Rebellion VFX releases new Zombie Army animated short

Rebellion has today released the animated short film ZOMBIE ARMY. The short makes use of the company’s existing popular gaming IP and assets, leveraging game engine technology and Virtual Production techniques to exploit real-time rendering and “achieve incredibly fast iteration and content creation.”

The short which is joined by the Making of mini documentary, is embedded below or available to watch here.

The short film is set in the same dystopian world as the Zombie Army video game franchise, as Shola and Boris from the Alpha Squad set out on a mission that runs parallel to the storyline of the game.

Rebellion VFX is based at Rebellion Film Studios in Didcot, and is an expansion of Rebellion’s creative content capabilities.The team specialises in full CG environment builds, FX, Compositing, Environment Set Extension and Virtual Production set builds with projects utilising both offline rendered and real-time rendered, game engine methodology. The on-site capability is further enhanced by Rebellion’s motion capture and full performance capture facilities.

“We are extremely proud of the ZOMBIE ARMY short film,” said He Sun, Head of Rebellion VFX. “It showcases a unique way of working, utilising existing assets and powering the creation with video game engines to empower a new kind of storytelling. We hope that fans of the Zombie Army franchise enjoy the new short film.

“How creatives use these tools is completely up to them. They can create a vision that sits alongside the existing storylines or create something completely unique and separate,” continued He Sun. “The truly incredible thing as a creative is the immediacy of the process. Traditionally you would be waiting hours, perhaps days, to see your renders but the beauty of working in game engine is that you are able to do everything on the fly, in real time. This allows you to constantly change and iterate to ensure you get the perfect result.”

“Rebellion VFX has created and showcased an incredible tool, not only for creating final releasable content, but also for pre-visualisation and pitching,” added Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion. “The process is so quick and cost effective when compared to the traditional methods. 

“The team at Rebellion VFX is already working on several projects, both in video games and in film and TV, using this technology. This is not only on Rebellion owned IP and licenses but also for third parties in all strands of the entertainment industry. The possibilities are endless and the quality is only going to improve over time.”