By Two

By Two

Premise

A stubborn old man man comes to terms with his age, through the help of a robot.

Student Film

A student short animated film created as a final year project at The Animation School in Cape Town, South Africa. The story was created to reach far and wide, to evoke emotion and understanding in the audience for those with older family members.

Team as follows:

Wiam Botma: Project manager, story writer, surfacing and sighting artist and rigging artist
Luca Cajeux: Performance coordinator, lead animator and rigging artist
Kristin Smith: concept artist, animator and character modeler and texture artist.
Basil Ragaleas: Layout artist, environment artist, concept artist,  asset modeler and texture artist and animator
Emma Murdoch-Eaton: Set and prop modeler, texture artist, lighting and surfacing artist and grooming artist
Ruby Reim: Production design, storyboard artist, concept artist, asset modeler and texture artist and compositing artist
Jace Locket: Compositing artist and animator
Justin Weir: Prop modeler and texture artist and animator
Sinelizwi Msengana: Prop modeler and texture artist and animator

Sound design by: Nook Sound Club

Lighting Script

The lighting of the film played a pivotal role in convening the emotions from the story beats throughout the film.

Lighting script created for the film by Ruby Reim and Basil Ragavelas.

Otto The Old Man

Otto, the 75-year-old retired adventurer, enjoys his most extraordinary achievements being basked in the spotlight. From his adventures he has become an avid collector of various artifacts and art pieces from around the world. In his old age, his vices, from being independent and liking things done his way, grew into arrogance and stubbornness. He now finds comfort in routine and solitude.

The Character Otto was created so that the audience could look at him and see their own grandparent or parent,  making the connection even stronger.

Concept drawings, model and textures by Ruby Reim

Shading by Emma Murdoch-Eaton

Rig for animation by Luca Cajeux

Riot the Robot

Riot the robot, the automaton care-bot, programmed to aid in menial tasks, care for the elderly and comfort them whilst providing companionship. He is unrelenting in his pursuit to help, and brings a childlike joy into the atmosphere.

The creation of Riot the robot was to be in stark contrast to the environment he was placed in, the new versus the old as to say, and to provoke the audience to want to care for those in their lives.

Concept orthographic, shading and rig for animation by Wiam Botma.
Model and texturing by Kristin Smith.

Kitchen Environment

Of all the environments the kitchen had the most warm tones - colour wise, that is. Thus we had to be mindful when lighting and filling it with props. The clutter on the counter and basin portraying the characters state of mind and age. With all the props and environment having a minature scale feel to them as if created by hand.

Concept by Ruby Reim and Basil Ragavleas

Models and Textures by Basil Ragavaleas, Emma Murdoch-Eaton, Justin Weir and Sinelizwi Msengana

Shading and Lighting by Wiam Botma

Staircase Environment

The staircase acts as medium to portray Otto's character development and riots influence in his life. We wanted to show the life he's lived by having large number of cluttered frames and items scattered around. The earthy tones are meant to give that old South African feel. With all the props and environment having a minature scale feel to them as if created by hand.

Concept by Ruby Reim and Basil Ragavleas

Models and Textures by Basil Ragavaleas, Emma Murdoch-Eaton, Justin Weir and Sinelizwi Msengana

Shading and Lighting by Wiam Botma

Bathroom Environment

Contrary to the kitchen our bathroom is the environment where we show off our coolest color pallet. It is based on 1920's art deco, specifically the sharp framing of the bath, arches, toilet and sink. We drew inspiration from the picturesque and symmetrical stop motion work of Wes Anderson for this. With all the props and environment having a minature scale feel to them as if created by hand.

Concept by Kristin Smith

Models and Textures by Basil Ragavaleas, Emma Murdoch-Eaton, Justin Weir and Sinelizwi Msengana

Shading and Lighting by Emma Murdoch-Eaton

Patio Environment

The Patio is our final environment and serves as an introduction to Riot and a conclusion to the story, thus is essential. We wanted to show that the main character is a well traveled individual, so we created a cluttered environment with many sculptures and plants around. All the objects look a little out of proportion as it is supposed to look like it was made by bigger hands. We drew inspiration from Transkei, South Africa architecture.

Concept by Ruby Reim and Basil Ragavleas

Models and Textures by Basil Ragavaleas, Emma Murdoch-Eaton, Justin Weir and Sinelizwi Msengana

Shading and Lighting by Emma Murdoch-Eaton