NYU - IDM
Nova
This project was developed as a final for the Mixed Reality Filmmaking course at NYU IDM, exploring how emerging production techniques can be used to construct a narrative-driven visual experience.
The film follows a protagonist navigating a fragmented timeline, attempting to reach a hidden vault to restore a broken causality. As she progresses, the environment shifts between controlled systems and unstable realities—culminating in a collapse of memory, identity, and time. Through this journey, the piece explores themes of recursion, control, and the possibility of rewriting one’s origin.
The production integrates LED wall environments, motion capture, 3D scanning, and green screen workflows to build a hybrid physical-digital space. These techniques were used not only as tools, but as narrative devices to represent transitions between realities and states of time.
I led the overall design direction and contributed across multiple stages of production, including visual design (logo, presentation, and 2D motion), camera setup, on-set production, cinematography, and motion capture direction. The project focuses on aligning visual language, technical systems, and storytelling into a cohesive mixed reality pipeline.
Creative Direction, Cinematography, Motion Capture Direction, Visual Design
Creative Director: Ava Kling
Technical Director: Dazai Chen
Art Director: Nini Li
Design Director, Cinematography, Motion Capture Direction: Woo Young Kim
Sound Director, Original Score: Moira Zhang
Cast: Maple Leung, Selena Norman, Ava Kling, Moira Zhang
Voice (OMNI): Generated using ElevenLabs (Cate)