Terraform — Haochen(Jimmy) Xu

Haochen(Jimmy) Xu

jimmyhcx@gmail.com
@jimmyhcx
/in/jimmyhcx

Unreal Director · Cinematic Environment Designer

Bridging storytelling, space, and atmosphere through real-time worldbuilding.

With a foundation in architecture, I build immersive visual environments where narrative design, spatial composition, and atmospheric cues work together to shape perception and emotion.

My practice integrates layout, shot design, and virtual camera work to translate narrative mood into spatial experience.

I aim to contribute to cinematic worldbuilding across film, games, and virtual production—while continuing to explore how digital space shapes memory, perception, and experience.

Focus & Research Interests

Spatial storytelling, real-time cinematic environments, digital memory,
atmospheric worldbuilding, perception, and object agency in virtual space.

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TERRAFORM

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TERRAFORM
Unreal Short Film/Architectural Design

Co-Director/Environment Designer
Jan 2024-Apr 2024
Created by:
Haochen(Jimmy) Xu
Firdavs Yuldashev

DESCRIPTION

Terraform explores the intersection between earth and architecture
— building as an extension of the landscape, materially, gesturally, and experientially.
The project reinterprets the legendary Highway 14 observation tower in the American Midwest. Set near De Smet, South Dakota, it transforms the vertical tower into a horizontal trail — allowing travelers to walk through the land itself and experience the prairie as living architecture.
Through this journey, the act of observation becomes a tactile encounter
— the landscape seen, felt, and remembered.