Collaborating closely with Director Francis Lawrence, we meticulously refined each design phase to achieve the dreamlike wonder woven throughout Nemo’s journey. Let me take you through each of our journey!

We began with vibrant, full-color illustrations in a style reminiscent of classic children's book dioramas, trying to capture the whimsical and storybook-like essence of the story. 

After several rounds of design, we realized that the illustrations felt too busy and were not achieving the dreamlike aesthetic we envisioned. Examining the structure of the paper dioramas in hand, we decided to simplify the visuals by removing the illustrations and focusing on the elegance of paper-cut art.

After a round of research, we realized that adding more detail to our characters was essential in defining their shapes. We redesigned our scenes and characters with carefully crafted details and silhouettes to enhance their visual impact. 

I then developed these early shot compositions to shape key moments, refining the visual tone and atmosphere of the piece. 

Knowing how crazy it would be for our animator to keyframe each building for the unfolding city. I even called up my college roommate, Vinok Wu—Applied Mathematics whiz— to help me crack the code on building the unfolding city rig in CG. With his number-crunching magic and my Xpresso script, we turned equations into a automated dreamscape! 

Here's the finished Xpresso setup if you ever need some unfolding card animation!

To enhance Slumberland’s dreamlike essence, we developed a continuous camera move that seamlessly wove through scenes, fluidly transitioning between moments, gliding through portals, and bending space with an ethereal rhythm.