In the Imaginary Landscapes After School Club students took an interplanetary journey beyond our solar system. Inspired by alien physics and landscapes of other planets, they created 3D animations in the software Cinema4D that they then used in their virtual meetings. Students were introduced to storytelling and world building methodologies, and explored some of the software’s physic systems and dynamic simulations. The animations were based on their own otherworldly imagined landscape:

Planet TRAPPIST-1d

“Planet TRAPPIST-1d is thought to be an exoplanet located in the constellation of Aquarius. It is a planet tidally locked meaning that one side of the planet is very hot and the other side being very cold and there may be some space in between where life exists. This animation depicts what it could be like in the colder portion of the planet. The mountains are inspired by earth-like glaciers and the ozone level has been dropped to give a icey-blue tint to the mountains. The sea and sky are purple for a better overall aesthetic and to really emphasise the cold of the mountains. There are particles that leave the mountain that are intentionally made to be like crystals, to represent very low density particles and made purple to contrast with the white exterior of the mountain.”

Planet Montagna d’acqua

“My planet is called Montagna d’acqua, one that orbits a star in the
constellation of Pegasus because of its proximity to the star, its
atmosphere evaporates in great quantities into space, the rain falls
upwards and sideways. The colours are tinted blue and it has a cool
atmosphere to it. The light, sky and water are all light shades of blue
which represents a calm and peaceful mood. The big mountain is
shaped like a wave from the sea as the ocean and how water moves
naturally is what inspired this animation. Everything is shaped as curved
as I wanted to keep the vibes light and soft.”

Planet 4

“Planet 4 is made mostly of crystalline carbon (which is similar to diamond), and so in my animation there are reflective surfaces in the water and ocean blue mountains. I imagined that the mountains on planet 4 are spiky because crystalline carbon is very dense. Planet 4 also orbits a pulsar, which is a sun that spins very quickly and emits lots of charged particles, this is why black particles are falling from the sky. The sky is a greeny-yellow colour since these charged particles create auroras.”