Diner
The diner shimmers against the darkness, a beacon of warmth, yet he stands frozen outside. Inside, empty tables echo his loneliness, amplifying the gnawing hunger in his stomach. But it's the fear, more than hunger, that tightens his grip on the door handle. He shakily orders, his voice a mere whisper against the quiet. The food arrives, but each attempt to lift his spoon feels like a battle his trembling hand might lose. And then, a choice. Will he surrender, let the fear and trembling drive him back into the night? Or could there be another way? The waitress watches from a distance, a single point of warmth in this cold place. It's a tiny flicker of hope, a chance to break the grip of anxiety. The answer lies with you. This isn't just a story; it's a battle fought in the silence of a racing mind. Will fear tighten its grip, or will a flicker of courage be enough to push back? Which path will you choose ? - Process and Inspiration: These animations are born from a place deep inside me, a place where loneliness, anxiety, and childhood trauma echo loudly. some of my darkest thoughts, thoughts that made me anxious and feel paralyzed over the years, and issues I dealt with and still try my best to overcome. Edward Hopper's paintings, especially "Nighthawks," have always haunted me. That stillness, that feeling of being surrounded by people yet completely alone – it resonated so strongly that I knew his style was the only way to tell my own stories. - My Creative Journey: I began by writing detailed scripts, exploring multiple endings to allow viewers to shape their interpretations. I used Midjourney to create 300 initial images and upscaled and edited them to match my vision. Using these images, I trained a Stable Diffusion model to generate my unique animation style. I brought my world to life with 3D animation, created inside Unreal Engine 5. After the animations were ready I used Deforum Stable Diffusion and after trying multiple settings, found the ones that work best for these. Then All the clips were compiled and edited and the sound design was done inside After Effects. - How the NFT works: This is an HTML that is minted on Transient Labs Contract, and all the files are stored on arweave, this NFT holds both endings, a reflection of the way even the darkest stories can have different paths. It also holds a piece of my soul, laid out in those written passages. Once Collected, the collector can choose the ending that speaks to them. Once that choice is made: The chosen ending will be airdropped as a Video NFT and also an image will be inscribed to the NFT showing the change in the diary How can you make the choice: You can contact me through X: Pegasus_vfx or my Website Pegasusvfx.com If you wish to stay Anon, you can also inscribe your choice on Launchpad by Transient Labs (require gas)
The Story Behind "Diner"
1. A Crossroads of Emotion
This animation isn't just a story, it's a question hanging in the air: What if everything could change with a single decision? I took my own feelings—the ache of regret, the flicker of hope—and built a narrative where the viewer chooses their own path.
2. Fueling Imagination
To capture the essence of "Diner," I needed a visual world that felt both familiar and dreamlike, like a cherished memory tinged with a touch of the surreal. I used AI to generate reference images, sparking my imagination and guiding the creation of the 3D environment. This initial step laid the foundation for the diner's unique atmosphere, where the lines between reality and memory blur.
3. Building the Stage
The diner took shape in the digital world. I modeled the booths, the counter, and every object, aiming for realism but allowing for a touch of dreamlike imperfection.
4. Movement as Memory
The character at the center of "Memories" needed to feel tangible, vulnerable. I recorded my own movements, infusing the raw data with my own emotional landscape. AI helped create the initial 3D animation, but refining it by hand was where the real soul of the character emerged.
5. Sculpting a Unique Style
This animation demanded a visual style that matched of Edward Hopper's Oil paintings. I generated hundreds of unique artworks to train an AI model that could translate those emotions into brushstrokes.
6. Transformation
Using Deforum, I fused the 3D animation with the raw, emotionally charged style I'd created. It was an unpredictable process, requiring many iterations to find the balance between disturbing and evocative.
