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NEOS: LAST HOPE

Live-action performers, a fictional planet, and a large-scale explosion meet in this science-fiction short. On a 33-person team, I handled the screenplay, assistant direction, and key VFX to connect the shoot with the simulated scenes.

Year · production period
2025
Aug 2024 – Jun 2025
Team
Team of 33, including the film crew · Core VFX team of 4
Role
Screenplay and assistant direction, plus work on the Unreal Engine levels, 3D animation, and FX. Managed VFX shot standards from the shoot through final compositing.
Tools
Unreal Engine, Houdini, Axiom, Niagara, Maya, Nuke, After Effects

Film

0:000:00
Large-scale Axiom explosion

Challenge

Live action, Unreal Engine environments, and a large-scale explosion needed to read as one visual world.

My part

  • Wrote the screenplay and, as assistant director, set the direction for the shoot, performances, and VFX
  • Designed the Unreal Engine levels and produced all of the 3D animation
  • Built Niagara effects and the large-scale explosion with Houdini Axiom
  • Handled lighting, rendering, matchmove, and Sequencer work
  • Directed compositing quality for the hologram and final explosion shots
  • Directed the chroma-key shoot and made the poster

From the shoot to the final composite

A NEOS: LAST HOPE shot combining the live-action performer with hologram CG

Planning VFX before the shoot

As writer and assistant director, I identified what needed to be filmed and what would be added in post. I coordinated performances and VFX, directed the chroma-key shoot, and made the poster.

  • Screenplay
  • Assistant Direction
  • VFX Direction
A flight sequence with coordinated camera and spacecraft movement

Camera paths for the flight

I built the Unreal Engine levels and all 3D animation, including camera and spacecraft paths. In Sequencer, I organized animation, lighting, rendering, and matchmove.

  • Unreal Engine
  • Sequencer
  • 3D Animation
An explosion simulation expanding around a spacecraft

Explosion tests 15h+ → about 1h

I created the Niagara FX and Axiom explosions, changing simulation settings and caching to shorten repeat tests. I loaded heavy meshes only for final rendering and shared the workflow with the team.

  • Houdini
  • Axiom
  • Niagara
The final composite combining the live-action performer and hologram
HOLOGRAM COMPOSITE
The final composite combining the spacecraft and Axiom explosion
AXIOM EXPLOSION

Final composite for live action and CG

I matched the explosion's color and brightness to the background and directed the hologram and explosion composites, checking the boundaries where the live-action performer meets the CG.

  • Nuke
  • After Effects

Result

The 33-person team completed the science-fiction short, and explosion test iterations dropped from over 15 hours to about one hour.

I matched color and light across live action and CG, then set the compositing standard that joined the plate, environment, and FX into one sequence.

Credits

Full crew of 33; core VFX team of 4; VFX team of 13 including compositing support

Screenplay, assistant direction, level design, Sequencer, 3D animation, and FX · Lee Joon-suh

Lighting, Rendering, Matchmove, Look Development, Shoot and Compositing Direction, Poster

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