Ragnarok

  • Type // Social Media Ad
  • Role // Design, 3D, Animation, & Compositing
  • Year // 2020

I was tasked with constructing an animation for Netflix's Ragnarok, a Norwegian fantasy series about a boy with the powers of the god of thunder, to be shared in their social media feed.

I constructed a highly-detailed 3D environment, animated a hammer covered in lightning flying dramatically through it, and composited in real footage of the main character catching it.

The lightning was done in X-Particles. Invisible particles cover the hammer and the area around it. Every so often a particle on the hammer and a particle in the surroundings will be connected by a randomly distorted spline, which is then textured emissively to create the lightning. Additional details on the lightning were added with fractal noise in After Effects.

Only the beginning is a 3D environment. After the hammer passes by the trees, it leaves the 3D environment and enters a 2D one of the greenscreen footage of the actor composited over a still image for a background. 2D videos of actual water splashes and 2D still images of trees were added to better smooth the transition from 3D to 2D.

The main character was not holding anything. The hammer was tracked in and digitally composited into his hand.

Credits

  • Agency // The Refinery
  • Head of Motion Graphics // Stewart Hopewell
  • Sound Design // Maggie Salmon
  • Design, 3D, Animation, & Compositing // Tom Bloczynski
  • Additional 3D // Jordan Montreuil