About the collaborative film “Being Good” with Director Jenny Harder

By Jenny Harder - July 3, 2017

Mood painting by Jenny Harder

I think we were very lucky when we started developing “Mal and Ava” which was the working title for our animated short film, “Being Good”. I started the story and character concepts in May and at that point we were only a handful of people involved. But then, Artella launched and we received 50 applications over night!

Artella was the first platform for creators to present their personal film/games concepts with the intention of developing them collaboratively. With Artella, an amazing worldwide network evolved with people looking for passion projects like ours. Our team consists of 50 members now, working on “Being Good” which is a 2 min animated short film. It is a proof of concept for a whole feature film that we want to present at several events in 2017.

Lighting and comp test by Edouard Sisternas

The film is based on a story idea about the teenage girl Embry and her two guardians, the angel Ava and the demon Mal who act as her conscience. While these two struggle to keep the stubborn punk girl that can’t see them safe they are also figuring out their own differences and preconceptions about each other. Being Good is about identity and how upbringing can impact on our perception of right and wrong.

Groom by Jean Fidèle Ira

Most of us are professionals working in their spare time. It was really incredible to see how many people got excited by our concept and wanted to get involved. We have amazing talent from Disney, Sony, DreamWorks, CD Project RED, ILM, Square Enix, Illumination MacGuff etc. I think what is special about this kind of project is that it’s a collaborative effort, even though we have supervisors and leads for departments I think everybody feels equally involved and allowed to voice their opinion. It’s a very refreshing approach.

Concept Art by Jenny Harder

We currently have people from 12 different countries, mainly USA, Spain and the UK, but also Germany, Canada, France, Poland, India, Portugal and Australia. Getting people on Skype calls can become rather messy sometimes, but we have managed really well so far!

Our intention for this project is to develop something we love, using our own style and voice. We want to show that in a connected world like ours you can create something beautiful despite borders, language barriers and yes – even without money. We are completely unfunded but are receiving great support from Artella, Frame.io, Solid Angle and Syncsketch.

Concept Art by Iosu Palacios

I think the reason why I want people to be aware of our project is because everyone can start where we did. Does it take time and effort? Yes it does, a lot! But if you are passionate and willing to go all the way it could be the best experience of your life and bring a bunch of amazing people together. That’s what it did for me. I feel that I have learned so much and I am still learning new things every day. It is like a game (film) jam with the best people in the industry – only better!

Model by Jean-Pascal Berthiaume and Julien Kaspar

We are currently finishing up animation and have started on simulation and lighting. Everything is going really well, which doesn’t mean we didn’t have our ups and downs. People drop out, things go wrong, communication can be hard sometimes, but we have always remained passionate and willing to keep going, what attracted more people to join us. We are trying very hard to keep our progress transparent and everyone involved in the different steps of production, it really helps keep motivation high. If everything goes well we will be finishing the film in Nov 2017 and present it at CTN.

Mood painting by Marcelo Garcia

In the next months we will be launching an INDIEGOGO campaign to support our final steps of production and marketing. We are really happy about any support and if you want to follow us, come find us on Artella, Facebook, Tumblr or our own homepage!