In a near-future vision of Jaipur, Jaipur_2042 explores the consequences of unplanned urbanization—a cityscape where roads, bridges, metro lines, and commercial structures clash against the context of architectural heritage and nature. This short presents a jarring juxtaposition of the old and the new, an exaggeration of the rapid urban sprawl of Indian cities.
This is not to choose side of old or new, or disregard modernization. Jaipur_2042 calls for a harmonious coexistence, where development does not overshadow heritage and nature but finds a way to complement it. A world where the old and new can stand together, not in discord but in thoughtful juxtaposition.
At the center of the city lies a ruined fort, a silent witness to centuries of history, now engulfed by the relentless growth of the urban jungle. Neon lights and massive commercial billboards obscure the natural horizon, cutting off the flow of sunlight to the space. This chaotic cacophony of development poses a stark contrast to the timeless solitude of the fort. An AI droid, programmed to restore the fort, works on repairing the ancient structure. Resulting in an unintended side effect, the city begins to deconcstruct. Modern constructions go backwards in time, dissolving into the sands of time. Slowly, the chaotic cityscape fades away, leaving only the restored fort standing alone in the vast desert.
I wanted to present the contrast seen in above images between the heritage and Urbanization. Looking back at my time in Jaipur, the speed of development has increased with passing years. While imagining a version of the city nearly 30 years in the future, I came up with the idea for this short film. To recreate the Rajput Architecture, I refered to some elements from the existing forts and palaces.
Process
Working in Unreal Engine was new experience, both exciting and challenging. My knowledge of the production pipeline in blender was useful to translate into Unreal Engine. It was a quick process to visualize and blockout the shots in Unreal, with easy to setup cameras and sequencer.
After blocking out the scenes, I created different building assets in Blender, updating them simaltaneously in Unreal to see what looked better. Using 5-6 different types of buildings I managed to create the cityscape scene. The skylight and directional light worked well as I planned. I did the animations in Blender as well and imported them in Unreal, placing the character in different positions.
Challenges
The main issues I faced was to get the physics simulations right. With a number of physical property settings it was difficult to adjust and get a smoother fracture simulation. Another challenge was the post processing, I could not manage to get Depth of field in the shots. The color corrections did not work out as I wanted too.