SOYLENT PLANET

Unearthing the grotesqueries of human matter beneath the candy-coated digital terrain

These stills were captured from the digital animation HERE; all were developed through experimentation with immersive image-making technologies during an elective course entitled, “Petite Planets,” with Prof. Daniele Profeta (2020).

This “planet” was inspired by two films that confront the horrors of survival - one in a dystopian future, the other following a plane crash. The film “Soylent Green” (1973, Richard Fleischer) inspired the idea for representing the disgust one might experience in discovering human flesh beneath a candy-coated exterior. This revolting materiality was developed by manipulating multi-scalar satellite imagery of existing landscapes. The geo-coordinates for the imagery were inspired by the film, “Alive” (1993, Frank Marshall), which depicts the true story of a group stranded in the Andes mountains without enough food and their struggle with the moral dilemma of cannibalism.

Each satellite image was reconfigured, both spatially and texturally, recolored, and animated using advanced 3D rendering tools including Maya, Substance Alchemist, Rhinocerous3D, Adobe Photoshop and After Effects.

Planetary Images Created Using:
Google Earth Pro
Substance Alchemist
Maya 2019 (Blobby image design references the process described in the tutorial: “Cloth Inflation in Maya and Arnold Renderer” by ReimagineFx, posted to YouTube on 19 May 2020)
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe After Effects