CGI Animated Short Film “EMPSILLNES” - by Jakub Grygier

Check out this awesome CGI Animated short film about the last survivor of a destroyed starship as he struggles for his life and meets with his enemy in the void. Directed by the talented Jakub Grygier! For more information, please see the details and links below:
CREDITS
Director Producer Screenplay
Jakub Grygier vimeo.com/user3803045
Sound and Music
Pawel Gorniak
Storyboard and Previs
Pawel Wojciechowicz
CGI and Animation
Jakub Grygier
Mocap
Alicja Uzarowska
Damian Stempniewski
Photogrammetry Consultant
Rafal Kwasny
Sound mastering to 5.1
PostMeridian Productions
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[@richardbidinger2577]

Given the size and scope of the animation, I'm impressed. A lot of work was done on this to get the atmosphere just right. I'm thinking the story was secondary to the animation just to give it some context. This was more of a "Look what I'm capable of", thing. The detail that went into each scene was way more than most studios bother with. The characters were only there to give the animation some interest, the insane amount of detail in everything else was the real story.

[@frankaugustine7761]

Gorgeous. Amazing. I could watch hours of this story. Thank you =D

[@DizzleEdits]

All I can think of is the amount of time spent in this animation movements and modeling all those parts lol

[@sashhshshshsshsaaaa]

and the fact that the modeling and animation was done by one guy dayum

[@DizzleEdits]

Holy shit....

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

When you work on stuff for a long time. Some things comes with ease. But still it was quite a big effort to deliver. Thanks for your comment!

[@SpiderSparta56]

+CGspire awesome short-film loved it

[@deant6361]

Very cool detail 🌌

[@Synapticsnap]

Well done, Bravo to you all.

[@tietjen666]

Reunited in the Sweet Hereafter! And at peace. Man, I hope so! Great looking piece. Thank you.

[@izz5305]

3:17 you can see the detail of screen..how amazing

[@ninorokr]

I really like this video, to know that a single man is behind modeling, animation, texturing, compositing and everything else is my motivation to strive for something similar. I think the story was well presented, I understood the story

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

Thank you. That was not easy thing even when people say animation is shit and story sucks. The best thing to do is try on your own! : ) Then lots of stuff comes out of that experience!

[@MrKellyv1]

From one who barely understood how After Effects worked and said, 'fuck frame by frame" and figured 3 or 6 would be fine (Gestalt will fix it ;)) when I tried animation: I loved it-- kudos to all that worked on this; your love for it shines through big time. Always boggles my mind when comments complain about "oooh the cgi wasn't perfect and the story made no sense".... ah well. When one can't appreciate what it takes to make art, they'll never really do so. Keep up the good work

[@evertvanasch5543]

At 3:27 the fighter is from a playstation game called "einhander"!

[@the-nuclear-man6384]

AWESOME 👍 FANTASTIC

[@CryptexArtist]

wow!

[@CBSuper]

Great job, hard to believe this was mostly done solo. Would love to have seen a little more weight in the character's movements and emotions on their faces, but I can't imagine how much time even this all took. Congrats and look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Dat Guy I was not able to deliver this level of animation. That was decision between making it or not making it. When you work on something for year or two you get burned inside pretty quickly so I finished it on certain level of quality. For more I would simply have no power...

[@PedalPumpingxo]

I've watched this film at least 30 times and love it. The story line is mind blowing , the visuals are stunning hands down one of the best creations on youtube. My favorite part is when the space ship activates its massive engines and begins to accelerate. The scene was put together so well that I can almost feel the power of those engines from the visual of it thrusting forward amazingly done.

[@PhoenixIDGroup]

Well done!!!!

[@evertvanasch5543]

Shipwrecked guy collects an air cannister. Thinks of his girlfriend getting killed, who by the way was flying an Einhänder (ps1 game, when the Earth and the Moon were at war with each other!) and almost misses the last spaceship. He gets swapped like a gnat by it and in his dying delirium is reunited with his girlfriend. Good story and visuals.

[@-Rook-]

Very well done a very impressive piece of work.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

thanks!!!

[@bme7491]

I hope there is a "void", as long as it's not run by a celestial dictator.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

deep!

[@Serve75]

Nice!

[@CeziHD]

Would be a nice opening sequence for a game.

[@zzausel]

Flying around, being spacy, being in danger, having lost a fried, being lost, dreaming of not being lost - ok. Some plot will follow in part two.

[@harshitshukla]

Visual poetry at its best

[@lzeph]

+harshit shukla (nikunj) ... Yes.

[@yaniratangoart]

debatable... better visual poetry of the same strain would be Voices of a Distant Star.. that film kills it!

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

Thanks !! Jakub Grygier

[@deckiedeckie]

Know nothing 'bout video technology....but I dug the short film.

[@turro3po]

Good!

[@eDrIClImOAnCo]

Beyond the dark of frozen place, Where man shall rise with favored grace. Down below the steel shall rise, Alone to face that cannot die. And trap alone with none to spare, Left by the bleak and soulless care. To what may come that reach the end, Dare to live no matter when.

[@peterkirk7877]

Alfred Bester : The stars my destination.

[@sviatoslavkovalchuk9529]

+Peter Kirk Gully the Tiger lives!

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Peter Kirk Thats my favourite book! Empsillnes is inspired by chapter one.

[@michellechapman832]

This would be a lonely life in space!!! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmm

[@michelvassail3960]

magnifique animation en 3D d'une civilisation très avancée mais menacée, de sa science, de sa technologie et dont les héros semblent finalement préférer la sérénité d'une nature heureusement préservée, j'aime beaucoup

[@ahcokris]

one question: how was he the only survivor on a ship this massive?

[@imagonnasah8319]

Likee!

[@aenghellliannahvilla348]

Like it

[@BlankedEye]

that was amazing

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

thank you!

[@bassmith448bassist5]

very neat bid. well done....

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

thx!

[@thesh1ttygamer960]

I have no idea what the story was about, but I highly enjoyed it

[@mattaxeman95]

"You can have a long animation of really good looking things but small details being off can ruin it" this is what my lecturer says every time I plan on making an animation, and this is a prime example of what he's talking about Good points 1) nice texturing 2) nice after effects work Bad Points 1) unpolished movements - everything seemed robotic 2) generic characters - dude looks like Shepard after too many pies and the chick looks like Zoey from Dreamfall and as for their relationship it isn't given to us on a plate that these two were anything more than acquaintances 3) the story - throughout all of this I was just going "is something interesting happening?", "who's she?", "what's with the random dog fight?", "that ship still works? I thought that was his ship", "why's he shooting at it?", "why do I care?" 4) plot synopsis - dude gets a cylinder from a ship, goes back to his ship, gets his tablet and has a flashback of a woman, gets a gun, shoots at a spaceship, gets hit with debris, dies in space.... wow... so exciting 5) continuity problems - shoots a bullet, bullet passes "Void" ship, change camera angles and the bullet jumps back, a few seconds later he raises his right arm with the gun in hand and goes to shoot, camera angle change and the guns in his left hand... small details people, they're important 6) this really bugged me; frame rate issues - certain parts are moving at (what looks like) 30 fps but foreground debris parts are moving at lower than 24 fps and it looks nasty I'll give credit to him, he did a good job at the almost 12 mins of animation but this story could've been told in half the time and with the amount of time he could've had left, he could've smartened everything up properly

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+SarcastickLaftur I agree with everything! I promise the next works from me will be better as this one is my first finished film ever : ) Thank you for your comment. Cheers! You see a lot. Good for you! I do not remember why I put a gun in another hand but there was some reason to it... I guess its about image composition later in a scene. Most people are right handed and they like to have things on screen to be in certain places.. so I tried probably to make it looking better but to be honest I do not remember why I did that. It was quick decision during making that scene.

[@jeicsonjardines5982]

It is cool animation

[@sneek14peek]

Love story

[@SirMineCatt00]

So they both died and were reunited after death? Got it. Maybe? I dunno. Beautiful work though.

[@kuskarisum6619]

1:05 En el espacio hay sonido???

[@johanneshaukanes4531]

They did die, but they didn't die...

[@rikudcpys1382]

deberías hacer una película

[@Kotroniusz]

The character animation could be better - when he was trying to get the tank he moved lika a doll. But I liked the film and don't bother people who say "it's from Star Wars" or another movie, for them each chase scene will be from SW, even when talking about old westerns :)

[@KrzychuGS]

jeśli autorzy czytają, to zajebisty film :)

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+KrzychuGS dzieki ; ] czytaja! pozdrawiam!

[@KrzychuGS]

+charlottewerter Jeśli można zapytać jak długo robiliście film i używając jakiego oprogramowania? ;)

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+KrzychuGS Renderowane w Iray przez jakies 5,5 miesiaca na dwoch kartach Nvidii Titan. W miedzyczasie przygotowywalem kolejne ujecia do renderu. Najwiecej zajela sama animacja i modelowanie wszystkiego. Sam rendering to juz byla tylko i wylacznie przyjemnosc. Trzeba bylo jedynie uszczegolowic niektore sceny tam gdzie sie dalo i gdzie mialem czas.

[@KrzychuGS]

Rozumie, interesuje się tym i sam zamierzam tworzyć tego typu filmy, na czym dobrze się uczyć? Maya? Robiłem przez jakiś czas podstawowe rzeczy w C4D ale znajomy polecił mi Maye. W jakich programach prasowałeś/pracowaliście?

[@michal98583]

no tylko ze postacie to wyszly tragicznie, blurowate nieostre textury, amatorkska prawie zerowa mimika, emocje na niskim poziomie, a sam ruch postaci zenujacy, takie rzeczy to kilkanascie lat temu byly ok, tak ze tu jest tragedia ale wizualnie prezentuje sie dobrze, jednak nie widze tu zadnego przelomu, niczego co zachwyca czy zaskakuje. Koles w kosmosie wyciaga bron i strzela do statku ktory ucieka :) tudziez olewa nic nie znaczacego blazna w kombinezonie.. po co to? a potem jeszcze dostaje odlamkiem i leci w kosmos, czyli co w koncu umarl w tym kosmosie czy jak? I co z ta laska co scigala sie na jakiejs planecie jakims statkiem? tez zginela bezsensownie? gdy on tam siedzial sam na gorze? Jednym slowem niespojnie i nic szczegolnego.

[@Shasen589]

So he died in space?

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Shashindu Dodampahala Answer from director: Yes he did and he did not.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+HD HAZZMAN Yeah that is how it goes. But I did not wanted to give one way of understanding the end. Lets viewer decide how he/she wants to understand the end of film.

[@ender10man]

It was all a dream

[@seanmarcy1183]

They both died, She died earlier in the war. Now he has finally died, and meets her in the afterlife. Or he's hallucinating just before he dies.

[@deividnobre09]

verdade

[@TheMasterleb]

Wait what?

[@TeslaDln]

Barby & Ken?

[@seanmarcy1183]

Starbuck & Apollo.

[@albertoestrada3936]

Cool you should be video game designer

[@fumblinF0e]

Wow, Poser goes mainstream. ..what's next? Daz 3D characters

[@DragonVangaurd]

just stumbled across this video and I am confused as heck

[@sufu5a]

Major Tom?

[@Cassie-on3gq]

It's seems impossible that one guy could animate this I'm pretty sure he had a team behind this /:

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Cassie Cassidy Answer from director: : ) No I did not. Entire visual part is on my own. You just need to be organized for some time to get to that. There is around 200 shots. It means that you have to finish at least 0.33 shot a day if you have 2 years of time and you work everyday, evening on that. With models created ahead Its difficult but not impossible! Music and sound was created by Pawel Gorniak. cheers!

[@Cassie-on3gq]

+charlottewerter woah, then I am extremely impressed

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Cassie Cassidy Thank You. I try my best : )

[@Nyth63]

In space, no one can hear you clank.

[@pakde8002]

I knew someone would catch that 😁

[@civilsavant6072]

This had some compelling moments and a plot climax with a lot of potential, but it ends very stale, it offers no real excitement or satisfaction. Was he having a hallucination as a result of running out of air before he died? Or, was that supposed some be some kind of magical 'after-life' sort of thing with their spirits being reunited? Not knowing makes the whole thing feel very churchy. It left me hoping for some unpredictable twist right at the end, but all I got was credits. Full points for the artwork and design though, that is definitely the best part.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Civil Savant I dont like modern blockbusters so I did not try to follow the way big studios construct the story as long as Iam independent creator. I mean I did not try to make a simple story rather something which will cause speculations with some unknowns. It is film mainly directed toward science fiction fans because I am one too. I totaly understand why people say that they do not get it. Its simply movie made not for money...

[@whosurdaddy1975]

there is no sound in space

[@pakde8002]

Technically speaking there are but no audible sounds within human hearing range👌

[@jarehmator8895]

voice in space? from where?

[@CasparAbelmann]

+jarehmator o Audio recorder was in the helmet. ;) ..and you don't comment about the sound of the hammer?! XD

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+jarehmator o Voice with music :D

[@yaniratangoart]

no sounds in space vacuum

[@joseph-medicis]

Minecraft music is in this. Or atleast really inspired by it.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+JosephMTG2 Mapping I only said to music composer: "Follow your nose I wont be changing your work. Its yours playground." And he himself went into that massive music. As long as I know he did not inspire by minecraft.

[@DarthBiomech]

Animation of characters wasn't very good, and a story is relatively vague (I understood the gist of it, though), but the visuals are stunning!

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Darth Biomech Thank You. I did not try to compete with big studios !

[@rhughes2841]

Darth Biomech h

[@Folker46590]

R Hughes So many of these sci-fi shorts have predictable endings. The "hero" fails, humans are crap, our AI machines will almost always kill us, blah blah blah. Basically humans are worthless,we're doomed, and evil wins no matter how hard you try. These filmmakers have some serious self-hate issues.

[@jojo-wx8kw]

Soo... he died?

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+jojo1234 Yes but there is also alternative way to read it and I did not want to describe only one way people might understand it.

[@CyberCutlet]

Very interesting, but nothing is clear.

[@yaniratangoart]

The films establishing shot is within its pace which is wonderful but within a few minutes we are introduced to a cliche version of a "speeder chase" from Return of the Jedi (1983). This quick action doesn't establish as much as it dictates the astronauts longing. It's too literal and kills the poetic angle of the films pace. The films premise is similar to the early 1970s animated Battleship Yamato episode "going home." Lastly, the hammering at the beginning of the film should not have been audible since there are no sounds in the vacuum of space. It distracts while trying to come off realistic. The film would have been stronger if it had excluded the hammering sound and flashback on the all too familiar "tablet". The astronaut died not in the end of the film when he realized he was stranded in space. He basically committed suicide. What the director did wrong with that is that he spelled out the fact that the astronauts lady was already dead via the flashback. This makes for a perfect little package where we don't feel sad for him. Its a similar strategy to that of the Sci-fi film Somewhere in Time (1980). Difference is that Somewhere in Time had a stronger story. Animation was fine not exceptional. Pacing was good except for those moments addressed. I would suggest Battleship Yamato and Somewhere in Time for stronger plot line.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

Oh thank you for that answer. It really makes me to think about lots of things. I myself wrote a story for Empsillnes when I was 23 years old. I see myself how cheesy it is now. Maybe some project in the future would be more deeper and satisfying for people on your level. Everyone always had his/her first project. We need to start somewhere : ) Great things are to come some day. Have a good day.

[@jerryleroy9187]

"Pull up, pull up, pull up." Might as well have been, " Yer fucked, Yer fucked, Yer fucked. LOL spoiler alert, tThey died.

[@AngryKittens]

Wat

[@stormqueen29]

Extraordinary texturing. Very impressive visuals. But all in all, it was just kind of...MEH. I understand the allegory, they are in Elysium after dying as warriors, but the main character? This guy is as bright as a burned out lightbulb. No way did his insanely stupid and pointless act of blindly shooting at ( and MISSING ) the giant alien ship earn him a place in Elysium. She might have, based on the tiny amount of her in battle we see, but not him. And even with her, depending on how pointless or futile her efforts were ( she was the only ship we saw and we have no idea what she was even trying to accomplish ) she wouldn't have gained a place in Elysium either. But beyond that, so much of this just seemed..... off? Maybe the weird movements? Of course, all of this is way beyond me. But I feel like if you put this out here for people to watch and talk about, you should hear more than one opinion.

[@wyattearp190]

too many ads!

[@ch0k1ngh4z4rd]

wut?

[@xxx69roband]

Che palle ....

[@ramsesleon86]

Second Life

[@megaanimador8263]

?????¿¿¿¿¿¿

[@farvision]

too much magic or hallucination from lack of oxygen? ... unclear ending. Redo the plot!

[@braydendougherty]

spaceship is attacked. aliens detect life and boost away. suit tears/helmet cracks. hallucinates. dies and is reunited with his wife in some dreamland

[@ArtefaktSyra]

See....the problem with propaganda is usually that one does not 'get it' in the first 'attempt'.....i have only skipped through the video (ok...minus point on my side...i will watch it fully ...i promise...and of course change my opinion then),yet: there is the soldier? And there is another female soldier? And they do fight and die? But live eternally for giving their lifes? (Pretty good guessing for not watching it...*grins and taps his own shoulder*)........anyhow: the textures and views of the moons and the gas giant look like being from galileo survaillance probe (which has been brought to orbit by a space shuttle ....*sighs*....yeah...*coughs*......and every such decade or so the operating space agency switches....*coughsagain....and pretends to not have said that*).........isn't there a moon missing?......it certainly is availible in raw data format.....but just why not in textures...*keeps on mummbling senseless stuff and walks away*......*coughs*...i still do not get that propaganda stuff for whatever reason....*still keeps on mumbling....senseless*

[@willtaipela7955]

This was utterly unoriginal and uninspired. I don't know how the animator (props for going solo on animator) can justify the amount of time spent on this "wanna be" meta story. It has no theme to it at ALL, or at least none that even remotely make the story interesting or coherent. Love? Afterlife? Separation? It was based in simple conflicts when it tries to make a complicated message. If the writer wanted to make a compelling story he should have waited and wrote at least 30 more minutes of content to help further elaborate what he was trying to say. I don't know how rough the production of this short was but I can see how funding may have been an issue. If I can think of one other piece of entertainment that matches this level of crudeness I would say that would be Gravity. Gravity had a very intense setting that was very engaging but failed to meet the abstract quotas it wanted to. The story of an untrained woman surviving in the vastness of space is a very intuitive physical story but they failed to tell the story of her character or that of George Clooney's character (forget his name). Where other stories like Watchmen, Breaking Bad, or True Detective strive to meet the deep underlying themes head on with their extreme situations compared to the normalcy that it is compared to. Overall, the animation was quite well done for a short and I enjoyed the cinematography that was presented. It tries to compete with stories out of it's weight class and fails as such. The best I can say is... Better luck next time. There is real potential in the writing, just unguided and undefined. I give it a 3/10.

[@lzeph]

+Will Taipela ... I see this more as a snippet than a metastory, and as such I think it works quite well. Rather than convey a complicated message, I think the creator was going for a simple short story with a feel-good ending, at which he succeeded -- quite nicely, in my opinion.

[@BWBizarreWorlds]

+Will Taipela I think you are right! But you are right only till you will try to make a movie yourself then probably you might change inside.

[@yaniratangoart]

its important to analyze art. without analyzing it we don't evolve. the film has many flaws but most people are wowed by the CGI animation. There has to be more to it than fancy digital graphics to make a film work. Digital effects are not substance, but storyline is.

[@yaniratangoart]

I agree with you. The storyline was weak. It could have been better developed but the problem today is that many animators and the public reply on CGI animation to fill in the weak spots so we get lack luster films with weak stories but people often only see the glossy graphics. Its like shopping for a used car.. we only take notice of the shiny clean lemon not realizing the engine is a dud.

[@lzeph]

yayayaya cocococo Art appreciation and finding a decent car to drive are two entirely different things.

[@spoker3821]

¿?? o co w ogóle chodzi. nie czepiam się animacji ale hmm.fabuły. bez ładu i składu.

[@me-andonly-me3424]

so did he died or want who was the ghost did he go to another universe this film sucks azz he was too much of the cool guy there is no point of this film