No Signal

No signal

No Signal is an experimental title sequence that depicts an astronaut just like the one you probably dreamed to become when you were a child. This astronaut needs to maintain the link between him and his own reality, his memory and keeping him away from madness. These three keywords are at the core of my concept, they are represented through out the three parts of the title sequence.

I have been dreaming of telling a science fiction story through a short film for almost two years now. Back then, I was feeling like I needed to challenge myself on a big project in order to learn new skills that I can share within my professional framework and use on commercial works.

The choice of making it like it was an opening title sequence has a reason : I love the idea that it might be a part of a bigger story and set the tone for a TV show or a movie.

Initializing this project took more time than expected as I felt free to experiment new things before beginning an entire sequence.

When I was done experimenting, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go. I focused on specific emotions that I needed to bring to life somehow. In the same time, I started to come out with a consistent storyline and ellaborated a strong concept that I've been defining and redefining afterwards.

I was only able to work on this project during my spare time, in between my job and my personal obligations.

I finally achieved it between certainties and reassesments, and what an amazing experience it was as a 3d artist !

The final version was completed in 5 months and now, it's the most personal and ambitious project I did on my own. It's closer to my current preferences, aspirations and goals as a Director and 3d artist : It's mostly influenced by Simon Stalenhag, Jeremy Geddes art.

No Signal is best experienced with a full screen and ample sound speakers or headphones.

The background

It was very inspiring to develop a complete fictional story based on historical background.

The scene takes place in 1985 in the context of Russian space missions. That Spring 1985, the Foton caspules were launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome that I interpreted with a different look in my project. The primary focus of the Foton project is materials science research, especially on microgravity.

Stillframes

Behind the scenes

For me, working on this title sequence was very interesting and challenging at the same time due to the panel of skills that each of these scenes requires. I learned a lot through these differents techniques.

The Softwares I used are : Cinema 4d, Octane Render, Zbrush, Quixel Suite, Marvelous Designer, 3D-Coat, World Machine, After Effect.

The cosmonaut and the space capsule design

The cosmonaut is the main character, so I've obviously paid a careful attention to his overall look and design. I especially wanted him to convey retro/vintage feel. I chose to model the russian GSH-6 High Altitude Pressure Helmet, and mixing the VKK6 original green flight suit with the WWI soldier suit to get this result. The capsule was directly inspired by the Russian Foton 1 launched in Spring 1985.

Here is the cosmonaut on Sketchfab, you can turn around him on every devices and also meet him in VR with a VR Cardboard.