Ariel Costa goes freelance, releases “Sins” (process imagery included, NSFW)

After two years at Buck, Brazilian born motion designer Ariel Costa (BlinkmyBrain) is taking the leap to freelance life. To kick off the new phase of his 10-year career, he’s released “Sins,” an evocative short film.

Developing the characters and look of "Sins"

Using the seven capital vices (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth) as its inspiration, the short shows off Ariel’s penchant for mixed media collage and visual metaphor.

The animal heads on each human figure suggest that while we’re in the grip of our vices, we are not fully human. We are controlled by something baser, something driven more by instinct than by reason.

Despite its subdued palette, the short is full of rich textures born from Ariel's collage technique. 
The first style frame, where the idea was born
Constructing Greed
Pride

It’s not every day you have to work on your pubic hair painting skills.

pubic-hair-PhotoshopBRUSH

head

poster

“Sins” poster

A fresh approach to freelance

With a decade of professional experience under his belt, Ariel has a well-developed voice. On his About page, he clearly lays out his strengths and weaknesses to potential employers — including a gentle warning:

I’m not the guy for: 3D lens flare shine Sports Package, High-End 3D and Transformers VFX guy. (Although I love everything in this list, I think I’d play a better role by just watching).

That kind of candor will save employers time while helping Ariel find the right work for him. Nice touch!


Visit Ariel Costa’s site for his full portfolio

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About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.

11 Comments

Joe Donaldson

Hands down one of the best in the biz!

Alex dos Santos

Ariel is such a solid, creative individual. Proud to work with him, and hope he continues kicking ass in the freelance world!

ck

see kids this is what drugs do for you. make you more creative. lots of acid kids.

Super Chino

You wouldn’t know it by the way he murders keyframes, but Ariel is a really really nice guy. Good luck trying to find free time. I see many challenges in your future.

komodosam

What a great piece!

Jmc

Remember when Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) walked out to the dugout to “Wild Thing” in Major League? Same effect. Go Ariel!

spiritform

nice work! love the audio, roger!

Lalo Wdl

la raja!

Collin McRae Leix

Amazing. Does anyone have any links to learn more about his process? (Is it “just” after effects + elbow grease?)

Isabella Carapella

Very inspiring work! I would love to see the process work behind this piece.

Sarah Beth Hulver

What a beast!

Comments are closed.