THE SHADOW ABYSS
ROLE
Director, Producer, Art director, Environment concept artist, Modeller ,Graphic designer
DESCRIPTION
In this project, I came up with the story idea and structure, make storyboard, directed the art style , organising resources and construct schedule for my team, along with designing each virtual space in this VR experience and build a few assets
YEAR
2022-2023
SOFTWARE
Photoshop , Maya, Blender, Zbrush
CONTENT
2D Environment Design , 3D Assets Modelling
This virtual reality experience is a psychological allegory that tells the story of a protagonist who breaks free from a cycle of suffering and overcomes psychological turmoil by embracing the darker aspects of life.
In the form of a 360-degree VR interactive theater, this film allows the audience to immerse themselves in the protagonist's world and experience it firsthand. The purpose of this film is to resonate with the audience and inspire them to find their own ways to overcome psychological challenges they may encounter in life. This work aims to help all those who are desperately searching for a way out of their psychological struggles.
Plot Summary:
The story revolves around a young person who has experienced mental illness and trauma. Through hypnotherapy, he enter his subconscious world and discover himself trapped at the bottom of an abyss-like tower. We attempt to chase and board an elevator that leads to the exit, in order to escape this space. Throughout the journey to escape the tower, he revisit the traumas they have experienced within their family and society, ultimately confronting a part of themselves they have been unwilling to accept—their shadow personality. In the end, he realize that only by accepting everything that life has forced upon him ，including the parts of himself he has repressed and disliked, can he break free from this shackle and move on to new life.
About my role in the team:
I am the director, producer, art director, and environmental concept artist in the team. Apart from providing suggestions for the form and story structure of the production, I also organize external resources, including booking green screen studios for motion capture, finding suitable actors/dancers for motion capture, searching for partners for sound effects and music production, and designing exhibition halls and posters.
ENVIRONMENT DESIGN
Section 1. The Main Corridor
After entering the subconscious space, the audience finds themselves at the base of a tall tower. Inside the tower, there is a spiral staircase shaped like a double helix. In the center of the staircase, there is a cage-like elevator that ascends towards the tower’s only exit, a dome skylight. The goal is to escape the tower and reach the outside through the dome skylight, and so we begin ascending the staircase accompanied by our shadow personality. As we ascend, we and our shadow personality move independently, yet in perfect symmetry, on the white and black staircases respectively. Reaching the top of the tower, where the two staircases converge, the only way to exit the building is by using the elevator. It is at this point that we engage in a fierce battle with our transformed shadow personality, now a monstrous entity...
The Staircases
After a through gothic study ,I created the black staircase, also with references generated from AI (Midjourney) to create the following concept.
CLICK LINK BELOW TO SEE THE ARTBOOK:
The white part symbolizes brightness and the positive aspects of life that we cherish, while the black part represents the aspects we strive to discard and forget.
The double helix staircase. serves as a metaphor for a DNA chain, suggesting that our destiny and early life experiences are heavily influenced by fate, or in another word,programmed.
Section 2. The Assembly Line
The entire space resembles a sacred realm governed by "gods," symbolising society and social norms, but it appears more like an assembly line. Here, everyone is subjected to three distinct procedures.
This statue metaphorically represents the. gazes of others we receive in society, it can also be the male gaze towards women.
The Soul Shaper extracts undesirable elements from individuals on the Assembly Line that are deemed unacceptable by society, thereby creating a distinction between a 'complete product' and a 'failed product'.
Section 3. The ALTAR
In this chamber, the audience immerse themselves in a psychological realm that portrays the profound anguish following the accumulation of trauma and stress in their lives. They confront their inner demon the monsterised shadow self and witness the parts of themselves they have forsaken.
3D Rendered scene
EXHIBITION AT LOUVRE
The "2023 International Art Collaborative Exhibition" jointly organized by World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations (WFUCA) and Association for the Development of Franco-Chinese Exchanges (A.D.E.F.C.) has grandly opened at the Carrousel du Louvre in France.
The "Boundless, Marginalized Voices: Manifesto" exhibition zone is hosted by the Asian Art Research Institute.
