Case Study • 3:15
The Extraction: Narrative Short Film Previs
A 3-minute sci-fi narrative previs pipeline built with custom character LoRAs and modular ComfyUI nodes.
Elena Rostova (VFX Supervisor)•Published August 2026
Tools:
Flux.1 DevWan 2.1 (Open Weights)ComfyUIDaVinci Resolve StudioElevenLabs
The Production Brief
Deliver a 3-minute animated animatic of an extraction team infiltrating an underground bio-dome. Requirements: continuous lead character facial identity across all 12 shots, tactical camera angles, and zero cloud API leaks for confidential studio IP.
02 / Shot Breakdown
Step-by-Step Shot Deconstruction
Shot #1: Tactical Team Infiltration (Wide Cavern)Flux.1 Dev (Self-Hosted LoRA) → Wan 2.1 ComfyUI
Concept Prompt:
"Wide establishing 35mm film shot of three tactical operatives in matte black armor rappelling into massive underground subterranean biodome, volumetric dust beams, Arri Alexa 2.39:1."
⚠️ Creative Challenge:
Maintaining proprietary studio suit design and confidential IP without uploading to public cloud servers.
✓ Technical Solution:
Trained 20-image custom LoRA in Kohya_ss on local RTX 4090; animated locally via Wan 2.1 ComfyUI workflow.
Artifact: 12-shot Anamorphic Animatic
Director's Field Notes
- ✦Self-hosted ComfyUI pipelines protect studio IP and eliminate recurring cloud API credit costs.
- ✦Custom Flux LoRAs guarantee 100% actor and costume continuity across complex multi-shot scripts.