Battery bandit
Solo animated short. One month plus.
Character design by Andrey Yablonskiy.
Modelled, animated, lit, and edited by me.
IDENTITY · 2026
The film
A battery-powered robot breaks into a supermarket to steal a high-powered battery. The theft sets off a citywide police chase. No dialogue. The story runs on movement, timing, and camera alone.
Where it started
I found a robot illustration by Andrey Yablonskiy online and it sparked the whole film. I wanted to see if I could take that static character and give it life, motion, and a story. So I built the idea around a robot trying to steal a battery.
Emotion without a face
The robot has no facial features. Every feeling had to come from the body. I filmed myself acting out each beat, then studied the footage frame by frame to break down weight, timing, and posture. I mapped that onto a stiff, stylised robot without losing personality.
Introducing the character
I reveal the Bandit through a wanted poster before the audience sees him move. It builds suspense and hints at who he is before he does anything. Small setup, bigger payoff.
What I did
Solo, start to finish. The robot design is Andrey Yablonskiy's original design. I built the 3D model, rigged it, and animated it from his concept. Everything else is mine: the environment, props, camera, lighting, effects, compositing, and edit.
The only outside assets were the chase vehicles. I designed and animated the 2D chase sequence myself to push the story past the 3D world.
Tools: Maya, After Effects, Premiere Pro.