Video of live event
Fright Night Inferno:
The 9 Circles Unleashed
Utilizing motion design techniques, this installation transforms static imagery into an immersive visual experience, strategically engaging the audience beyond the limitations of conventional display methods and redefining how an audience can interact with the legend of the 9 Circles of Hell.
Fright Night is a Halloween event that students and staff participate in to celebrate the holiday spirit.
ROLE
Graphic Designer
SERVICES
Motion Graphics, Poster Design, Experiential Design
Software
Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator
Problem
Static posters, while visually appealing, can fall short in capturing attention and delivering the eerie atmosphere necessary for an immersive experience like Fright Night.
SOLUTION
Developed an animated overlay that projects onto the static poster, adding motion to a still print. This strategy transforms the poster into a layered visual narrative for the Fright Night event, offering viewers a captivating experience. Projecting into a dark hallway enhances the event's immersive experience by utilizing light and motion to create depth and texture, establishing a captivating focal point that draws the viewer's attention.
Greed through gold
Out of the 9 circles of Hell, I represented the fourth circle, Greed. My fellow colleagues (Rachel Hensley, Kaila Tomita, Emily Webster, Colby Stephens, Andre Majette, Vaughn Davis, Triniti Howard and Daniel Bueno) presented the other eight levels of Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery.
In Dante’s Inferno, the fourth level is inhabited by souls condemned for one of two reasons: either amassing a grotesque accumulation of wealth or squandering it excessively. Their punishment is an eternal struggle, endlessly clashing as they heave heavy boulders at one another, showing their relentless and futile pursuit of material gain.
This level is also guarded by the God of Wealth, Plutus. The animation depicts him as a face with glowing eyes and a jagged, golden smile.
Infernal Sketches
Dante’s depiction of the lost souls shoving boulders strongly influenced the creation of a rugged terrain that symbolically reflected their punishment within a fitting environment. A suspended face surveying the terrain worked best to illustrate Plutus's influence and guardianship of the fourth circle. The darkened foreground and lightened background elements established a foundation for simplified areas of detail.
Hellbound Drafts
The pointed finger was the initial choice; however, it failed to convey a strong enough reference to Plutus as a powerful figure. Thus, a face was employed to represent the God of Wealth, serving as a canvas for various facial expressions. By brightening the shades of gray, the visibility of the projected textures improved, and the addition of cutout cracks allowed for more subtle, nuanced effects engrained in the rocky terrain.
Paranormal projections
Evaluating the animations on a single tabloid-sized sheet proved inefficient due to the limited space available, thus I printed on and connected four sheets for improved higher resolution. It allowed for a closer approximation to the actual size of the display poster while experimenting with various combinations of printed and projected color.
Place holder
Sinister Stairwell
The 9 Circles of Hell installation was on a curved wall, with 17 feet tall and 9 feed wide of space, on the stairwell between the second and third floor of Old Dominion University’s (ODU) Barry Arts Building. A projector was securely mounted onto a cart which projected the animations onto various sized posters representing each floor of Hell.
Key Takeaways
It was powerful experiencing a projector illuminate the poster I designed in a dark hallway. Animating with Adobe After Effects was a new experience, requiring techniques that relied on reflected light instead of the typical emitted light from a screen. It pushed me to design the poster with a flat, rigid aesthetic while incorporating more texture into the animation which enabled me to build a valuable skill set for future projects.