Fractal is a collaborative project that acts as the second preparatory project for the Bachelor’s degree.
The aim of this project was to combine multiple areas of our previous studies, deepening our knowledge of filming, editing and sound design using Premiere Pro and Reaper. We also sought to enhance our 3D modelling and animation skills using Blender, as well as our 2D animation skills using After Effects.
The intro sequence of Jack Ryan inspired us to create something similar. We decided to create an intro sequence for a series in which every visual element would relate to or fit in with the protagonist and their environment. We also decided to create short videos that could be used as part of the fictional series, as well as for advertising purposes. We also wanted to create merchandise to promote our project and the experience.
This project was very complex and multilayered, which is why I cannot explore every aspect here. However, if you would like to find out more, please feel free to read the documentation for Fractal.
Luka Sandvoss, Jacqueline Lehmann, Axel Voigt & Elisabeth Schenk
Wintersemester 2024/ 2025
In a divided future society, the upper class lives in luxury while the rest survive in the ruins of the old world.
When Kara’s micro-implant, her access to the elite, is stolen, she is confronted with the consequences of this inequality for the first time. With the help of the Resistance, she manages to free herself from the manipulation of her world.
Storyline
Since we wanted to use the introduction to visually represent and hint at some of the plot, it was important to us that we had a proper storyline to work with.
To achieve this, we used the Hero’s Journey:
The ordinary world, the call to adventure, the refusal, the mentor, crossing the threshold, approaching the inmost cave, the ordeal and seizing the sword. Here is a brief summary of the story:
In the year 2065, the world is severely divided into two social extremes. With the investment and research in biotechnological advances, those who could afford it live in Havens, as the political leaders. The rest were forced to live off the remnants of the old civilisation and under the oppressive control of the Havens, creating the various tribes of Freeborns.
The main character, Kara, is a young woman originally born in a Haven. While she attends a party, she is drugged by strangers and her vital implant, Haven’s identification, funding and tracking device, is cut from her shoulder.
She is kidnapped and taken outs of the Haven. Kara tries to find her way back to her home, but without her implant she has no access to the Haven. She is assaulted by the guards and left to face the brutal reality of their society.
A stranger, Aiden, a middle aged year-old man, sees her and offers his help. Aiden is well connected among the Freeborn clans and introduces Kara to the new way of life. Kara starts to help Aiden with his work, assisting refugees and tribes. They live together for a few years, and as their relationship deepens, Kara begins to accept her new life.
One day, while working, they are followed by a Spider, the Havens’ means of observation. Its recording attracts the attention in the Haven.
They invade Aiden and Karas home and take the two of them prisoner and escort them back to Kara’s old Haven.
In an attempt to gain information, they reveal to Kara Aiden’s past life and falsely accusing him of drugging and kidnapping her.
She feels betrayed and used. When Aiden tries to free her from their grip, she sacrifices him in a moment of desperation, resulting in his death.
Kara has a mental breakdown upon realising that Aiden is dead.
She keeps Aiden’s skull as reminder of her actions. It becomes a physical manifestation of her guilt and the consequences of her choices.
She takes on his work and leads the Resistance while being hunted by the Havens.
Styleguide
The first step was for us to create a coherent style guide that also included the visual separation of the two opposing sides of our society. For the style guide, we focused primarily on fonts, colours, the logo and logo animation, as well as the variability and responsiveness of these elements, since they will be used repeatedly throughout the project.
A fractal is a complex, self-repeating pattern found in nature and mathematics that symbolises infinite cycles of transformation and fragmentation. Similarly, the world in our story is divided between structured perfection and chaotic wilderness, reflecting the endless cycle of power, rebellion, and consequence. Based on this, we chose the technical, constructed font PF Venue and added some cuts and gaps. We chose the IBM Plex Sans as the body font, as it reflected some of the constructed and angular shapes, yet was easy to read and highly variable.
Our title animation was inspired by the minimalist and powerful design of Black Mirror. We incorporated the glitches we use into the project so that the text appears distorted or fragmented with static flickering.
Colour is the main way we can visually distinguish between the two societal worlds. We chose Synthetic Cyan and Solar Citrus as the primary colours.
As these colours symbolise two opposing social groups, we opted for a simple complementary contrast. While Cyan represents the clean, cold, technological environment of the Haven, Citrus embodies the hot-blooded, a chaotic and organic mixture of cultures, based on survival rather than elegance. To symbolise the Freeborns’ resistance, we opted for a graffiti-like style. For the secondary and neutral colours, we chose a monochrome colour palette for the Cyan and a slightly bluish off-white.
These visuals are used throughout the project, in the 3D models as well as the 2D animations and merchandise.
Actress
Olesia Mezhenska is the extremely talented actress with whom we had the incredible pleasure of collaborating on this project.
Her performance and commitment brought so much depth and authenticity to the character, which made her an invaluable part of our project.
3D Elements
Our 3D elements and animations can be categorised into three categories: Control, Resistance and Environments.
One of the main tools of control and surveillance are the Spiders, robotic entities that are omnipresent for the Freeborns and the Havens, constantly monitoring the population. In order to be effective, the spiders needed to be small and inconspicuous so that they could blend into their surroundings. They also require a camera for observation and a web-like transport system that mimics the movement of real spiders.
The design was inspired by the sleek, agile body of the red widow spider. We sketched the main body parts, focusing on how the spider would move. A crucial aspect was the implementation of proper mechanical joints for the legs to ensure realistic movement.
We modelled and animated in Blender. Our first animation focused on a basic walking cycle to familiarise ourselves with the armature and IK rig. For the video, we animated the spider hanging from a web to create a more dynamic and visually appealing scene.
We did the texturing process in Substance Painter, paying particular attention to the body. A notable detail is the presence of two bloody fingerprints, referencing the moment in the film when Kara grabs the spider to declare war on the Society.
The most prominent symbol of the Resistance is the Smiley, which we included in multiple scenes to create a unifying visual language.
One example of this is the drug on Karas’s tongue that changes shape in the next shot, showing two similar yet different forms.
The drug is inspired by a real vitamin tablet, which we recreated in Blender using a bump node for the texture and a Boolean modifier for the embedded logo. The actual animation was inspired by a coin flip and is aligned to the beat.
A second example is the smily as graffitti on thje concrete wall.
We used sections of the graffiti as environments for some of our 3D animations, such as the arrow or the spider.
These snippets will later be revealed as the said graffiti, also tieing those scenes together.
The Arrow and Bullet scene symbolises the conflict between the two social groups. The bullet is based on a .50 BMG cartridge, which is typically used for long-range target shooting, while the arrow is a basic compound bow. Both weapons feature the colours of their respective origins, which also happen to be our primary colours. The bullet has a cyan tip, while the compound arrow’s index feather is orange.
The scene takes place in front of the resistance graffiti.
Match Cuts
The intro sequence of Jack Ryan features many match cuts, mostly moving or shape match cuts. This inspired us to do something similar. We included something we called ‘The Circle Sequence’, which is basically matchcuts between circular forms.
This sequence includes, for example, a close-up of the spider’s eye, a bottom view of the Karas implant with its circuit lines, an abstract animation of Karas’s eye, as well as an old clock, breaking glass and an abstract, futuristic clock.
Reels
Additionally to the intro video, we also worked on short reels for advertisement or in series-purposes. These two are animated wanted Posters that could be shared across futuristic digital advertisement frames. The first Side is the layout created by the Havens, iwith their stil and colours incorporated. We added Glitch effects as sign for “hacking” with the resistance Sign and the call for a Change”.
Theleft one shows one of the Freeborns’ environments, while the right one refers to the “fall” into the water, but whereas the fall was passive, she is now screaming and fighting.
Extras
During filming, we regularly took photos of Kara in different outfits. This allowed us to create story-related material for our reels, posters and merchandise. As posters are considered the most important form of advertising for a new series, we chose two key moments in the story: the moment she is drugged and the scene after her implant is removed.
The posters are in A0 format. The photos have been edited with glitch effects to match the style of the video.
The colour grading is predominantly cold and technological, although the colours of one of the posters have been deliberately chosen to be strong to create a strong long-distance effect.
We also created a small Funko Pop figure of our main character in Blender and 3D-printed her. Finally, we designed and printed T-shirts and other clothing items.
