Reflection of 'Blood Paid'
- Justin Rhodes
- Apr 18
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
A developer's throwback into the making of our short film that focuses on the special event related to 'Good Friday'.
Development Insight

Blood Paid (2023) is a couple-minute long animated short video of our exploration into Unreal Engine (UE) a '3D Creation Tool' that's heavily focused on video game development and now, animated film and even real-time video production.
We wanted to honor God and our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ with our first production with this incredible software. When we began learning UE, we did so with the intent on doing video game development for our upcoming video game, which is currently protected under our Non-Disclosure Agreement.
We want to state how important it was to us that we completed this first small project and we hope that you enjoy it.
When we first worked on Blood Paid, we wanted to first test out the camera work with Unreal Engine and truly highlight the cross and what it meant to us. This 3D space with UE gave us the room to depict Jesus' cross in a highly detailed manner with a sense of realism.
During the sculpting and then texturing stages of our workflow, I went so far as to digitally 'hand paint' via pen, the blood upon the cross. This included the feet upon the 'foot rest' that can be seen a pool of blood couple moments after first seeing the cross. As we pan along the cross, I wanted to emphasize the blood streaks and scratches of the crown of thorns that I imagine may have truly dug into the prophetic 'tree' or 'pole'.
"..you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance." Deuteronomy 21:23
Jesus Christ became the curse for us, as only He could complete it (John 19:30). As I reflect now, I recall telling someone how I meditated upon the sufferings and pain that our Lord went through; the painting of digital blood was an emotional experience and it was almost as though I was right there watching the single most important event to occur in history take place before my very eyes. It may sound strange, but it's a reality and I love that I felt that.
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