For KNGF’s 3rd “The world of…”- campaign we introduce the world of Leah.
She suffers from Usher Syndrome, making her lose her ability to see over time. Were it not for her assistance dog, she might not have even tried to step outside anymore.
In this film, the finishing chapter of the trilogy, we touch on this sensitive matter by emphasizing Leah’s distance from the outside world. Her guidance dog makes the step to go outside become smaller, effectively making her social life larger again.
Telling the story of Leah
The story of Leah is a simple and relatable one, told in a surreal way that speaks to the imagination. Isolated on her safe island far above the cozy neighbourhood, longing to take part. Yet a step outside the safe space of her home is one too large. For the audience to feel the right emotion many storyboard iterations were drawn. The focus was to make her isolated with the use of perspective and composition. Visually placing her very distant from the cozy city. Combining this with closeups of Leah’s expressive face and eyes, for an intimate feel. This resulted in an emotional glimpse into her story.
During the concept phase we designed the look and feel of Leah, a palette of her and the city, the architecture and mood, and ways of making the surreal premise of the film believable. It was of utmost importance for the audience to feel the distance between Leah and the lively city. A place where she once belonged but now feels shut out of. The city should never feel frightening or unwelcoming, but very attractive and bustling.
Leah herself should come across as a young, outgoing woman, not a secluded or anti-social. She has lived a life before her condition forced her to take distance. These traits were the key inputs for her design and styling.
Building a stylized city
To communicate the longing atmosphere through the art style, we proudly built this city based on Dutch architecture. The warm ‘golden hour’ palette filled with atmospheric perspective and romantic clouds makes it clear that the city is alive and people are happily out and about. Many details for the buildings were modeled to make the city feel real and lively. The painterly look and many compositing tricks shaped an inviting mood.
Light and color played a big role, as always. Admire some of the textures, lighting, and compositing passes we used to realize the look for the world of Leah.