Mine | Abril Salas & Clinton Liu

Deep within the Amazon forest, a monkey is scavenging for food. During his search, he unintentionally discovers an illegal mining site. There are zombie-like workers extracting gold while destroying the forest. The curiosity of the monkey leads him to discover the real culprit behind the destruction of his home.

This project has been awarded the ECU Graduation Award for Anti-Racism and Social Justice – Media and the The President’s Media Awards for Excellence – Best in 3D Computer Animation

Abril Salas 

With my work, I hope to open the dialogue about issues that I find important in society. With some entertainment, storytelling and animation, difficult to understand issues can be addressed. This film is trying to showcase the illegal mining in the amazon, this issue affects the environment, economy and culture of the Amazon forest to a large extent, however it is not known to the general public. CG animation gives me the possibility to explore this hard to understand issue and present it to a wide audience.

Clinton Liu

As a digital artist, 3D computer animation and digital painting are my choices of mediums to reflect on my understanding of various emotions and perceptions of the world. Exaggeration, humour and believability are a must in my practices. Although my works revolve around both reality and fantasy, they are still grounded on examining motions of the everyday. I am intrigued in storytelling and how animation reinforces it. Seeing characters and concepts coming to live, always thrills me to create more. Aside from animation, I also practice digital painting. While 3D provides flexibility in perspectives, I also enjoy the fixed and more focused composition that a painting offers. My inspiration and research comes from observations, current events, history and mythologies.

Abril Salas Zamalloa is a Peruvian CG artist. She is a recent graduate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Her focus during her studies is 3D animation, Look Development, Lighting and rendering. Abril’s interest in animation started from a young age thanks to her experience and connection with animated TV series and video games. In order to pursue her interest and to be part of the Animation industry, she has taken part in animation learning projects in Peru, Brazil and Vancouver. She hopes to enter the animation industry and create animations that entertain and teach.

Clinton Liu is a Hong Kong-Canadian CG animator based in Vancouver, BC. Inspired by a love of animated films, Clinton’s passion for art led him to pursue a role in character animation. As an animator, he has showcased his knowledge through contributing to numerous team-based projects as well as personal works while spending his time in Emily Carr University. In his spare time, he enjoys expressing his artistic freedom by crafting digital paintings and life drawings. Clinton recently graduated from Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Credits

Director: Abril Salas & Clinton Liu

Music Composer: Vanesa Trujillo

Sound Designer: Vanesa Trujillo

Layout & Composition: Clinton Liu, Abril Salas

Modeling: Clinton Liu, Abril Salas

Texturing & Look development : Abril Salas

Rigging: Abril Salas, Clinton Liu

Animation: Clinton Liu, Abril Salas

Lighting & Rendering: Abril Salas, Clinton Liu

Compositing: Abril Salas

Editing: Clinton Liu