
Hannah Martinez – project management, modeling, surfacing
Sarah Razook – environment look development, surfacing
Izzy Rollo – lighting, VFX, modeling, surfacing, layout, compositing
SOFTWARE
Autodesk Maya, Marvelous Designer, RenderMan, Substance Painter and Designer, ZBrush, Houdini, Nuke, Blender, Adobe Suite
Lilli render (doll body and dress models by me, rig by Sean Kerrigan, surfacing by Ryan Applebee)
Lilli final character design
Early sketches for "Lilli"
This gallery of character designs reflects two phases of Lilli's design. In my team's original conception, Lilli was a child's crochet doll left in a tranquil Mexican mausoleum. Her colorful huipil and flower hairpiece were meant to help her stand out against the pale earthy tones of her environment, while her large plastic eyes would imply childlike innocence. When we made the decision to change our story and our setting to New Orleans, a few design changes were needed to better suit the environment. After brief forays into ghostly Victoriana and children's school uniforms, we decided to let Lilli's knitted body shine and outfitted her in a simple white lace dress. In her final renders, Lilli looks simultaneously homemade and ethereal, an adorable bridge between here and the hereafter.
