through the structure of irvin yalom's four existential concerns, my 2022 sva thesis film, existential, highlights a fourth grader named apple attempting to deal with an existential crisis spurred by the death of her pet fish.
with this film i hoped to express the intense, emotional, unconventional, and all encompassing experience of existential dread in childhood. my goal in production was to work within a non-linear storytelling format and explore the use of experimental visuals. salil bhayani and his team at camp studio helped me to fulfill my creative vision by engineering the score and sound design for this film.
Watch the film here!
existential was chosen for the sva bfa animation highlights of 2022 and film festival submission program. it's been featured in festivals internationally, some highlights including the 2023 ASifa east animation festival, 2022 asifa hollywood student animation showcase, and more. this project was completed with help from the sva animation thesis finishing grant.
Existential Film Stills
Development
I animated entirely in TVPaint and composited in After Effects.
All of the lighting and shading was done in compositing. I
experimented a lot with collaging digital textures to create
the glitch effects throughout the film. I also played around with distorted
live action footage, most of which i shot at the santa cruz beach boardwalk,
a seaside amusement park in my hometown that inspired the background designs
of the epilogue.
Glitch Texture Exploration
