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Unspoken System
︎DIRECTION
Through our personal experiences, we’ve noticed how it’s easier to be a follower — whether it's buying something just because everyone else has it or choosing not to speak up against injustices. A lot of times, we choose the easy way out and follow the crowd. The repetition of this behavior defines the rules of society. There are norms and values that individuals in society are supposed to observe and uphold. This accumulated pressure and expectation to fit in creates an inescapable cycle and can result in negative consequences on a person’s wellbeing. We want to bring awareness to the corruption in society through the exploration of motion storytelling.
Through our personal experiences, we’ve noticed how it’s easier to be a follower — whether it's buying something just because everyone else has it or choosing not to speak up against injustices. A lot of times, we choose the easy way out and follow the crowd. The repetition of this behavior defines the rules of society. There are norms and values that individuals in society are supposed to observe and uphold. This accumulated pressure and expectation to fit in creates an inescapable cycle and can result in negative consequences on a person’s wellbeing. We want to bring awareness to the corruption in society through the exploration of motion storytelling.
︎SUMMER 2021
︎COLLAB
︎SHORT FILM
︎MOTION
︎AWARDS
Communication Arts Design Annual 63
Young Ones ADC Student 2022 (Merit)
Indigo Awards 2022 (Gold in Mixed Media/Moving Image, Student)
︎COLLAB
︎SHORT FILM
︎MOTION
︎AWARDS
Communication Arts Design Annual 63
Young Ones ADC Student 2022 (Merit)
Indigo Awards 2022 (Gold in Mixed Media/Moving Image, Student)
︎CREDITS
Art Direction: Tiffany Shen, Cathy Xiao
Conformity: Tiffany Shen
Ignorance: Cathy Xiao
Liberation: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen
︎SPECIAL THANKS
Miguel Lee—Professor
Phoebe Hsu—Mental Support
Art Direction: Tiffany Shen, Cathy Xiao
Conformity: Tiffany Shen
Ignorance: Cathy Xiao
Liberation: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen
︎SPECIAL THANKS
Miguel Lee—Professor
Phoebe Hsu—Mental Support
I. CONFORMITY
From a young age, we are taught to fit in, despite our innate desires to be different. As we grow up, we start to branch off and find ourselves. Society punishes those who refuse to conform by ostracizing and pressuring those individuals.
For our lighting, we decided to have clean and brightly lit lighting to give the feeling of a cold cubical office. To tie the abstract concept to reality, we continued the office reference into the textures to give a sense of familiarity to the audience.
Our camera throughout this piece is very simple because we want to show the system from this voyeuristic camera style and give direct focus to the hero disk.
II. IGNORANCE
We are natural followers. Our instinct to stay in line can be so overwhelming to the point where we become oblivious to our surroundings. The ignorance has ingrained into ourselves that it slowly encroaches on our life, resulting in severe consequences.
In this piece, we wanted to use a dramatic and epic style of camera work. To emphasize the bleak mood, we used a darker color palette with a minimal soundtrack of drum beats to create a build-up of tension with each scene.
For the overall atmosphere, we used heavy fog to create this gloomy and ominous feeling. As for the texture, we decided to use a rock texture as a universal appearance for the objects to continue to the idea of conformity in this society.
III. LIBERATION
We all have dreams and aspirations. The desire to want more drives us towards our goals. We can be blinded by our ambitions and become ignorant towards the sacrifices we have to make to get there.
This last piece uses a strong contrast of warm to cool to emphasize the difference between the first and second world but to also give a strong impression that the two worlds are different.
This plays a strong role narratively as the result is a reflection of where the hero cube originally began. For the texture, we chose industrial concrete for its versatility to show cracks and imperfections as well as become a polished and refined stone.
