The brain acts like a power strip, sending electrical impulses to allow our bodies to function normally. But when we suffer from Multiple Sclerosis (MS), the protective sheath surrounding the 'cords' that make those connections possible gets damaged by our immune system. This video for WebMD brings the power strip analogy to life so that we can clearly see how MS affects the body.

With the general visual concept and cable layout approved, Jonathan Lacocque sketched some rough storyboards. If you look carefully, you can see that he sketched them on the back of some of his daughter's Valentine's day homework ❤️.

And the team began refining and exploring the overall look within Cinema4D.

After sharing various style options, the client wanted us to lean toward a more colorful, dim environment versus some of our brighter and cleaner explorations. They liked the idea of a slightly darker environment to better accent the fact that we're representing our brain and body functions that often seem mysterious. And they indicated that the tone should be slightly serious given the challenges and fears that accompany an MS diagnosis. 

As the styleframe process continued, we refined the environment with a more nuanced layout and more detailed architectural elements throughout.

We built various room setups to test what structural layout would work best. We also experimented with light, using harsh directional light early on. But eventually adjusting to use more diffused, saturated light to align with the client's preferences.

With a better sense of our overall structure and layout and with preliminary lighting selected, we presented a range of options from more saturated and vivid to softer color options.

Another explorative process included defining the brain lobes. While the cable layout was approved, we built varying styles for showcasing brain lobes, from a more minimal approach, to textures on the floor, to projected sections with or without color.

In each room, it was important to include a device that the brain/power strip could communicate with. Working with WebMD, we decided on the following objects, each representing different functions of the brain and body:For each item, we created a positive and a negative status to pair with the effects of MS.

At one moment in the video, we show a cable fraying. This was meant to represent destruction to the myelin sheath as well as the communication difficulties that may arise from MS. We experimented with cloth sims and a few different deformers. In the end, we settled on a volume mesh that ate away the cable exterior and gave us better control over how the cable frayed.

We enjoyed creating this video with WebMD. It was especially meaningful to help shed light on the ways MS affects our bodies in a creative but concrete way.

Thanks for watching and reading!