A Monk frog must overcome his true nature to maintain his inner peace! – AIE Students short film

Restraint is a short VFX animation that depicts a monk frog’s arm wrestle between his meditative inner peace and his primal instinctual ways. Finding his Zen amongst nature, the monk is interrupted by a pesky fly, and now discipline and restraint must be shown…or will the temptations of his natural ways sway too hard?

Team Restraint, featuring Artists Claudio Moreira, Dale Skribins, Olivia Jarrett, Matthew Delvin, Tyler Penfold and Jordan Booth created this, over a 12-week period, for their major project and final assessment of their Advanced Diploma of Screen & Media at AIE.

The project’s aim was to reach an aesthetically pleasing balance between approachable stylised characters yet polished with polarising realistic surfacing and texturing. The animation and art took influence from the films Toy Story, Rango and the award-winning short film “Darrel”, “which our animator had on repeat, almost every single day” said Lead Producer Matthew Delvin.

When asked to detail a key reason of success for the team, Matthew shared his thoughts and beliefs on how important communication is, “I came from a background…. where everything worked as a team.” “Every morning I would come in, check in with everybody, see how everybody’s going, just talk to everybody constantly, and I would try and encourage my team to talk to me as much as possible.”

Receiving high praise and great reception from AIE staff and colleagues, it is of no surprise many of the Team Restraint members are now working in Film Studios across Australia, less than 4 months out of graduating!

If you would love to hear from Lead Producer Matthew Delvin, please check out AIE’s livestream: The Journey of a short VFX Animation and for anyone interested in learning VFX, 3D Art and Animation, get in contact with your local AIE Campus, or visit our website at aie.edu.au to kickstart your journey!