Rusted Roots
Written & Directed by: Kei McKeown-Pool Produced by: Sam Ross
Director of Photography: Sydney Denman Production Design: Ella Landino
Edited by: Erin Teevens, Kei McKeown-Pool Visual Effects Supervisor: Isa Lee
Sound Design: Ethan Chao Starring: Joseph Reo Delisle
In a post-apocalyptic world where humans are nearly gone, a lonely young inventor risks his survival to save his only friend, a robot.
Rusted Roots was my passion project. I had the idea for this film two years before I had the opportunity to write, direct, and co-edit it as my thesis film at Chapman University. This incredibly ambitious short brought together nearly 100 crew members. We innovated a new pipeline at the school, allowing for more collaboration between the Animation and Visual Effects and Film Production Major. With around 70 visual effects shots, a stage build, functioning machines, the hard work of our crew members in every department, and incredible support from our faculty mentors, Rusted Roots was a labor of love for everyone who was a part of it.
The Animation Process
We used Visual Effects to bring Bud-E The Robot to life! With about 40 artists from animation to lighting and composting, lots of hard work went into making Bud-E look and act like a real robot. This is an example with a shot. Animation, lighting, and compositing done by Aaron Hsieh.
1.PRE-VISUALIZATION
We used Unreal Engine to create previs of every scene Bud-E is in so we knew exactly how to shoot it.
3.Rough Animation
We shot a clean plate of the shot and one with our practical robot, designed by Isabel Wisener.
4.Final Animation
After rounds and rounds of notes, we finally lock animation and apply the temporary textures.
Once the film has a locked edit, we send each shot to an animator. Using previs, my directorial notes, and they’re own sense of character and story, they create a rough animation.
5.Lighting and Compositing
Then the animation file is brought into Nuke to be lit and composited to make it look like Bud-E is actually in the frame.
2.LIVE ACTION FOOTAGE
6. Final Render and Color
The final composite is rendered which can take up to 36 hours depending on the length (this shot I think only took 8 hours). Assuming the render is successful, it’s put into the cut in DaVinci where it’s given its final color. This is the final shot for the film!