How Digital Domain revealed Valkyrie's origins in the anime-inspired short "Northstar"

Last month, free-to-play battle royale fans Apex Legends have been treated to an animated extension of the game's richly built world Outland Stories - Northstar. Work with the developer and publisher of the hit title, the dedicated artists, storytellers and technologists of the Oscar, BAFTA and VES Award winning studio Digital domain exploring the origins of the smuggler Valkyrie.

“EA and Respawn have been great partners on this project. They had a lot of faith in us and were very receptive to our ideas. It was great to work with the teams that created this deeper and more fun universe to take a deep dive into all the lore that surrounds the characters. We all knew the fans would lose their minds when they put it all together, "he said Kevin Lau, Executive Creative Director, Digital Domain.

Taking a distinct stylistic approach from the game's graphics, the team drew inspiration from anime masters Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon and Katsuhiro Otomo, as well as the more recent work of manga artists Hajime Isayama (Attack on Titan), Natsuki Takaya (Fruit basket) and director Sayo Yamamoto (Michiko and Hatchin). While the Apex Legends team at EA and Respawn had already developed a rich backstory for Valkyrie, it was up to Digital Domain to deliver that story to fans with emotion, excitement, and beautifully crafted graphics.

Read on to learn how North Star they came together in our questions and answers with Lau.

(You can watch the short below or on the Apex Legends YouTube channel.)

Animag: Can you tell us a little about the origins of the short film concept and how long ago was the Digital Domain team involved?

Kevin Lau: Digital Domain was involved early in the creative process of this film. EA Creative Director Neel Upadhye wrote an incredible story that introduced the world to Valkyrie, the new playable character of the Apex Legends universe. One of the most intriguing aspects of this film was that it had to be told through a series of flashbacks. We see Valk as a child and learn a little about her past, including that she is the daughter of Viper, one of the Titanium case 2 revered characters. Building on the story from the previous game was a big deal for fans.

How about a quick recovery for those new? Apex Legends?

Valkyrie is the daughter of Viper, a famous from titan pilot Fall of the Titans series and one of Titanium case 2 antagonists. Valkyrie's father went missing during a mission under the command of the character Blisk, and Valk has always blamed him for his father's disappearance. This story shows Valk discovering the Northstar wreck while on a mission for Blisk, confirming his suspicions in his mind. As she confronts Blisk and decides whether or not to enact revenge, we see her choosing her path and cementing her place in the Apex Legends list.

Have pandemic restrictions impacted production?

Our studio has been up and running with WFH practices pretty much since the start of the pandemic, but that's not to say coordinating all story development and production practices has been easy. We have to constantly reconsider and, in some cases, reinvent the way we do things. The pandemic has created countless challenges on each project and the scale and complexity of North Star is no exception. The good news is that Digital Domain is exceptionally adept at overcoming complex production challenges. For this project, the biggest problems were the motion capture session and the editorial.

For performance capture, we used Digital Domain's motion capture volume in Playa Vista to get our basic story animation. These performances were then refined by our animators and adapted to the style of the anime. The challenges arose in the days of preparation and actual shooting. We were still at the beginning of the pandemic and we needed to limit the number of people on set to make filming as safe as possible. EA and Respawn watched the performances remotely as they collaborated with us via the video conferencing line. They were able to see all of our live camera feeds and had access to our director and studio talent, so they had a presence in every take, even if they weren't there physically. It was definitely a new process for the whole team, but everyone was great and collaborative. He really reiterated that remote production is possible.

Editorial was also something we had to adapt to using a remote workflow. Working with an editor is such an iterative and collaborative process, so not being in the same room really creates a layer of obstruction, or at least significant delay. However, we were able to use several collaboration tools to our advantage and still maintain "live" virtual editing sessions. These sessions were streamed and the milestones were then posted and revised to get an accurate feel and make sure every cut was perfect. We were able to tune in after a while and maintain a real-time collaborative atmosphere throughout the process.

how did he do? North Star differs from Digital Domain's previous experience with video game projects?

Digital Domain has a long history with game and movie trailers. We really enjoy working on these longer shaped pieces. They really allow us to flex our production skills and give us time to really get into the narrative aspect of things. Each trailer has its own special focus, but North Star it was stylistically stunning. We were able to develop a stunning look and feel that fit into the interior of the apex universe, but it had its own unique flavor that drew inspiration from many art forms.

The great thing about apex franchise is that it has a lot of focus on building the world and creating rich stories and characters. Running just over eight minutes, the film was not only packed with great action, but also wall-to-wall dialogue, not just a voiceover with exposure. I think that was one of the things the team was most excited about: bringing this genuine story to life with such emotion.

The animation of the short film is not only more cinematic, but more stylized than the game: what were your visual inspirations and how did the look come about?

When EA and Respawn contacted us, they were really looking for a different take on visual style. They were introducing a character with Asian roots and wanted to make sure we touched on those traits, including cultural markers in appearance and atmosphere. Director Evan Viera has an incredible eye and his work is inspired by some of the masters of the anime such as Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon. We exaggerated the proportions and physical characteristics of our models and used painterly backgrounds with a nod to the masters of anime.

What kind of technical tools were used to achieve this?

Our pipeline is built around a traditional VFX workflow. Our main packages are Maya, Houdini and Nuke, and we render in V-Ray. We also use things like Substance Painter, ZBrush, and the Adobe suite. These 3D packs have been used in conjunction with 2D matte paintings and traditional cel animation for extra effects and ornaments. We also used a range of proprietary tools created in-house by Digital Domain, including our high-end facial rigs and pipeline that have been developed for use in blockbuster movies. It allowed us to capture subtleties you won't find in most animated shorts, even though the facial performance was entirely hand-framed.

How many people in Digital Domain worked on the project?

This was a fairly large team. In the end we were about 60 strong people across all the different disciplines. The whole movie took the better part of six months.

What inspired the short film's time-jump narrative?

The idea was always to slowly reveal Valkyrie's backstory through a series of flashbacks. We really loved that idea and leaned on it. We designed a series of linked game cuts and plot points that helped connect the two timelines.

To differentiate the two time periods, each had their own distinctive style: the flashbacks used a subtle palette inspired by Miyazaki, while the present featured saturated colors and high contrast. Creating computer-generated 3D images that are meant to mimic 2D movie-style animation presents a challenge. If it's not done right it can be distracting. We also used hand painted backgrounds, textures, toon shades and hand drawn effects which allowed us to cut out the unique look and feel of this piece.

Bonus question: Do the hens in the barn flashback have names?

Haha… not that I know of. We always called them by the name of "chicken".

What are the special considerations of creating a new content type for a consolidated property such as Apex Legends?

We like to approach every project with the same goals, which is simply to create the best story possible. We have been very lucky in this case to work with such great content and a strong franchise. apex the fans are loyal and really know how the stories of all the characters and the talents and special abilities of each character intersect. We paid attention to all the little details and made sure to be as accurate as possible throughout the tradition.

What was the biggest challenge in creating North Star?

One of the biggest challenges was the scale of the project. Eight minutes of dialogue is a lot, but the rich history had to hold up. We couldn't just distract the audience with visually rich action sequences, we had to create a connection between the character and the audience.

What was the most rewarding part of the project?

For me the reaction to the final result is always the most rewarding part of these things. The day it goes live, we're all glued to the internet waiting to see what fans think. We live with something for many months and work hard making decisions about stupid things, like how someone gets a gun or what order to make a change, and when you read comments that collect the subtle choices that have been made it's really rewarding to have those details and it recognized effort.

You've had extraordinary reactions since Apex Legends short fan?

Absolutely. On the day the film launched, I personally spent too much time watching reaction videos. It was awesome to see hardcore fans start putting the dots together when Valkyrie's character was unveiled. When it was revealed that Viper is his father, people lost their minds.

Game-inspired animated shorts have become more popular in recent years - what do you think fuels this trend, and does Digital Domain plan to do more such projects?

The gaming industry has matured and fans have become interested in the worlds created by their favorite games. As the reach and multimedia potential of these games expands across networks like Twitch and YouTube, we're seeing more opportunities for original content. Animated shorts are a great medium for storytelling and allow people to get to know the characters they have come to love. Digital Domain loves being involved in these kinds of projects and looks forward to creating them for years to come.

What are you working on next?

We have a lot of good projects in the pipeline, we can't discuss them yet!

Combining innovation, technology and storytelling, Digital Domain has been creating imagery for feature films, episodic programs, commercials, music videos and MR projects for over 20 years. The firm's network of studios covers the United States, Canada, China and India. Find out more about digitaldomain.com.