This dramatic short film, blending 3D with live-action, was created by Lorenzo Corsetti and myself, Darwin Nisttahuz. The concept of the project was born from a desire to explore and reflect on the human condition. In our story, a ruined statue serves as a powerful metaphor for physical disability and the social marginalization that many individuals face.

Despite her disability, the statue remains determined to achieve her goal: to stand tall and proud among the others like her. The main inspiration for this project came from the strength and resilience of exceptional disabled athletes such as Bebe Vio, Alex Zanardi, and Francesca Porcellato, people who never give up in the face of adversity.
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All footage was captured at an iconic Roman location in Italy: the Stadio dei Marmi. This site was chosen not only for its historic and symbolic value but also for how its atmosphere perfectly complemented the narrative of our short film.

For the texturing phase, visiting the location was essential. We took detailed reference photos of the statues—focusing on the marble types, surface textures, wear, and broken elements to achieve a realistic and contextually accurate digital recreation.
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We began the project by drafting a script, followed by the creation of a videoboard. This included reference sketches layered over photos taken on location to better visualize the story’s structure and visual style.
To enhance the emotional impact, we edited a rough audio draft that included background music and sound effects. This helped solidify the tone and rhythm of the short film early on.
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Next, we created a 3D layout using low-resolution models to establish timing, scale, and camera movement. These preparatory steps allowed us to clearly understand the spatial relationships and narrative flow of each scene.
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Our protagonist, Pearl, is a female marble statue with a broken leg and arm, visibly distressed, yet quietly determined.

Before beginning the 3D modeling, we created precise character sketches using Procreate on an iPad Pro. These illustrations served as blueprints for the sculpting phase, ensuring proportion and consistency throughout the design process.
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Pearl was sculpted from scratch in ZBrush. We focused on soft, rounded forms and slightly exaggerated features to evoke emotional expressiveness and a sense of warmth despite her stone appearance.
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Because surface detail played a crucial role in Pearl’s realism, we first created a high-resolution sculpt. Then, using ZBrush’s ZRemesher tool, we optimized the mesh to create a low-poly version suitable for animation.
To preserve the richness of detail, we baked Normal and Displacement maps from the high-poly model and applied them in Maya.

This allowed us to maintain the illusion of a highly detailed sculpture while working with a lightweight, animatable mesh of approximately 50,000 polygons, effectively showing the surface complexity of nearly 15 million polygons.
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We used the AdvancedSkeleton plugin in Maya to rig Pearl, followed by ngSkinTools to refine skinning and ensure realistic deformation around joints.

For the animation process, we studied live performances to simulate how a statue might move if brought to life, focusing on subtle, weighty movements that respect the material’s constraints while conveying emotion.
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UV mapping was carried out in Maya. Once completed, we moved into Substance Painter, one of the industry’s leading tools for texture painting. Using our photo references, we replicated realistic marble surfaces, including cracks, dust, and wear patterns.
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Lighting and rendering were done in Maya using the Arnold Renderer. We exported renders into various passes: Beauty, Ambient Occlusion, Alpha, Shadows, Z-Depth, and others, to give us maximum flexibility during compositing.Thanks to these multi-channel exports, we were able to seamlessly integrate the 3D elements with the live-action footage shot at the Stadio dei Marmi. Once the VFX shots were finalized, we moved into editing and color grading, ensuring a cohesive visual tone across the entire short film.
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During the live-action shoot, we used chrome and grey spheres to accurately capture the lighting environment, essential for matching CGI lighting and reflections with real-world conditions.After filming, we handled all 3D production in Maya, and then carried out compositing in Nuke, a powerful software that allowed precise integration of CG elements into our real-world footage.
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