The Art Of

Leviathan
By Deanna Crisbacher

About Fantastic Voyage

For the final project of year one at Computer Animation Arts we were to choose on of four different Bioscientific Scenarios to create a
one to three minute CG animation. The process begins in preproduction where I researched my chosen scenario: Antibiotic
Resistance. I then began to look at visual influences and generated several influence maps that led to my thumbnails and final
concept art paintings. After writing a script and creating a storyboard I then put together an animatic with a temporary voice over and
sound effects that I gathered and edited. Then, I created orthographic drawings in order to model my assets in Autodesk Maya that I
later created custom textures for. I also hired a professional voice actor to voice my narrator for my final animation. By following this
pipeline from preproduction to production and finally to postproduction I was able to create my first Computer Generated Animation.

Visual Concept
My initial art direction was inspired by games such as Spore, The Binding of Isaac, Slime Rancher, Limbo, Insanely Twisted Shadow
Planet and Dont Starve. I was also inspired by images of cells and other microorganisms when looking under a microscope. However,
as my ideas developed towards a sea monster theme my visual concept and influences changed to be more realistic and less cute.
My influence maps and thumbnails changed to reflect my projects development. My final visual concept was inspired by films and
games such as Jaws, Alien, and Subnautica. Various artists including Tim Burton, H.R. Giger, and artwork found on Artstation
influenced my art direction. However, I drew most of my inspiration from animals and environments in real life such as kelp forest
landscapes, Angler Fish, Moray Eels, and the Giant Tigerfish.

Initial Influence Map

Final Influence Map

Thumbnails and Sketchbook

Pages

Initial Thumbnails

Initial Thumbnails

Initial Thumbnails

After this group of thumbnails I came to the

conclusion that the bacteria needed to look less
friendly and cute. Since my animation is about
antibiotic resistance, the bacteria needed to be
the bad guys. However, I felt as though some of
the colours and textures were working well. I
also began to experiment with the idea of the
antibiotic possibly being a character.

Antibiotic Thumbnails

Antibiotic Thumbnails

Developing Bacteria Thumbnails

Initial Environment Thumbnails

Size Comparison Thumbnails

Size Comparison Thumbnails

Size Comparison Thumbnails

Environment Development Thumbnails

As I was exploring different types of environments

for my bacteria, I decided to experiment with the
idea of veins/nerves. I thought this looked similar to
kelp forests which then inspired me to research kelp
forests and other ocean environments instead of my
original microscope idea. I believe this is what led
me to a more interesting and engaging environment
for my animation.

Kelp Forest Thumbnails

Kelp Forest Thumbnails

Kelp Forest Thumbnails

After experimenting with the kelp forest idea, I

decided to redesign my bacteria once again to
resemble deep sea creatures and other marine
animals. These eventually sparked my Leviathan
themed story and script.
!

The kelp forest is a metaphor for the ocean within

the body, for example the stomach or blood. The
sea monsters are the bacteria, which were inspired
by the Moray Eel and Angler Fish. The Leviathan
is the superbug that has become resistant to
antibiotics and was mostly inspired by the Giant
Tigerfish.

Bacteria Sketchbook thumbnails

Bacteria Sketchbook thumbnails

Final Concept Paintings

with buildup

Storyboard / Animatic
Panel Selection

Panel Selection

Panel Selection

Panel Selection

Panel Selection

Orthographs

Bacteria #1 Orthographs

Bacteria #2 Orthographs

Bacteria #3 Orthographs

Leviathan Orthographs

Leviathan Orthographs

Experiments and Tests

After Effects - Underwater Light Rays and

Particles

I experimented with various ways

to create an underwater effect for
my animation. I decided to look
into what sort of special effects I
could add in post production in
an attempt to reduce render time
within Maya. I found a tutorial by
Video Copilot to create light rays
and water particles to give an
underwater effect. I also played
around with some filters as a way
of coloring my animation.

After Effects - Underwater Light Rays and

Particles still

Maya - Parti_Volume Node, Caustics, and Photons

I tested out a method of creating an

animated underwater light through
the use of the parti_volume node in
Mental Ray. Since Caustics/Global
Illumination/Photons were turned on
for this method it took a very long
time to render a few seconds worth
of animation or even a still. While
this method of lighting looks great,
the rendering time is a significant
drawback.

Maya - Parti_Volume Node, Caustics, and Photons

Stills

Autodesk Maya

Bacteria Model Progress

In order to be efficient in Maya, I

decided to model one of my bacteria,
layout the UVs for texturing, then reuse
assets to finish off the model and to
reuse for the other models. One of my
first challenges was creating the mouth
but once that was completed I began
modeling the rest of the bacteria. I
assigned the objects different shaders
so the wireframe could be seen and
added Ambient Occlusion to each of
my models as well. The finished models
are smoothed, however I tried to keep
the models as simple as possible.

Bacteria Model Progress

Bacteria #1
Untextured, Wireframe, UV, Ambient Occlusion

Bacteria #2
Untextured, Wireframe, UV, Ambient Occlusion

Bacteria #3
Untextured, Wireframe, UV, Ambient Occlusion

Music, sound, and Narration

Adobe Audition - Sound Editing

I tested out a method of creating an

animated underwater light through
the use of the parti_volume node in
Mental Ray. Since Caustics/Global
Illumination/Photons were turned on
for this method it took a very long
time to render a few seconds worth
of animation or even a still. While
this method of lighting looks great,
the rendering time is a significant
drawback.

Adobe Audition - Sound Editing

To create the sounds within my
animation, I searched various
websites such as freesound.org
to find audio clips. I then brought
them into Adobe Audition and
edited them to change their
sound to create soundscapes,
sounds for my bacteria, or other
sound effects.
By playing around with duration,
pitch, reverb, and adding various
other effects I was able to create
unique sound effects. I also used
some music clips such as Echoes
of Time v2 (Kevin MacLeod) which
I found on incompetech.com.

Voiceover Artist - Jon Strickland

After using a temporary voiceover a

fellow student recorded for me to
use in my animatic, I searched for a
professional voice artist for my final
animation. It was more difficult to
find the right person who was
available than I originally expected.
Luckily I was able to hire Jon
Strickland to voice my narrator. His
previous clients included Volvo,
Tesco, Sony, Microsoft, Panasonic,
BBC2, Sky One, London City News
Radio, and many more.