The NDS features a variety of work from some of the industry’s newest directors every year. To celebrate a quarter of a century, this year’s program opened with a special sequence of 25 short films from NDS alumni, aptly named ‘25x25’. Included in the piece was a 60-second cut of Murro’s ‘Night Shift’ in which a weary janitor uses his dance skills to commission the help of a mop to complete chores. Reluctantly (and, compared to its nimble counterpart, somewhat clumsily), the mop complies. 

Supervised by Creative Director Robert Sethi of The Mill, 3D artists created the mop character, buckets and constant splashes of water in CG. The 2D team then composited those elements into the scenery. Creating and integrating the CG objects was one thing, but adding personality to an inanimate object was quite another.

Sethi comments, “The 3D team did a great job in creating a performance out of the mop’s actions. We saw how talented the dancer was at the shoot, and the challenge became coordinating the mop to complement his choreography without compromising the mop’s personality.”

The 2015 NDS opener was an exciting way to honor the program’s alumni, and a thrilling introduction to the Class of 2015. You can view all of this year’s new directors here.