Stella Adventure
A 3D promotional film exploring the process, labor, and imagination behind filmmaking.
Digital Bardo begins with an accidental discovery during a conversation with AI. The moment the AI remembered and continued referencing a message I had deleted, I realized there was a gap between deletion and true disappearance. Deleted data does not vanish instantly—it lingers in AI training data, recirculated back to me. This state—neither alive nor dead—resembles Buddhism's intermediate state (Bardo), described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This project visualizes a digital liminal space where deleted data resides before final erasure, facing three possible fates: rebirth (reuse), complete erasure, or eternal drift through endless backup and replication.
Strategy
The 2023 WOW Video Festival shares the same theme as the Hongik Visual Communication Design Graduation Exhibition — Raw Archive. This project visualizes the unseen labor behind video-making, reconstructing it as a metaphorical 3D world where raw potential and technical craft collide. I created a miniature diorama of Hongik University and expanded it into surreal terrains inhabited by symbolic figures such as dinosaurs and cosmic organisms. These elements function as metaphors for the primal origins of imagination and the infinite space of creation, aligning with the festival’s intent to return to the raw state of ideas.
Design
The diorama was designed as a symbolic landscape where fragmented memories, creative labor, and the residue of ideas coexist. The dinosaur represents the primitive force of imagination, while the cosmic layer visualizes the vast, undetermined future of creation. Through lighting, spatial rhythm, and object composition, the scene was crafted to feel both miniature and monumental — a world where analog tactility and digital surrealism intersect. The design maintains a muted, dusty palette to emphasize nostalgia and decay, punctuated by subtle glowing elements that hint at rebirth.
Results
The final video integrates the diorama into the festival’s narrative as a symbolic world where creation begins and dissolves. By blending miniature set-building with digital 3D, the project reveals how raw ideas transform through labor, imagination, and iterative crafting. My diorama segment serves as a metaphorical origin point in the film’s journey, inviting viewers to reconsider the physical and emotional processes behind making. The work contributes a tactile, world-building perspective to the overall team production, enriching the festival’s theme with a grounded yet imaginative visual language.
Environments
Village & Forest
The film opens in a quiet village where Stella begins her quest. Simple structures, soft lighting, and warm colors establish a safe starting point. The golden autumn forest becomes the primary exploration space—trees scaled to feel vast, fallen leaves textured to catch light, pathways winding through dense foliage. This environment needed to feel both inviting and slightly otherworldly, a place where magic exists but doesn't overwhelm.
Castle & Battle
As Stella regains power, the environments grow more dramatic. Stone castles with towering walls and grand halls signal the approaching confrontation. Architecture becomes heavier, textures rougher, colors cooler. The battle scene takes place in a vast arena-like space where Stella's fully restored form—five points blazing—faces the enemy. This final environment needed visual weight to match the narrative climax, grounding the fantastical conflict in solid, imposing geometry.
Journey
Between village and confrontation, Stella traverses various landscapes—floating islands suspended above water, lantern-lit paths through bamboo groves, mystical plateaus. These transitional spaces visualize the passage of time and distance, marking Stella's progression as she moves closer to reclaiming her power.
Exhibition & Poster
Motion Poster
The poster captures Stella mid-action—lunging forward with determination as he rolls through the twisted forest. The dynamic pose conveys the character's energy and forward momentum, set against the golden and purple hues of the enchanted woodland.
Exhibition
The exhibition brought the game experience into physical space. Under the theme “Chips & Chill,” the installation recreated a comfortable gaming environment—low lighting, monitors, and relaxed seating with sofas and bean bags created an inviting atmosphere where visitors could experience the film as they would a game. The dim, ambient setting encouraged visitors to settle in and immerse themselves in Stella's journey. Presented at Hongik University's IRAY Summer Project Exhibition (October 1-7, 2023).