remarkably bright creatures

A self-initiated project inspired by Shelby Van Pelt’s heartwarming story about a woman’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. My brief was to create an animated title sequence for an imagined film adaptation of the book.

Student Project | 2022

A digital illustration of a bridge extending over water with mountains and a setting sun in the background, and streetlights along the bridge outline.
Animated illustration of an octopus underwater with multiple tentacles, some dotted with suction cups, in a colorful ocean scene.

Styleframes to indicate the look-and-feel of the animation.

Storyboard sketch of a documentary or animation sequence showing ocean scenes, landscapes, sea creatures, and underwater life, with timestamps and descriptive notes.

Sketching out the storyboard to map the sequence of each scene and figure out the timings with the music.

Abstract pattern with blue, gray, and green hues, featuring irregular shapes and a misty or cloud-like appearance, with the text 'OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE' across the center.
Stylised digital illustration of a landscape at sunset with mountains, a body of water, pine trees, and a night sky with a visible moon.
Illustration of a coastal village with houses, trees, a dock with boats, mountains in the background, and a setting sun in the sky. Text reads "A STORY BY Shelby Van Pelt."
A night-time scene of a pier with a mountain range in the background and a starry sky. The text 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' is written in cursive across the water.
Underwater scene with glowing jellyfish, and seahorses against a dark blue ocean background.
Underwater scene with two pieces of drifting newspaper, one is a newspaper headline titled "Drowning" from the Sowell Bay Chronicle, and the other is an crossword puzzle titled "Crossword Puzzle" with clues related to Seattle and other themes.
Illustration of sea kelp with green leaves and tan buds against a dark blue background with subtle patterns and small circles.
Illustration of an underwater scene with seaweed, and close up of an octopus tentacle in shades of pink, purple, and dark blue.
Illustration of an underwater scene with an octopus tentacle creating a spiral shape against a dark blue background.
An abstract illustration of an underwater scene featuring an octopus.
Illustration of an octopus tentacle with pick and white suckers.
An underwater scene featuring a key being released by an octopus tentacle.
An underwater illustration featuring a Swedish Dala horse laying on a wavy sandscape.
An illustration of an octopus with multiple tentacles, illuminated by a moon beam underwater.
Illustration of an octopus zooming away, underwater at night.

Illustrations / stills from the animation.

Person sitting on a couch watching Netflix on a flat-screen TV, holding a remote and a bowl of popcorn, with plants on either side of the TV.
Person holding a smartphone displaying the Netflix app with holiday decorations and a Christmas tree in the background.

Display art to promote the film on a streaming service, like Netflix.

Hand-drawn mind map featuring locations and activities related to Sowell Bay, the fictional town where the story "Remarkably Bright Creatures" is set.
Sketch of an octopus tentacles and suckers.
Sketch of an octopus with detailed tentacles and textured body.
Sketch of an octopus with visible tentacles and head, drawn in pencil.
Sketch of multiple octopuses.
Sketch of a couple of octopuses.

Preliminary sketches to understand the octopus’ shapes and movement, and idea mapping of visual cues to build out in the sequence.

credits

Music Nocturne by ROMAN on Uppbeat

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