An animated short file about a young child on the autism spectrum coping with his obsessive tendencies while his parent’s arguments continue to alter the household.
The film attempts to explore what happens in a young boy’s mind during turbulent times. The experimental nature lets the narrative jump around and is used as a metaphor for the disconnectedness a child can feel.
I wanted to force the audience to have a similar experience to the main character – I believe that sharing experiences like these can help each of us grow in empathy.
Colour was so important in the character design process – I wanted bright flat colours to be completely disconnected from reality – which then meant that anyone watching would have to relate to the story first. While the parents are close in colour, I wanted to distance the boy from his parents through his colour palette. In his story, he sees himself as separate.
The film takes place in a single household over a few days. There are narrative flashbacks to simpler times and flash forwards for more hope.
The question I wanted to leave the audience with is, “What is truly real?” How much of the film was in the boy’s head and how much actually happened.
The final part of making the film was the composition process which involved layering the stop-motion animation, greenscreen animations and cell animation in Adobe After Effects.
