Uploaded December 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
When I first approached the Spell Call, I designed the area where the Storm King appears as a sort of circular television created and surrounded by caustic looking energy rather than smoke.
However, when I received the completed character animation of the king, I quickly realized that his actions were much too broad to confine within the small circular area of the initial design.
I then shifted my approach to a more smoky aspect using the whole column as the display area. I also made sure to accentuate the movements of the king by creating reactions within the mystical smoke. This was a tight rope to navigate as too much reaction made it appear as if he was actually in the smoke. I needed to convey a hologram, not a physical presence in the smoke.
I animated the FX frame by frame and my assistant Nik Gipe did some of the inbetweens.
When I first approached the Spell Call, I designed the area where the Storm King appears as a sort of circular television created and surrounded by caustic looking energy rather than smoke.
However, when I received the completed character animation of the king, I quickly realized that his actions were much too broad to confine within the small circular area of the initial design.
I then shifted my approach to a more smoky aspect using the whole column as the display area. I also made sure to accentuate the movements of the king by creating reactions within the mystical smoke. This was a tight rope to navigate as too much reaction made it appear as if he was actually in the smoke. I needed to convey a hologram, not a physical presence in the smoke.
I animated the FX frame by frame and my assistant Nik Gipe did some of the inbetweens.
