SETSUNA
CG Film // 2023
“Setsuna” is a short film about a nameless ronin who is an android, part machine and part human. Set in an alternative future feudal Japan, the ronin struggles with her identity as a malfunction in her artificial intelligence causes her to kill. She strikes down her foe, a protector of nature and faith seen as malignant from her altered perspective. Stricken with guilt, she contemplates redemption and attempts to maintain her human conscience.
The title “Setsuna” is a Japanese Buddhist phrase meaning “a moment in time.” It is about ephemerality and change within her overall context and within herself. The protaganist is going through “mono no aware”, a sensitivity to ephemera with wistfulness at their passing.
The two characters were based on Metahuman models from the Unreal Engine library. Clothes were modeled and simulated in Marvelous Designer, while hard surface armor accessories were modeled in Maya with textures applied in Substance Painter. The characters were assembled and rigged in Character Creator and exported as fbx files into Unreal Engine 5 for scene assembly. The animations were retargeted from the Unreal Marketplace and Mixamo for idle, walk, and sword animations.
The shrine as a setting is used as a religious and moral confrontation between the two foes. As the ronin heads towards the prayer area, her enemy comes from the shadows as a protector. She cuts down her opponent and sets ablaze the sacred area. Her artificial malfunction in essence “killed” her human nature. The ronin regains human conscience and contemplates her actions.
Each scene was assembled from a mixture of preexisting and bespoke assets. The shrine was a preexisting asset with modification in textures and lighting. Nature and water assets were utilized as well, with weather and fire effects for movement within the stillness.
This short film took roughly nine months to create from initial concept to asset generation to scene assembly as a part of the MS Fiction & Entertainment program.
Below is the link to video for your viewing:
https://vimeo.com/859902468?share=copy
This setting is inside the artificial mind of the ronin. The audience can see the corruption taking place, ultimately unraveling and mixing with the outside world. This utilized preexisting assets and bespoke animations.