Overview
Soft Machines began as a weekend modelling exercise — a small robot with a rounded body — and grew into a six-minute festival short. Two caretaker robots keep a lighthouse running long after the ships stop coming, and learn what "enough" means.
The whole film was made solo across eleven months: script, boards, build, animation, score direction and grade, with a freelance sound designer joining for the final mix.
The challenge
Smooth hard surfaces and soft fabrics each bring their own problems — too smooth and the characters look plastic, too noisy and they crawl on screen. And a solo schedule means every shortcut shows: there is no team to hide behind, only the work.
The approach
Smooth hard-surface builds were studied alongside softer fabric references photographed under the film's lighting setups, informing shading that holds up in close-up. Animation was blocked in stepped keys first for a handmade, stop-motion-adjacent feel, then eased only where the story needed softness.
Character & material references
Form, texture and colour studies.
Deliverables & outcome
A DCP and ProRes master, festival trailer, poster stills and a behind-the-scenes breakdown that became one of the studio's most-read journal posts. The short has screened at animation festivals on three continents and opened doors to two title-sequence commissions.
Design note: Use simple gestures and a clear silhouette to give a small character personality.
START A PROJECT
