Persephone: Pt. 3 – Building the Shoppe of Sweets

As production and development began on the Persephone project, adapting the story of Persephone into a visually-complex, animated short film was made easier through predetermined, well-planned collaboration of the designers at Animation Dynamics and myself.

The world of Persephone occurs during the turn of the 19th century in the Netherlands region. Imagining the world initially fell upon my hands to research photos of period architecture, wood patterns, designs and so forth. However, once production of the shoot was complete and the footage was handed over to the team at ADi, they took it many steps beyond my initial inquiries into art, architecture, and design… diving deeper into the history and period during which the story takes place.

Nick Nakadate is ADi’s 3D Technical Director, and his experience in the world of CGI and 3D modeling is vast. Instead of reconstituting a profile of Nick’s experience and history, I’ll simple resort to his profile as described on ADi’s website.

“Nick’s diverse background includes lighting and rendering, particle effects, paint and compositing, 3D modeling and technical animation. Key experiences include feature film projects such as Superman Returns, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sin City, Shark Boy and Lava Girl 3-D, Ironman, and The Day after Tomorrow. Nick has also worked on numerous TV commercials. He also has seven years experience as an architectural designer. When not working, Nick likes spending time with his family, cycling, and BBQ.”

It was Nick’s charge to first build the Shoppe of Sweets. When I visited ADi last week, Nick walked me through his current progress and I was amazed with that all he accomplished thus far, in such a short period of time.

Utilizing photos I found online, Nick re-imagined the overall construct of the building, putting it together piece-by-piece and frame by frame. By combining elements from several buildings he began to build the framework for a whole new building, going so far as to even place traditional wood frames of that time period.

To watch a brief video of Nick discussing the Shoppe of Sweets – CLICK HERE!