LIMINAL DREAM at INTERVALS Festival 2022

Animator NAOWAO and Sound Designer FAAF created a cosmic story of astronomical depth for this year’s INTERVALS Festival.

After showing her work at METAXIS Festival in St. Petersburg, NAOWAO was asked to present a new audiovisual planetarium piece at INTERVALS Festival in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Pushing boundaries while staying true to her vision, the artist aimed to create a fun, playful, and dreamy environment while incorporating a more cosmic feeling than in previous works. With a constant focus on storytelling, NAOWAO rooted the piece in astrological elements, creating an abstract character based on planetary symbols.

The artist began by sending visual references to Sound Designer FAAF and sketching out ideas in Notch Builder. After the two artists agreed on a direction, NAOWAO created a mood board to send to the festival team. Upon receiving the first rough audio track for the project, NAOWAO began building and timing the scene’s animation around the music.

The artist also combined Alembic character animation with particle effects, which allowed her to be more experimental and playful with the motion. While crafting the scenes, the team prioritised an emotional arc to keep viewers locked in and looking to see what came next at every moment.

INTERVALS had over 100,000 visitors and many reactions through Instagram stories. It was the first time the artist could connect with the viewers of a project so directly, and the response was wholly positive.