Drifting – 2014

View trailer here, if you like trailers.

When life’s stresses physically manifest themselves, Simon is left to survive in the middle of the ocean on an airplane wing, fishing for better memories and fruit candies.

Dir. Joel Benjamin
Sound by Bryen Hensley / RDS Chicago
Music by Sam Mewton

Technique: 2D/3D computer animation.

This film came about as a result of several things – mainly the desire to be able to finish something relatively quickly.  I’ve been working on a longer project for many years (since 2008) and was getting sick of not having anything new to show!

Also as a minor fear of flying. Growing up, my dad and I took ground school together, which made me simultaneously less afraid of flying and completely terrified.

The characters are all animals because before starting it seemed like they would be easier to animate, but I am also interested in the way that we relate to other creatures in dire circumstances and how it differs to how we relate to other people in the same situations. Plus, I LOVE Belly by Julia Pott and was totally inspired by her designs (except she’s 20x more amazing at illustration and design)

All animated in After Effects except the airplane, which was 3D (Maya)

Festivals/Screenings:

SCREENINGS & FESTIVALS

2015

 SPASM Cinema Insolite, Montreal, Canada (invited to submit)

Tally Shorts Film Festival, Tallahassee, FL USA

Taos Short Film Fest, Taos, New Mexico, USA

Festival Mauvais, Tours, France (invited to submit)

Athens Animfest, Athens, Greece

International Noncommercial Animation Festival, Dresdon, Saxony, Germany

Riverbend Film Festival, Southbend, IN USA

Imago Film Festival, Elgin, IL USA (invited to submit)

Free Film Festival, FL USA (online fest)

SCREENINGS & FESTIVALS

2014

Klik! International Animation Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL USA

Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol, UK

Kinofest, Bucharest, Romania

Festival Internacional de Animacion (FIDA), Chile

Mica Film Fest, Amazonia, Brazil

Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival, Kolkata India

Golden Orchid International Animation Festival, Penn State University, USA

Elgin Short Film Festival, Elgin, IL USA

Premiere IX, Chicago, IL USA

AWARDS

Silver Plaque Short Film: Animation Competition – Chicago International Film Fest

Festival 1st Prize, Best Animation – Elgin Short Film Festival

Stephen Susco Award: 1st Runner Up – River Bend Film Festival

Special Festival Mention – Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival

Best Animation, Nom. for Best Film, Production, Editing – Premiere IX

Thanks to Dustin Foster at Chop & Hue for cutting the trailer!