Chu-Chieh Lee, a Taiwanese animation director/illustrator based in London, just dropped us her multi-award-winning graduate short film Minus Plus Multiply, an ambitious multi-media blend of 2D animation and stop-motion pottery.

Since moving to the U.K. from Taiwan in 2018, Lee has completed her master’s in narrative animation at the Royal College of Art and worked as an animator and illustrator for commercial clients including Google, LinkedIn, and the BBC.

Chu-Chieh Lee: “With containers serving as a motif and a metaphor for a safe space, ‘Minus Plus Multiply’ revolves around the protagonist’s self-exploration and healing journey, examining the connection between emotion and environment.

“One of the biggest challenges in making this film was deciding how I wanted to tell the story. With the constraints of a graduation film (limited budget, small crew, and tight schedule), I needed an approach that was both manageable and enjoyable. So, instead of using a traditional, linear narrative structure, I chose to work with visual transitions — a familiar method I often use in motion graphics and commercial projects.
 

“With containers serving as a motif and a metaphor for a safe space, the story revolves around the protagonist’s self-exploration and healing journey.”

 
“The risk, of course, was that the story might not feel clear or straightforward to all viewers, and that did happen. But ultimately, I had fun animating the clips, and that was my main goal for this project: to enjoy the process and experiment freely.

“Another major challenge was how could I integrate pottery into the film, animate it, and still finish everything on time? Both ceramics and animation are extremely time-consuming. So, instead of making the entire film in stop-motion, I blended stop-motion with 2D and 3D animation. As the protagonist’s journey nears its end, she gradually transitions from 2D to 3D, symbolizing a sense of growth and purpose fulfilled.

“To bring all this to life, I combined digital tools with traditional craft techniques. I used 3D printing to create animated figurines for replacement animation, laser-cut flat pieces, and an overhead camera setup to shoot the stop-motion scenes.”
 
 

 
School: Royal College of Art
Director/animator: Chu-Chieh Lee
Additional Animator: Qian Shih
3D Modeler/Rigger: Shao Kuei Tong
Colorist: Qian Shih, Sabine Volkert, Ben Alderman
Clean-up Artist: Qian Shih, Jie-Yu Lien

Sound Designer: Arzu Saglam
Composer: Eleanor Fineston-Robertson
Mix: Gibran Farrah
Foley Artist: Rebecca Glover, Keith Partridge
Voice Over: Arzu Saglam