Orbit of Memory (2021)

Blender, After Effects, Premiere Pro

Orbit of Memory is a collaborative animation project with Alice Jiang, Pen Anders, and Ziying Ye. This project explores the concepts of dead planets as ghosts and the significance of their shared memories from before the deaths of their respective planets. It is a journey of contemplation, loss, and discovery.  

​

The story focuses on the personified spirit of a planet that has died and has lost its memories of what it once was. Over the course of its wanderings through space, it encounters the spirits of many other planets who have died too. Through their interactions and experiences, we get a sense of the emotional journey being conveyed through this film. 

​

As a group collaboration, we chose work methods based on how well they allowed us to work together. We used collaborative platforms such as Miro, One Drive, Discord, and Google Docs. The plot, style, and animation techniques were mutually agreed upon. 2D animation was our primary form of character animation, however both to save time and create a unique look to our animated world, we chose a mix of illustrated and 3D backgrounds and props. For this, Blender was the best program to use. We each had access to the software, and it is capable of working in both 2D and 3D. Post-production was completed in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro. 

​

Orbit of Memory is meant to be an aesthetic and emotional alternative narrative driven by a single main character and several supporting characters, each with their own personalities and backstories.  A secret message behind the various ghosts that the protagonist meets is hidden in their flashbacks, depicting destructed environments. These flashbacks are meant to leave the viewers with a question— How did these planets die?