The brief
Direct a fantasy adventure with the finish of a late-90s theatrical anime feature, keeping characters, equipment and proportions consistent between shots. An independent creative tribute, not affiliated with the owners of The Legend of Zelda.
The idea
Cel-shading, gouache backgrounds and 35 mm grain form the visual language. Reference sheets establish the hero, princess, creatures and settings before shot generation.
The process
Sixteen anchor sheets in Midjourney, six production shots generated in Wan 3.0, and editing with foley in DaVinci Resolve. References control equipment, silhouettes and scale; the short is built in the edit.
Outcome
An 87.2-second widescreen short at 30 fps, with 51 editing cuts and no physical shoot.
