The Chitin Hunter

Project Overview

The Chitin Hunter is an original 3D animated short film produced at Plankton Collective Studio in Bangalore. Serving as my capstone project, the film takes a lighthearted, visually unique look at the everyday ups, downs, and amusing mysteries of student life—intertwined with a connection to spirit creatures.

The Story

Set against the backdrop of a bustling classroom and atmospheric local environments, the narrative follows a student navigating ordinary routines while interacting with strange, unseen entities. The film balances relatable visual humor—from periodic tables and cluttered desks to late-night studies—with a surreal, spectral element.

The goal was to craft a narrative where the mundane and the magical coexist naturally, using expressive character design, atmospheric color shifts, and precise motion timing to sell the spirit encounters.

The Making Of

As the Director and lead creative on the project, I took the film from initial concept and worldbuilding through to final post-production, collaborating closely with mentors and artists at Plankton Collective.

• Visual Development & Color Scripts: I established the visual identity using Clip Studio Paint and Procreate, crafting detailed style frames, character turnarounds, and color scripts to set the emotional lighting palette for key scenes.

• Asset & Character Creation: I modeled the main characters, spirit creatures, and detailed classroom/exterior set environments in Blender, focusing on stylized proportions and clean topology for animation.

• Animation & VFX: Using Blender for 3D character animation and After Effects for compositing and visual effects, I brought the stylized motion and atmospheric spirit elements to life.

Final Outcome

The Chitin Hunter allowed me to direct and execute an end-to-end 3D production pipeline. It pushed my capabilities in technical direction, stylized visual development, and narrative pacing—resulting in a flagship portfolio piece that highlights my approach to worldbuilding and character-driven storytelling.