SHORT FILM | 2022
Jacob is grieving over the vanishing of his wife Lauren until one day he receives a package with her camera inside and discovers something extraordinary when he looks through the lenses – a parallel universe where man and nature live harmoniously, where everything is brighter, more vivid, better. Inside Jacob also finds Lauren. At first, he is very excited to see his loved one once again until Lauren makes him face a difficult choice – to reunite with the love of his life Jacob has to abandon everything he knows and join her in the parallel universe inside the camera. After facing his doubts and fears Jacob finally comes to realization that he has fulfilled his purpose and is now ready to live the rest of his days in peace. He decides to join Lauren by taking one last picture.
As this is my graduation film, the project certainly taught me many things. Firstly, I have learned a lot about filmmaking as I worked in collaboration with a Film Production student, Stoyan Gyurov. Secondly, I discovered many technical possibilities - I played with hair dynamics, clothing, texturing and lighting. This film was also an opportunity for me to broaden my skills in facial rigging and character development both in Maya and in Blender. I set a challenge and even though I may have made my life even harder, so to speak, I have learned to work on production using completely different tools.
This film is about making difficult choices. The story of Jacob and Lauren encompasses within itself many other stories where people go through the emotional spectre of grief, excitement, doubt and revelation. Even though Jacob’s world is dark and uncertain where people strive to make a living and others pursue wealth and dominance, there are powerful things such as family and duty that call for him to stay until he realizes that he did the best he could and it is now time to live the rest of his day in peace.