Within the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie, Simon the sorcerer is shown casting a spell at the start of the movie. He performs intricate hand gestures before pointing over his shoulder, releasing a misty, cloud-like spell at a pursuing guard.

I was inspired to recreate this moment because of the expressive and thoughtful hand choreography. Additionally, I wanted to adapt it with video game mechanics, allowing the player to aim the spell freely with a clean over-the-shoulder pointing display.

To reimagine this scene, I used six-way shaders and Unity’s particles effects for the mist. I also made foundation animations for casting, idle-stance, and over-the-shoulder movement. Using these as a base, I applied IK constraints to the arms, head, shoulders, and spine to achieve a seamless 360-degree rotation.

This demo helped my understanding of Unity’s particle system and reinforced my experience with IK-assisted animations. It also gave me the opportunity to analyze and study media frame by frame, translating cinematic performance into in-game mechanics.