Animation
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Character-led stop-motion short for a streaming series — six months in the rigs, hand-built puppets, three episode arcs.
A short that could carry a season.
Atlas Pictures came to us with a single page of script and a question: could a stop-motion short, made over six months, set the visual tone for an entire upcoming streaming series? The piece had to feel like a film — not a stylised teaser, not a calling card. A film.
We agreed on three constraints up front. The story had to land emotionally. The character had to feel hand-made — not motion-graphics-clean. And every shot had to be one we could put in front of a feature audience without flinching.
Frame by frame, six months in.
From the first stand-up puppet to the final color pass — selected stills from the build, the rig room, and the comp suite.
/ 01 · Puppet build
/ 02 · Environment design
/ 03 · Look development
/ 04 · Animation pass
/ 05 · Final color grade
They didn't just deliver a short film — they delivered the visual DNA of an entire series.
Maya ChenShowrunner · Atlas Pictures
By the numbers.
Beyond Orbit
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