Hello and welcome to the movie page for my first animated, queer, feature-length film with critters surviving in the arctic!
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By scrolling down, you'll be able to see exclusive content about the making of the film, from start to finish!
Before Starting...
Going into the project, I knew I had previous experience with 3D software and animation. This primarily included the Hammer Editor for making Source Map, which also included tools for dynamic soundscapes, lighting, interactivity, and moving objects. I also had lots of experience in Photoshop, Ibspaint, Pivot Animator, and DaVinci Resolve. Most of this came from messing with stuff as a kid!
December 24th, 2024
The original concept for the film came from a daydream that turned into a real dream as I drifted asleep on Christmas eve. The inspiration grew in my mind for about a year after that until I finally started drawing some concept art. By summertime, I had completely fallen in love with the characters and the world in my head. So, I decided to make it a reality.
June, 2025
Work on the animated film begins. After mulling around with the storyline and world, I decided to get as much as I could out in writing or through reference images.
Wendelien Schönfeld
Michael Van Woert
July 20th, 2025
With the beginnings of a story and world in place, I decided to draw a set of basic character designs. These turn arounds featured basic character facts like age, nationality, and profession. These would go on to be direct references for the 3D models of each character.
July 28th, 2025
World logistics and writing continues to hone in on specific details. Character details and overall purpose for the film is explored and put on paper. I feel like I'm herding sheep, except isntead of sheep, it's 17 wacky characters.
August 15th, 2025
Here, you can see work being done on Pasha's original 3D design in Blender, based off of the 2D turn-around drawn. Some shading work is also being developed to give the characters a painted look. (The green texture is a placeholder).
September 12th, 2025 - Basic character modeling and remeshing is finished!
September 14th, 2025
I got some lighting practice in!
I created a procedural snow generator using geometry nodes.
I also created snowstorm effects using volumetric scattering, lighting, emitters, wind, and turbulence forcefields in Blender.
September 20th, 2025
I used Blender's geometry nodes to create the fur on the arctic coats!
October 4th, 2025
Two different, fully rigged snowcats are completed!
What's next...
Rigging
weight painting
texture painting
more world design
finalized story
finalized script
storyboarding
casting voice actors
voice recording
animating
lighting
compositing
scoring, distribution, & releasing the OST as an album
Distributing the Movie to places! Submitting it to festivals!
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