Rio de Janeiro-based design and animation studio Beeld is back with a striking new project, trading the microscopic, macro-nature aesthetic of their previous work for high-octane mechs and visceral science-fiction action. Known for pushing visual boundaries and exploring innovative production pipelines, the studio has released GORT, an ambitious in-house short film that showcases a gritty, desolate futuristic landscape brought to life through a novel blend of traditional techniques and cutting-edge generative tools.
The project marks a significant departure from client-driven commercial work, offering the creative team complete autonomy over every frame, narrative beat, and visual rule of the universe they constructed.
Building a Universe From Scratch
For Eduardo Tosto, Executive Creative Director and co-director at Beeld, the journey of bringing GORT to the screen began with a liberating yet daunting premise: an absolute blank slate.
"The last time we featured Rio de Janeiro design and animation studio Beeld was for a macro nature doc exercise," notes the creative background of the studio’s portfolio, "but GORT, their newest in-house project, trades the microscope for a mech and plenty of sci-fi action."
Expounding on the creative genesis of the film, Tosto explains that the project started with something truly unusual within modern commercial production: nothing. There was no client to please, no pre-existing intellectual property to lean on, and no established cinematic universe to inherit. The team had only a blank page and the total freedom to build an entire world from the ground up.
According to Tosto, the core challenge of the production was not simply to create a series of visually compelling, striking images, but rather to make that newly invented world entirely coherent. Building a fictional universe, the studio discovered, extends far beyond making things look real on the surface; it requires rigorous decisions about how the world functions and ensuring that every single frame adheres strictly to those internal rules.
A Hybrid Production Pipeline
While generative technology played a foundational role in the creation of GORT, the studio maintained strict creative oversight throughout every phase of development. Generative tools were integrated from the earliest stages of the project, but the fundamental creative direction, the governing rules of the universe, and the ultimate artistic decisions remained firmly in the hands of Beeld’s directors.
The production of GORT relied on a diverse and unconventional mix of modern tools and time-tested artistic techniques. The studio generated foundational characters, essential props, and atmospheric background concepts using advanced artificial intelligence models, but these raw assets were subsequently edited, detailed, and refined entirely by hand using Adobe Photoshop. Meanwhile, the core narrative structure, storyboards, and animatics were developed using traditional animation planning methods to ensure solid pacing and emotional resonance.
The technical workflow for individual shots varied significantly across the board. Certain sequences originated from text prompts written with Claude, while others began as preliminary 3D block-and-camera setups built in Blender. These 3D pre-visualizations then served as essential animation inputs to generate the final visual aesthetic inside Higgsfield using Seedance 2.0, alongside tools like Midjourney, Figma Weave (utilizing Nano Banana and GPT Image), and Kling.
Because of this complex, multi-layered approach, many of the finished shots demanded extensive rotoscoping and intricate compositing work. Notably, the production bypassed traditional 3D rendering pipelines entirely. The final editing, color grading, and finishing touches were executed natively within Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro.
Visualizing the Apocalypse
The resulting short film presents viewers with a vivid, post-apocalyptic vista characterized by striking color palettes and imposing mechanical threats. Frames from the production showcase desolate, futuristic landscapes dominated by massive broken concrete structures, scattered metallic debris, and the haunting glow of vivid pink and orange sunset skies.
Amidst these ruined surroundings stand towering, heavily armored robots equipped with formidable cannon arms, facing off against futuristic soldiers clad in rugged gear, helmets, and weathered spacesuits. The interplay of atmospheric haze, dramatic lighting, and explosive action sequences creates a palpable sense of tension and immersion, proving that independent studio experiments can yield production values that rival traditional studio pipelines.
The ambitious visual language of GORT is the culmination of a collaborative directorial vision shared by Eduardo Tosto, Papito Jones, Marcelo Mourão, and Greco Bernardi. In addition to his directorial duties, Marcelo Mourão spearheaded the project’s immersive audio design, rounding out an atmospheric soundscape that amplifies the mechanical heft and desolate isolation of the film’s sci-fi setting.
Through GORT, Beeld has not only delivered an impressive visual showcase of futuristic action and mech warfare, but has also offered a compelling glimpse into the evolving landscape of hybrid digital filmmaking, where artificial intelligence, traditional artistry, and technical ingenuity intersect.
