Amanda Tasse - Creative Research Portfolio

I create animated experiences and stories that act as a space for feeling through large-scale problems by resonating with information in new ways. I aim to craft a flow between interfaces (the physical and digital, informational and expressive) that is tangible, intuitive, insightful, and meaningful. I have applied my real-time art, animation, and storytelling to immersive projection, VR, AR, games, and short films. My broad skillset allows me to translate across disciplinary teams and to wear multiple hats in both hands-on and supervisory roles. I am especially curious about how media can be meaningfully personalized using generative AI and spatial psychology, pushing the frontiers of real-time technology for animation, and in media for health and well-being. My work has received recognition from HBO Films, the Academy Awards, Sundance, the Venice Biennale, Sloan Science & Film Foundation and more. I am an Assistant Professor of Animation and Emerging Cinematic Media at Occidental College and received a PhD in Media Arts + Practice and MFA in Animation from USC.

DIRECTOR: LENA HERZOG | ART DIRECTOR, ARTIST: AMANDA TASSE | TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: JONATHAN YOMAYUZA | COMPOSER: MARCO CAPALBO, MARK MANGINI

The Reversal is the 3rd part of the Trilogy (Last Whispers, Any War Any Enemy) about extinction. Here, linear time reverses and space folds into itself; the forces of destruction that eclipsed humanity reverse and invert upon themselves, revealing a world of post-human holographic memory focused on moments of beauty, joy, connection, and reverence. The space itself morphs from traditional linear perspective to reverse perspective to help convey this sense of spatial-temporal unfolding - a unique and intriguing 3D worldbuilding design and art direction challenge. We are also experimenting with combining hand-made animation with AI generated video for some memories to visualize the enmeshment of AI and human-made in digital memory.  

The Reversal is in the early concept and research development phase. Below are a collection of art direction reference and design concepts.

DIRECTOR: LENA HERZOG | ART DIRECTOR, ARTIST: AMANDA TASSE | TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: JONATHAN YOMAYUZA | COMPOSER: MARCO CAPALBO

The goal was to create a space for contemplating senseless mass destruction from nuclear war. It bridges immersive real-time (photogrammetry, stylized 3D art) with traditional analog methods (illustrative etching, painting, sculpture) to evoke a continuum of humanity imagining our eventual demise. We wanted to visualize emotional states of realization and loss with tactile texture.

Technical director Yomayuza and I assisted Herzog with strategizing the translation from traditional art into 3D spatiality and story, researching and developing novel methods for real-time 3D. Herzog inventively re-translated the stylized photogrammetry back into 15th century Italian etchings, which premiered at the 2024 Venice Biennale. I created iterative concept art and assets (illustration, stylization paint-overs, storyboards, textures, shaders, character models, rigs, animation, motion titles). My traditional and digital fine art experience helped me translate amongst team members for especially challenging stylized assets.

DIRECTOR: LENA HERZOG | ART DIRECTOR, ARTIST: AMANDA TASSE | TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: JONATHAN YOMAYUZA | COMPOSERS: MARK MANGINI, MARCO CAPALBO

The goal was to help the viewer “feel” the massive scale of rapid language extinction, and to celebrate last whispers from dying languages. I was initially hired to create a series of maps to show locations of featured languages. My role evolved into the design and animation of an evocative extended media world.

We intended to create a visual space that amplified the sound design of remixed archival voices from dying or extinct languages, created by Mark Mangini (academy award winning sound design for “Dune”, “Mad Max Fury Road”) and Marco Capalbo (avant-garde composer). I helped Herzog ground and visualize the world, and created many of the art assets (concept sketches, digital paintings, textures, models, animation, motion design). I also adapted them from our initial 2D/3D 55 minute video (Cinema 4D, After Effects, Drone Photography) to full 3D (Cinema 4D, Unreal RT3D) for VR, dome, and gallery projection.

My initial world-building design integrated real-world data (Global Informational Systems, satellite weather imagery, language scripts) with expressive methods (digital painting, illustration, modeling, etc.). I demonstrated some of this process as an artist for Intel’s booth at the Adobe Max conference. Screenshots of the images have been featured heavily as printed photographs alongside the projects’ screenings and in press.

Bardo Bear is a 3D immersive play experience that joins esoteric ritual and sacred world-building with contemplative art therapy activities to support kaleidoscopic well-being. A bardo is a liminal journey between worlds. Bear is a spirit guide that helps with navigation, gestures, and activities as needed.

Bardo Bear involves research and development into spatial user experience design for well-being. Navigation includes embedded cellular “marks” for storing and sharing reflections in “the grid”, and links to connect to the spaces where they occurred. It includes symbols to access new activities and whirls to jump to energetic spaces associated with color hues.

The following is an advanced student game project created at USC. I include it to show a completely different style applied to a complex secondary learning marine biology game. Since then, I have created additional games and experiences in Unity and Unreal. My main website page “work” includes more examples.

Designed as a play-based secondary learning experience where all aspects of the design, AI, and art were informed by the jellyfish’s ecosystem. Open sandbox playable orchestra of interactive sonic plants alternates with ecosystem puzzles.

Game Director, Art Director, Artist: Amanda Tasse; Development Director | Design Lead: Matt Kane; Co-Design Lead: Will Hellwarth; Co-Producers: Tanya Huang, Brooke Hubert; Engineering Lead: Bryan Devore; Co-Art Lead: Kate Wong; Sound Lead: Laura Cechanowicz; Composer: Ollie Lewin; Designers: Zach Suite, Brendan LoBuglio; Engineers: Brandon Nahigian, Sourav Dev, Yuling Lan, Nick Covey, Jon Chu, Steven Li; Sound Designers: Roy Salguero, Sabrielle Augustin, Ethan Lee, Stephanie Chan; Artists: Sam Robinson, Maureen Lu, Miranda Crowell, Ashley Lewis, Scott Zentano, Gilberto Arreola, Diego Albarracin, Josephine Burke. USC Advanced Game Project.