La Maupin

'La Maupin' is a graduate film created by Nazly Sabit, Rhiannon Vignes and Katelyn Brain under the University of Hertfordshire. This project combines unique animation techniques in collaboration with 2D and 3D artists.

Story

'La Maupin' was concepted after the infamous Julie D'Aubigny, a 17th century, Opera singing, bisexual swordswoman. She delights in the company of women, and adores the wreaks it brings to Louis XIV's court. This film was adapted from one of her most well-known duels, as she battles three suitors of a stunning french noblewoman she seduced. The script and storyboards were led by Nazly Sabit, adjusting it to a manageable length.

Concept Art

Character Design 

Our Character designs needed to remain loyal to the century but manageable for us to make with the time we have. All of their clothes kept consistent to the baroque 17th century, with a bit more creativity in Julie's outfit, as historically she was known to be experimental in her clothing, notably wearing men's attire on a few occasions.

Character Style Tests

Environment Style Tests and Versailles Research

Environments

The environments of 'La Maupin' are entirely 2D, painted by Rhiannon Vignes with referencing aid of a 3D model created by Katelyn Brain. Departments worked closely to ensure stylistic consistency, with brushes developed here being used throughout the project. These backgrounds were all designed and painted in photoshop.

Models

The concepted characters, 'Blondie' and 'Julie' were modelled by Katelyn Brain with continuous feedback in order to keep them as close as possible to the original vision of the concept art. The textures, made using substance painter, were inspired by multiple sources including our backgrounds and other artist's work for inspiration. In order to maintain consistency, the same brush pack used on the backgrounds was used on the characters.

Compositing

The compositing of this film was a challenge undertaken by Rhiannon Vignes, with aid from Livia Torres and Martin Bowman. The aim was to ensure all 2 and 3D assets seamlessly worked together, and to develop the atmosphere of the film. These breakdowns show the stages of our compositing process, all done in After Effects.

Breakdown

From Storyboard to final look, we look through animation, lighting, compositing and final colour grade.

Core Members

Nazly Sabit - Director, Lead 3D Animator, Story Dev, Character Design, Editing

Katelyn Brain - Tech Dev, Character Modelling, Texturing, Lighting, Rendering

Rhiannon Vignes - Producer, Lead 2D Animator, Background Artist, Look Dev, Compositor

Freelancers

Julie D'Aubigny voice actress: Julie Dray

Blondie voice actress: Lili Meyer

3D Animators: Aksynia Gatsenko, Amy Guo, Caroline Coppenhall, Cerys Rooney, Eleanor Briddock

2D Animation: Emi Peterson, Anoushka Shellard, Lu Ka-Yun Dawkins, Nicole Gribbin, Tamar Olchik

Credits: Josh Popplewell

Prop modelling: Eliot Swain

Prop Textures: Hannah Beck

Riggers: Ethan King, Benjamin Cheeseman

Face Rigger consult: Charmaine Le Ning Lim

Lookdev: Eliot Swain, Mishel Soghoyan

CFX: Layla Elton

2D FX: Finn Marnell

2D Compositing: Livia Torres

Colour Grading: Deborah Ihonor

Concept Artists: Emi Peterson, Klaudia Spiechowicz, Rafaella Castro-Mendivil, Tonthozo Ntata

Storyboard Aid: Verity Broad

Music and Foley: Holly Fowler

To check out everyone's portfolios, use the QR code below!