Deja Vu - A Katana Zero Short (2024)
A short collaborative fan animation made for the 5th anniversary of Katana Zero, an indie action platformer.
Created between mid-December 2023 - mid-March 2024.

Storyboards/animation by myself, with L. Gallagher (backgrounds) and CherryNomad (sound design).
Created using Toon Boom Harmony 15, Photoshop CC and DaVinci Resolve.

Storyboards
My general concept was to depict Zero and Fifteen in a fight, while also showcasing the unique way Katana Zero builds 'game overs' into its narrative. The bottom right shows an overhead plan of the alleyway with the characters and camera. Scratch audio made using the game’s sound library, created by Erica Hampson.

Animation Timelapse
Most of my animation process sped up from about 3.5h of footage. Text commentary throughout, final animation does differ slightly from this timelapse.

Character Designs / Props
To keep their designs recognisable, I opted to reference the game's pixel art first and foremost, with additional inspiration from other sources. Since the original art is so minimalistic I prioritised capturing the 'feel' of each character from my experience playing the game over visual accuracy. Even within official artwork, the designs are interpreted in a variety of ways which made it more challenging to narrow down a look.

Model sheets and exploration sketches

References
Below are the key pieces I referenced during the design process.

Style Frames / Colour Script
I wanted a vibrant palette that wasn't the commonly used cyan and fuschia combination used for media in this genre, and ended up with two distinct palettes. The 'reality' palette is inspired by the Chinatown level and the cut-in palette represents Chronos, the in-universe drug that explains the game's time-bending mechanics.

Colour script. The framing was also heavily centred around the moon gate depicted in the Chinatown level (image below).