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Sara Mizannojehdehi
Illustrator and Digital Storyteller
Briefly In Scenery
The Short Film
2022, Procreate, Premiere Pro, Illustrator
Does anyone like being alone? In her first year of university, that’s the Student’s biggest question. In a society that thrives on being social, the Student comes face to face with being alone, and she detests it. It‘s not until she realizes that being alone unleashes a magical other world made of the scenery surrounding her that she begins enjoying it. Can she stay there forever? Would she even want to?
The Short Film
The Posters
To explore poster design, I made five posters for my short film. Each of them explored a different aspect of the film.
The titular and nameless Student follows a five-part narrative arc. She begins her journey very lonely going from place to place around her school. No one can see Student‘s face as she has a cloud of leaves surrounding her face (exposition).
On a walk home, she discovers that when she’s alone, she can transform into the scenery around her with the cloud on her head (rising action).
As she explores her powers, she realizes that her loneliness disappears when she’s with the scenery (climax).
Suddenly, she sees three people “breaking” the magical world she had made her own. She chooses to leave the comfort of the scenery, reforming the cloud around her head, to talk to the three people (falling action).
As she chats, the cloud dissolves, and for the first time, we see her face. The final frame shows that the scenery lives on, but so does life without it (Resolution).
The storyline is simple: being alone and being social are balancing acts; you have to have both. The style of the story is inspired by my paintings, so the format of the story is half animated and half filmed.
Planning:
The Process
This animation took three months to create. In September, I did my initial planning. In October, I filmed, and in November, I finished the animation and final film.
September
Initial Planning
In September, I created the initial sketches, took references, and planned out my filming locations.
October
Filming and Editing
Despite many technical difficulties(including my SD card getting corrupted), we finished principal photography by the end of October.
November
Animation and Editing
Throughout the month, I complied the clips together in a cohesive manner and created animations that traced the walk of the Student from point A to B.
Symbolism
While creating the film, an element I consistently focused on was symbolism. I repeated several visual motifs and locations within the film in order to tie them to the other parts of the "Briefly in Scenery" project. Moreover, these symbols meant a lot to me.
Gingko Trees
Throughout my university experience, gingkos have always followed me around. The leaf feels like my personal good luck charm and I wanted to represent it here. Moreover, I wanted to represent shyness as feeling hidden under so many leaves.
The Lamps
Lamps to me symbolize home and safety. The sphyrical lamps that trace the Rideau Canal remind me of my childhood in Ottawa. Moreover, I've spent many of my walks under tall streetlights and I always feel at ease strolling beneath them.
Bronson Avenue and Preston Street
Both of these destinations are a part of my university experience. I treat them like my personal landmarks, so I wanted to highlight their significance in this short film. Moreover, they're my favourite streets in Ottawa.