FIND YOUR
SELF-ISH

<intro>

"With a mirror on the wall,this is how we fall.

Find your self,be your selfish.
Slices of life, cascade down the everlasting staircase,only to be persued relentlessly by their very own reflections.
There is life outside,or is it?

Find your self,be your selfish."

[Film quote]

↑ Movie Poster "Find Your Self-Ish"

/ / Project Context

//Project Info
‍
data = {
    "date": "2024-03"
    "type": "personal"
    "contributor": "Benno Schulze"

    "category": [
        "EXPERIMENTAL",
        "SHORT_FILM",
        "AVANT_GARDE"
        "STABLE_DIFFUSION"
   ]
}
‍

“An avant-garde short film, merging CGI and AI into an eerie journey of self-reflection.”

FIND YOUR SELF-ISH is an autobiographical experimental, mixed media animation and AI movie shot in first person. It explores themes of internal struggle and distress. The film is based on the filmmaker's own experiences with anxiety and addiction. The director experiments with cutting-edge AI techniques, to generate visuals that are being morphed with traditional 3D animation, enhancing the visual storytelling uniquely. The abstract narrative of the movie is driven by the sensations of the protagonist, which manifest themselves in visual distortions and an evolving environment. Without dialogue,
there is a big emphasis on the visual narrative and intra-diegetic soundscape.

The movie embraces the aesthetics of generative AI, to distort the image in innovative ways and combines this technique with other experimental manipulation methods. This makes the lived experience of the protagonist tangible for the audience. The abstract storytelling and first-person perspective invite the audience to project their own experiences onto the
narrative, which opens the movie to a wide range of interpretations. Even the characters are non-specific in their appearance and morph from one AI-generated person into another. The stunning visuals are complemented by an atmospheric synth soundtrack.

↑[4] Video still: Acts / events overview.

The club's lighting, atmosphere, and architectural structure are distinctly raw [1], dimly lit only by LED pipes, lined along the ceiling. Strobes and waves of bpm-timed light streaks, create a dynamic and immersive energy. The goal is to translate this unique ambiance into the visual style of the video.
‍
For the first meeting, i presented 2 different concepts, of which it was quickly decided to focus on the now final idea.
‍
Floating in a dark, boundless space are rough pieces of stone [2] — each symbolizing an artist. These fragments are drawn towards a central point (the club itself, AMP), where they merge and morph into a single, massive boulder, the event [3].

↓[2] Video still: Free floating stones.

↓[3] Video still: Morphed to a single boulder.

In parallel, 12 glowing LED pipes, symbolizing the months of the year, emerge and drift toward the back of the boulder. They begin to orbit, resembling the motion of an old bank vault unlocking. During this sequence, the acts are revealed, so kind of similar to an opening ceremony or unveiling.

Finally, an essential overview displays the month, complete with the lineup of acts, events, and dates, providing clarity and structure, while keeping interconnected with the CGI content [4].

/ / Gallery

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

Redshift

185A

⇁

185

data = {
    "enabledSoftware": [
        "Cinema 4D.exe", //main 3D software
        "Blender.exe", //additional 3D software
        "Redshift", //render-engine
        "Stable Diffusion", //AI-DLM [link]
           "Automatic1111", //webUi [link]
           "sd-webui-control-net", //AI-NNM [link]
           "sd-dynamic-prompts", //dynamic prompt extension [link]
           "depth-map-script", //depth map generator [link]
        "InstantMeshes.exe", //remesher [link]
        "iRender.exe", //render farm for additional hardware [link]
        "AfterEffects.exe", //compositing + VFX + post-edit
        "Element.exe", //AU/LV2/VST/VST3 audio plugin host [link]
           "ARMINATOR.dll" //CS-80 emulator [link]
        "Audacity.exe" //custom foley refinement
        "Premiere.exe", //sound design
        "TopazVideo.exe", //video upscaling + interpolation [link]
   ],
    "webpages": [
        "textures.com", //cg materials (limited use *)
        "polyhaven.com", //cg materials + HDRIs (limited use *)
        "mixamo.com", //animations (limited use *)
        "freesound.org", //foley sounds (limited use *)
        "cttrax.com", //music (limited use *)
        "sketchfab.com", //3d models (limited use *)
    ],
}

//* Includes limited use of website-sourced [animations;materials;
HDRIs;objects;foleysounds;music] alongside original creations.
The vast majority of the work was self-created.

‍

/ / Final World Building /
Environment Art

Note: This section contains raw renders with camera angles and bright daylight that are not part of the final short film. As a result, some parts may appear lower in quality due to being optimized for distant camera viewpoints (LOD) and/or depth of field effects.

Find Your Self-Ish maintains a continuous shot throughout the entire short film, yet the narrative embeds a hard but seamless shift in the scenery. While certain aspects of the environment and overall layout remain consistent, there is a stark transformation in architectural style and atmosphere. The "historic" buildings appear in a state of partial decay, with large sections demolished to make way for imposing brutalist concrete structures, characterized by their raw and cold aesthetic. To simplify these contrasting environments, the images are split between the two of them.

/ Scenery 01 -
Urban Remnents

Fragmented traces of the past, the beauty of the ordinary life.

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

[SCROLL]

courtyard

[SLIDE] > > >

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

[SCROLL]

street

[SLIDE] > > >

/ Scenery 02 -
Fragmented Vision

A harsh, reconstructed landscape of brutalist forms, embodying a stark and oppressive modernity.

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

[SCROLL]

torn street

[SLIDE] > > >

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

[SCROLL]

brutalist solitude

[SLIDE] > > >

/ / Work in Progress

Note: This section consists of concept art, testrenders, technical aspects, previz animations and other work in progress material. It is showing the steady improvement of quality and general workflow behind the scenes.

/ Styleframing +
Concept Art

[SCROLL]

digital concepting

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

[SLIDE] > > >

↑ Visualizing the thematic ideas and overall stylistic vision I have in mind for the movie.

[data-wf-bgvideo-fallback-img] { display: none; } @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) { [data-wf-bgvideo-fallback-img] { position: absolute; z-index: -100; display: inline-block; height: 100%; width: 100%; object-fit: cover; } }

↑ Test on visualizing feeling of distress / panic

↑ Concept on implementing Color / Projections as a means of Visual Storytelling (Inspired by the drug (heroin) scene in Trainspotting 2)

↑ Digital Styleframing, especially for color composition

↑ Digital Styleframing, testing a technical approach to morph CGI with Stable Diffusion, very basic and early stage with a simple overlay.

↑ Testing poses using adjusted poses and human model from Mixamo, edited using a Volume Builder + Mesher.
Custom Material utilizing various shaders (like Curvature + Ramp) and layering.