Sintel

Sintel is a 15-minute short animated fantasy film about a girl who finds a wounded baby dragon and nurses it back to health. After her new friend is violently torn away, Sintel undertakes a long journey that leads her to see the world in a new light.

The short film was independently produced by the Blender Foundation, and was created entirely in Blender 3D and other Open Source software.

DESCRIPTION

In late 2009, I was fortunate enough to have been approached by Ton Roosendaal, Chair of the Blender Foundation, to direct the third Blender Open Movie Project.

It was an amazing opportunity and an incredible learning experience. I spent a full 12 months working on this project at the Blender Institute in Amsterdam. At its height we had a dozen artists and developers working in-house on the project, with several volunteers and small studios working externally.

I was involved in nearly every aspect of the film, from the creation of the story, the storyboarding and layout, to the lighting and animation. I feel lucky to have been able to be so hands-on throughout the process, and I learned a ton from the amazing crew! There's so much I could talk about the making of the film, but check out the official "making-of" video below for a little taste: