Viddler

Engaging six minute 3D animated short film based on a young Dutch girl caught in the crossfire of German and American troops during WWII.

Background: In late 2006, the partners of Blockade got together and decided that we needed a proof of concept to support the idea of using game engines and assets to produce linear animated content. We had access to Gearbox's "Brothers in Arms" game assets, so the decision was made to produce a short film set in WWII.

Working with Rhythm and Hues writer/director Bill Kroyer, our production team was given some very tight parameters for its production: 30 days for production, from concept to delivery in HD, using the Brothers in Arms assets but re-purposing the assets to look nothing like the game, and using a team of only eight people. The goal was to showcase a range of emotions, dramatic tension and top 3D animation within a pre-existing game environment under normal TV restraints. In short, we played to our weaknesses, so that we knew where to build for strength in the future.

The Little Angel project taught us that the game engines and assets were extremely limited when it came to facial animation - something we have since improved upon. Beyond that, we saw only huge opportunity before us. We are proud of Little Angel as our first effort, and believe that it will come to represent a notable benchmark in animation.