Client | Creative Director
Role | Animator, Designer,VFX
Year | 2024
Zen Garden
CHALLENGE
Utilizing skills from your major or whichever medium you choose, create a piece of art that connects to Japanese history. It can be straightforward or more abstract; it’s up to interpretation.
OBJECTIVE
My main focus with the project was to familiarize myself with the POP net within Houdini and work on lighting environments within Redshift, as well as trying to capture the essence of contemplation inherent in Zen gardens using principles from traditional Japanese art. Through the use of motion design tools, I aimed to evoke the meditative allure of these serene landscapes.
RESEACRH
Zen Garden - A Zen Garden is the epitome of control, moderation and simplicity. Rocks are an essential part of the garden, believed to be the “bones” of the earth. Carefully placed stones and boulders symbolize mountains while white sand represents flowing water. The sand in a dry garden is raked in patterns to represent waves and ripples. Unlike flower-filled perennial borders, the zen garden is reduced to bare essentials—sand and rocks and a limited plant palette.
INSPIRATION
Shogun’s title sequence
Enichi-bo Jonin, Myoe Shonin Meditating
Shosoin of Todaiji Temple
Ryoan-ji Hojo Teien (Rock Garden)
TECHNICAL PROCESS
Cinema 4D
Redshift
TOOLS
After Effects
Houdini