Alt Creative / Selected work

Orion

ORION_FIRSTBORN_TEASER

Chapter 01 / 2023

Orion

Director / Editor / Creator / CGI

ORION is a project born from childhood curiosities made of other worlds and the raw desire to bring forth something special and unique that attempts to evolve the zeitgeist of the medium.

01 / Returning to drawing

Finding that part of myself again.

As a child, I would sit and draw strange characters and invent worlds without thinking too much about where they were going. Over years of working for other people and doing client projects, I felt I had lost some of that connection to my own identity as a creative person. Orion began as a way of finding it again.

I started drawing and painting. One character became several characters, and those became paintings that began to feel like stills from a film. Eventually, I had made what I remember as somewhere around two hundred to two hundred and fifty paintings, building a sequential story. Something small had grown into an entire passion project.

The world carries the things I grew up loving: comics, strange fantasy, the work of Moebius and Katsuhiro Otomo, and the atmosphere of early Ridley Scott films. Later, the visual beauty of the recent Dune films also made me want to invest in building worlds of my own. Orion became a love letter to that childhood curiosity, and a way to learn more about storytelling by making something.

Moving image / Silent loop

02 / Building the world

Every tool I knew how to use.

I would begin with a base mesh from DAZ 3D or a scan, then assemble, build, and sculpt the character in ZBrush and 3D Coat. From there, I could rig it, develop shaders, pose it, and experiment with lighting. I used every tool I knew how to use, bringing those skills together in service of the images.

Rather than drawing and painting every frame entirely from scratch, I built characters I could move around and place within a scene, almost like directing actors. It gave me a way to combine the freedom I remembered from childhood with the skills I had developed through years of work.

One image that stayed with me was Orion looking up, its mask opening as light struck its face like a theatrical spotlight. There were many images that helped me discover the world, but that one had a particular force. Seeing those moments come together kept drawing me further into the project.

Moving image / Silent loop

03 / The first teaser

Bringing the paintings into motion.

Debbie Ross at Hydra Studios believed in the work and saw the potential to bring the paintings to life. The team had a window of time to explore, and we used it to build the original Orion teaser together. Debbie was a wonderful partner in that process.

For the teaser, I directed and supplied the characters, props, and other 3D assets I had developed. The paintings gave us detailed art direction to work from. We focused on matching their feeling, while the team developed the animation and simulations needed to bring those images into motion. It was an intense journey, and it gave the world a life beyond the still frames.

Orion / Behind the scenes

Making Orion

Further studies
Project notes & credits ＋

The Orion premiere trailer is born from months of focused effort and hard work by an astounding team: Ash Thorp (Director & Creator), Hydra Studios (Co-production Studio), and Aeph & PilotPriest (Musical Composers).    We set out to create a preview into the larger realm of Orion, and an intense glimpse into its story of sacrifice and violence explored through the lens of fantasy and myth.

Each scene in the Orion Trailer began as concepts in my mind which I then crafted over months into a series of 125 chronological narrative paintings.  Each piece of art represents a still from the film and tells the origin story of Orion.  These original paintings were the foundational blueprint for the film and paved the way for production.

In an effort to try something a bit different for the behind the scenes reel… we wanted to focus on showing the insane amount of time, craft, detail, and energy each frame of Orion took to bring to life.  It takes a team of highly-skilled and focused creatives aligned together to make something pure and from the heart.

Orion Created & Directed by - Ash Thorp A co-production ALT creative inc. - Hydra Studios

Producer – Amy Paterson Production Coordinator – Meghan Hamilton Executive Producer – Debbie Ross Executive Producer - Monica Thorp

Orion Score by - Aeph & PilotPriest

Art Direction & Design by - Ash Thorp

Look Development Supervisor – John Barclay

Environment Artists Sergio Caires Rodrigo Henrique Character assets - Ash Thorp Character Riggers Lucas Salamon François Puren

Animators Guilherme Gubert Joao Dias François Puren Ash Thorp FX Artists François Puren Sergio Caires Rodrigo Henrique Look Development Artists John Barclay Lukas Jankovcin Sergio Caires Ash Thorp

Title Animation Andrew Hawryluk

Pipeline Supervisor Mikas Sadauskas

Picture Post & Grade - Ash Thorp

A most sincere thank you to every member of our team and to our friends and families for their support in bringing this work to life.

ORION_-_ACT_1

Chapter 02 / 2025

Orion — Act I

Cinematographer / Director / Editor / Creator

An original cinematic experience set in a mythic world shaped by memory, sacrifice, and silence. Orion is a visual poem that invites interpretation and rewards reflection.

04 / Continuing the story

The first act of something larger.

I used the original teaser to pursue an Epic MegaGrant. That took persistence. I was rejected more than once, but kept working toward a way to make the next stage possible. Receiving the grant allowed me to assemble a team and build Act I in Unreal Engine.

Act I was conceived as the opening act of a larger, three-act film. The scale of producing work like this is enormous, both in time and energy. The paintings and stills remained our foundation, giving the team a visual direction as we worked to turn that first part of the story into a film.

"These images are more than concept art — they are the DNA of the film."
Ash Thorp / Orion — Act I

05 / Directing in Unreal

Learning inside the production.

I had never used Unreal Engine before Act I. I was directing while learning how to work inside it with the team, going through the film frame by frame and trying to get the images to feel right. Using a game engine to make a cinematic asked a great deal of the tools and of all of us.

It was a laborious and, at times, painful process. The paintings established what we were reaching for, but arriving there in motion meant working through one problem after another. The film became an education in what it takes to build and direct a world at that level.

"From concept to execution, Zhoslen led the Unreal transition — every asset, every moment, translated with care."
Ash Thorp / Orion — Act I

06 / Completing Act I

Grateful, and completely spent.

Finishing Act I felt like a tremendous accomplishment. By the end, I was completely taxed. I had spent so much time inside this world that I felt burned out by the experience. That exhaustion was part of the reality of making it, alongside the satisfaction of having brought it to completion.

What stays with me is my gratitude for the team. Everyone put so much into the film and worked at a very high level. Their contributions made it possible to take something that began with drawing strange characters and turn it into a cinematic world. I am very thankful for what we made together.

Further studies
Project notes & credits ＋

"Before a single frame moved, the entire world of Orion was painted into existence."

Before the paintings could come to life, I sculpted, textured, lit, and shaded each object, prop, vessel, and character. Every element in Orion was carefully crafted and considered — built with intention — before the entire workflow transitioned into Unreal Engine.

Once the core designs were established, our small but exceptional team came together to translate the vision into Unreal Engine. Every asset — from characters to environments — was carefully brought into the engine, where we rebuilt the world piece by piece. What began as still paintings became fully realized, living scenes. Together, we handled everything inside Unreal: rigging, animation, lighting, camera, and rendering — all with shared precision and intent.

Using a Rokokomotion capture suit and their powerful software, I was able to embody Orion — bringing movement and emotion to the characters who once lived only in my paintings. Performing these roles in real time and watching them move through the world I had imagined was truly unforgettable — a defining milestone in the production.

"The moment I stepped into the suit and became the characters, everything shifted — they went from still to spirit, and the world became real."

I was incredibly fortunate to collaborate with two remarkable artists — Andre, who built a rock-solid rigging system tailored for our characters, and Abruel, who handled the animation side with precision and care. Once the mocap performances were recorded, Abruel meticulously cleaned and refined the data, preparing it for review and helping me shape the final takes. Their combined efforts brought the characters to life inside Unreal’s Metahuman framework with nuance and realism. I’m deeply grateful to have had their support on this journey.

It’s incredible how powerful today’s tools are — and from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to use Unreal Engine’s Lumen system exclusively. Coming from a path-tracing background, I was curious to see how far I could push real-time lighting while keeping the workflow light and responsive. It wasn’t without challenges, but the payoff was worth it. We committed fully to working inside Unreal using its latest tools, and as a team, we did everything we could to push the engine to its highest cinematic potential — always prioritizing atmosphere, tone, and emotional resonance over technical perfection.

"Simone’s music made the film breathe. His score turned moments into meaning."

My hope is that the audience feels transported — immersed in a world far from their own. That, to me, is the power of pure cinema. With all of my work, I aim to bring the experience to 80%, leaving space for the viewer to complete the final 20% — to project their own feelings, memories, and meaning onto it. That’s where lasting impact lives. I hope the team and I were able to take you somewhere else entirely — even if just for a moment.

"Orion is more than a film — it’s a mirror. A reflection of the unknown parts of ourselves that emerge when we create without compromise. I hope it invites you to dream, to question, and to feel something real."

Special thanks to Epic Games and the MegaGrant program for believing in the vision. And to my small, mighty team — you know who you are.

If you'd like to help bring the rest of this journey to life...

Ash Thorp – Director, Creator Zhoslen Makoev – Tech Artist + CGI Artist Daniel Mille – FX Artist Andre Antunes – Rigging Artist Samuel “Abruel” Moreira – Unreal Animation Specialist Aeph – Original Score Carmine Luvone – Additional Score Recordings Parallel People (Nick Chotkowski + Daniele De Virgilio) – Sound Design

orion / Closing artwork
Orion / Final frame