Memories

Reminiscent

As my Animation final project, I aimed to use a variety of techniques to elicit a wider range of emotions from the viewer. My priority had been mastering techniques up to that point since this was my first time doing animation. My initial thought was to create something that elicits joy as my homework always had a serious note, and I had greatly enjoyed some of my peers' work that made me laugh. Thus, I challenged myself to focus on telling a story of the familiar: to contrast innocent playfulness against the loss of one's precious childhood moments to a darker reality as time passes. This allowed for that lightheartedness but still let me leave the viewer with something deeper to contemplate by the end. I had a lot of fun sneaking in the twist ending—I did not want anyone to suspect the shift in tone so that it could have the most visceral impact possible. I tried to maintain balance with the imagery in a story of very few written words to keep it approachable, too. I did not want a short that only an art critique could enjoy.

Valeria

Valeria visits her mother for the first time after ten years and discloses how she lost her virginity, while there, something else is revealed. This film dives into the grim psychological effects that all sexual abuse survivors must endure.

Carrol Lynn

Set in rural Indiana, Carrol Lynn is the story of a mother (CARROL LYNN) & daughter (JENNY), told in two different eras of their lives. In the present, Jenny sits with her mother in hospice during her final hours. Carrol Lynn reminisces about the past as she slips in & out of lucidity. Jenny tries to comfort her while dealing with her complex feelings toward her mother. 

In the past, Carrol Lynn grapples with a strained relationship to her family and her own abusive tendencies. Jenny is forced to grow up in the wake of her mother’s whims. She has a seeming respite in her doting father Herbert, but things take an unexpected turn and life changes for all of them.

Tesoro

Riding through South Tucson and through time, an older man revisits the memories of his youth in the 60's as he prepares to sell his prized car. His Tesoro.

Distance

Fati meets Pascal in Jacmel, Haiti. This serendipitous rendezvous is short-lived once Fati returns home to New Orleans. Thereafter, distance becomes their relationship where Fati longs for Pascal's presence with oceans and borders between them.