Core, Graded Twice A motion design

Core, Graded Twice

A motion design study built around a single shot: a slow five second push in on a cratered planet, small moons in orbit, a glowing core swelling at its centre.

The challenge was to make one move carry two completely different moods without touching the animation. Same camera, same timing, same composition.

The grade does all the work. The blue version pushes the blacks toward indigo, lights the rims in violet and lets a cyan core bloom out of the dark. The red version turns the rock olive and grey, sets the core burning red with a green haze moving across it, and softens the highlights so the texture reads harder. One feels distant and cold, the other close and volatile.

What I did → Concept and art direction → Scene composition and camera move → Motion design → Colour grading, two finished versions