Sci-Fi short film: EUROPA

3D concepting and CG environments
2024

This short film produced by Erik Weaver at the Entertainment Technology Centre at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and directed by USC graduate Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal, follows a mission to Jupiter’s moon harbouring potential life that force the protagonist to choose between ethics and survival.

EUROPA’s production served as a test bed for innovative remote-first transcontinental collaboration and virtual production methods leveraging advanced metadata workflows and tools. Supporting the film’s virtual production and VFX team, we designed the spaceship exterior for “EUROPA 1” and contributed full-CG shots to the arrival and initial approach scene.

EUROPA required a spaceship design and full-CG scenes that felt both scientifically plausible and emotionally resonant. The challenge was to create assets that seamlessly integrated with the remotely-produced CG material and the on-set ICVFX edits, while staying true to the director’s vision of advanced technology with an organic aesthetic.

Inspired by aquatic life and far-future science-fiction, we crafted a visually striking, organic and functional spaceship design, ensuring it aligned with the film’s themes of exploration and introspection. We worked closely with the director to evolve the concept, and composited the final full-CG cinematic sequences featuring at the beginning of the film.

EUROPA’s in-camera VFX elements were recorded at Sony’s LED stage facility operated by Pixomondo, showcased in the documentary below: