Ashura | Cinematic Promotional Film

A project that began in 2021 and was recently revisited. Ashura is a rare 3D animation project with a high degree of creative freedom, giving us the chance to test different workflows. It is fair to say this project marks much of Late Studio’s technical progress in creating a cinematic feel. During the remake, Eric gave us a lot of helpful feedback, and we are grateful! For sound design we worked with Li Ching; we all share an interest in sound, and our meetings were a real pleasure.

Final Animation

Storyboard ThumbnailsA Dark Palette with Metallic Accents

When we first received Gino’s 3D model and his suggestion of black and gold, we could immediately picture the film’s overall tone of a dark palette with metallic accents, unified and full of mystery.

For the composition, we borrowed the idea from the Tao Te Ching that “the greatest sound is soundless, the greatest form is formless”, deliberately never showing the whole statue, which heightens the sense that the Ashura statue is so vast that only part of it can be seen at a time. The opening of stones and smoke also draws on techniques from music videos, creating atmosphere effectively in a short time.

Version Comparison