Hard on the heels of the titles for Lessons in Chemistry, Elastic ECD Hazel Baird delivers a standout opening sequence for the 2nd episode of “Daphne”, the third season of FX’s anthology series American Horror Story.

Hazel Baird: “The primary creative challenge we faced revolved around defining the character’s appearance. Collaborating with UK designer J.T. Child, we carefully reviewed the script and then created a detailed reference deck for the client.

“It soon became evident the client desired an organic, non-mechanical look, which posed a significantly intricate task. I was determined to ensure that our creation was not just a soulless AI construct but something deeply connected to the episode.
 

“I was determined to ensure that our creation was not just a soulless AI construct but something deeply connected to the episode.”

 
“Given that the main character is an art collector and dealer, we placed Daphne in an art gallery setting. Her various body parts were artfully displayed on the walls, serving as prototypes that hadn’t quite achieved the desired success. This approach not only aligned with the character’s background but also added a layer of depth to the narrative, making the visual representation of Daphne both intriguing and conceptually rich.

“For the design and look of Daphne we brought in 3D artist Lusine Arakelyan who had a tight five-day deadline which bounced between ZBrush, Photoshop, and Cinema 4D. When the design was approved we started to finalize the sculpture, detailing it further and prepping it for look dev in Cinema 4D and Octane so animation could begin.

“The largest technical challenges in animation was the organic connective tissue that created the brain, organs, and the body. Cinema 4D, X-Particles, and a few classic spline animation techniques were used to create this type of growth effect. It was all rendered in OTOY’s Octane Render and composited in After Effects and took about four weeks.”
 
 

 
Client: FX Network

Production: Elastic
ECD: Hazel Baird
Creative Director: J.T. Child
Designer: Min Shi, Lusine Arakelyan
Animator: Evan Larimore, Ugur Baltepe
Color Management: Andrew Young
Producer: Mitchell Fraser
EP: Kate Berry
Head of Production: Paul Makowski
Managing Director: Jennifer Sofio Hall