Welcome to the Moonlit Bamboo Forest

The short film Moonlit Bamboo Forest is finally online. 

After a three-minute teaser nominated by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (Video Game Cinematic Works) earlier this year, Passion Paris returned to "HoYoFair" with the full film. 

This film is an adaptation of a written in-game story from Genshin Impact, directed by David Pagaille, produced in France, for "HoYoFair": a collection of original creations inspired by the universe of "Genshin Impact" and other franchises from HoYoverse.

The short was produced and made at the Passion Paris studio, with support from the studio Je Suis Bien Content. The original score is composed by the fabulous and fantastic Cécile Corbel.

At the heart of Moonlit Bamboo Forest is a journey through the boy's imagination. His fears and dreams shape the world around him, blurring the line between real monsters and fantasy. As the lady tells the story of the Moon Sisters, his imagination completely takes over, leaving the audience to question where reality ends and dreams begin. Our aim was to push the boundaries of traditional storytelling by using the limitless potential of animation. The film invites viewers to dig deeper, exploring new layers with every rewatch, much like the dreamscapes of Inception. It’s a visual and emotional puzzle that evolves and transforms with each viewing, creating a richly immersive experience.

Moonlit Bamboo Forest was conceived as a cultural bridge, blending traditional Chinese art with David Pagaille's unique vision, alongside influences from Japanese anime and Western illustration. Our goal was to honour the beauty of Chinese culture and the Genshin Impact universe by creating a hybrid artistic style.

Drawing from inspirations like Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, we aimed to offer a fresh visual take, merging classical techniques with modern animation. Character designs reflect this fusion, rounded, expressive faces in the Chinese style, combined with vibrant, ink-brush-like outlines. This approach, with flat colours and rich textures, ensures the characters seamlessly fit within the film’s lush and saturated world, while staying true to the game’s aesthetic

"The production of Moonlit Bamboo Forest unfolded in two key stages. We spent the first year developing the script and refining the artistic direction, and by October 2023, we transitioned into a 10-month production phase. The first three minutes were released in April 2024, with the rest of the film following in September 2024.

This production was carried out in-house, and with the fast-paced nature of production coinciding with our move to a new studio, we managed to create a stable and cohesive team, partnering with the French studio Je Suis Bien Content to support in animation, ensuring stability while keeping all the artists, and David, closely connected.

On the technical side, we animated the film using TVPaint, while backgrounds were crafted in Adobe Photoshop with custom ink brushes designed specifically for this project. For certain scenes, such as the fox crowd and the horse, we incorporated a 3D pipeline to model elements that were then redrawn in 2D to maintain the hand-drawn aesthetic. Finally, compositing was handled in Adobe AfterEffects, giving the film its polished, cinematic feel."

"We are thrilled to share Moonlit Bamboo Forest, a project that embodies immersive storytelling and visual artistry. Directed by David Pagaille, this film represents a deeply personal and transformative journey. David's vision has been key in shaping this project, and I’ve always trusted his ability to transport viewers into a world where reality and legend meet. His love for themes of personal growth and adventure, along with his passion for Asian animation, shines through in every scene.

David is not only a talented animator and storyteller but also an experienced director, having developed his craft at Passion for over four years. His work spans short films for Riot’s League of Legends Championship, Digital Extremes' Warframe and now Moonlit Bamboo Forest. We’re excited to continue nurturing his vision through trailers, shorts, and series. This ambition aligns perfectly with our growth at Passion, particularly with the recent opening of our 2D studio in Paris. This expansion allows us to take on larger projects, while our 3D studio in London broadens our creative possibilities, fostering directors from diverse backgrounds, like David Pagaille."