Ahlam Al-Asr - Anime Sequence 2023
One of the most difficult yet the most enjoyable projects I worked with Faris Godus the Director for the Saudi Movie Ahlam Al-Asr: a drama comedy epic about a young wanna-be influencer girl and her failed ex football player drunk dad. The movie explores so many themes but it can be best described as a fever dream. The Girl wants to become a social media influencer so bad so she works her way up through an influencer agency and through social media. She does many ads for many companies culminating in a scam that gets them all in trouble.
In one dreamy fantasy-like sequence she plays part in an Ad for a perfume similar to the Gucci Miley Cyrus ad, where things are flowery and the actress turns into an Anime character. The Aesthetic was a first for me and out of my comfort zone. Creating a Retro Anime Animation was tough and I had to work closely with the Director Faris to achieve the look to the best of our ability.
This was the main inspiration for the first Animation sequence Faris directed us to make for the Movie.
The original Brief by the Director
More Stylistic References
The Main References that guided the Final Anime Look
Reference from the Footage in the previous sequence
Early Character Explorations
First Sketches by Mahmoud Zaini
Early attempts varied.. but we eventually found that my initial sketches were the closest to the director's vision
Color by Yassmine Salem
After getting an image of the Character in the movie, we adjusted the design to fit her look.
Sketches by Mahmoud Zaini
Early Prop & Environmental Explorations
Explorations by the Art Director Yassmine Salem
Early storyboards for the Story & Animatic
Storyboards by Mahmoud Zaini
Color Explorations & Scripts
Final Color by Yassmine
Environment Explorations based on the Boards
The Alien-like world of the Music sequence was organic but also other worldly. The closest reference would be the Daft Punk music video. A nostalgic forest with luminescent plants and shimmering lights. We went through designing each element and every prop used by the Character or that appears for a moment.
Secondary Characters
The single crowd shot in the sequence had many characters. We had to explore multiple different ways of approaching their design. They could not be too unique, or too bland. They also had to retain the same design as the main character with proper stacking as well.
Sketches by Mahmoud Zaini, and line work by Geovani.
Colored Concept Art
Yassmine Salem after settling on the Character and shots explored in a beautiful fashion how the final frames from the Animation would look like. She painted these works to help the team better imagine the final look and feel for the project. Mood was dreamy, sparkly, and nostalgic.
Background Paintings
Beautiful 4K paintings done by the great Yassmine for the sequence. Attention to detail in every corner. With bubbles sparkles and other material that look consistent and well thought through. Yassmine was able to translate the color script very effectively into the final look for the sequence, all while shading and adding highlights that made everything pop.
Character & FX Animation
One of the toughest projects I had to direct Animation-wise. Shots were re-done multiple times to keep things consistent. The Anime look and feel is very specific. To reach this retro look we had to really focus on simplicity while retaining realistic proportions. Every incorrect angle for the character could take the audience out of the Anime-Aesthetic and make the project appear cheap. Geovani really worked hard on this as I assisted with some of the tougher angles where simplicity was key to a smoother look.
Item / Prop explosion
Prop explosion Animation by Abdulmajeed Kojar
Shadow swipe on the character with simple highlights and hair movements was more than enough for this shot to look incredible.
I had to personally work on this shot to guide the Animator. Make the hand more slick and feminine, and fix the head angle etc.
Credits
Movie Director:
Faris Godus
Creative Direction:
Faris Godus
Faris Godus
Creative Direction:
Faris Godus
Studio:
Shareet x Zaini Studios
Shareet x Zaini Studios
Director:
Mahmoud Zaini
Mahmoud Zaini
Producer/ Project Manager:
Shifa Albar
Shifa Albar
Character Design:
Mahmoud Zaini, Mohammad, Geovani
Mahmoud Zaini, Mohammad, Geovani
Art Direction:
Yassmine Salem
Yassmine Salem
Color:
Yassmine Salem, Faris Godus, Habib Alhaddad
Yassmine Salem, Faris Godus, Habib Alhaddad
Background Painting:
Yassmine Salem
Yassmine Salem
Storyboards & Animatic:
Mahmoud Zaini
Mahmoud Zaini
Animation Supervisor:
Mahmoud Zaini
Mahmoud Zaini
Character Animation:
Geovani
Geovani
Compositing & FX:
Mahmoud Badran
Mahmoud Badran
Animation Cleanup:
Alex
FX Animation:
Abdulmajeed Kojar, Ahmad Xalalix
Abdulmajeed Kojar, Ahmad Xalalix
