Wild night in

A young woman is struggling with her mental health. She is determined to have a great night out with her friends. As the evening progresses, she has trouble staying herself until the situation finally escalates on the dance floor. She finds herself in the bathroom of the nightclub and is able to reconcile with herself.

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Direction
Noëmi Krüsi | Pavithra Paul
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Production
Hochschule Luzern - Design und Kunst
Animation - Gerd Gockell

2021

Wild Night In was Pavi and I's graduation project. Our initial focus was the topic of mental health. We want to destigmatize this subject and initiate a dialogue about it. Animation is an ideal medium for depicting hidden and invisible things. Inner worlds such as feelings, fears, and the altered perception of oneself and one's surroundings can be represented.
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We hope the audience relates to various situations, whether they have experienced mental illness or not. Our film aims to create common ground and serve as a starting point for deeper conversations about mental health. We aimed to fully utilize animation to show hidden aspects and metaphors. Our focus was on depersonalization, a disorder where individuals feel disconnected from themselves and their bodies. This can occur under extreme stress or alcohol influence and often starts in adolescence. The film seeks to initiate a conversation about this often-overlooked topic.

We worked with a mixed technique of 2D and 3D. The characters are digitally drawn. The strong, unique visual language deviates from classic cartoons, yet the form and style are still clearly readable. The world the characters inhabit is 3D modelled, and they are connected through clear outlines and a cohesive colour scheme.

Key Images for the Story Development

early story beats of wild night in for the end of the storymodule at hslu animaiton.

Backgrounds

Painted textures in Procreate.

Wide shot of the Langstrasse in Zurich in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Textured 3D buildings in Blender

The scenery was inspired by Zurich and featured all the iconic spots of a good night out: Limmatplatz, Langstrasse, a grimy club in a basement somewhere.

Wide shot of the Limmatplatz in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Wide shot of the Limmatplatz in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures - blur pass.

Wide shot of the Limmatplatz in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures - outlines

Different angle of the wide shot of the Limmatplatz in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Wide shot of the entrance to the club in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

birds eye view of nadiya's bed in wild night in, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Nadiya's messy bed. 3d Render.

My Bed by Tracy Emin.

Wide angle view of the dancefloor in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Close view of the dancefloor in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Side view of the bathroom in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Front view of the bathroom in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Mirror shot in the bathroom in Wild Night In, rendered in 3D, with painted textures.

Compositing