Adrift

Hey again, it's been a while.

If this feels like something I might have made ages ago (music video editing style, subject matter, etc), that's because it is. This is a project that has been in the works since 2014, the year I graduated high school. It's about the sort of summer I was having at the time, where you find yourself just counting down the days until things change. Because it's very directly about that, and it was all A Bit Too Real at the time, I ran out of steam and stopped. Fast forward to 2020. I'm very far removed from that original situation, but the feelings of being lost in time and missing friends are suddenly forced into the foreground again, so I picked up the project again and finally finished it.

When I looked at this again, I found a little short of a minute of rendered video and complete storyboards. Due to a heavy dose of hubris and an unfortunate backup mishap, the project files from 2014 are lost to time. I think this actually helped me finish the animation, though: it's pretty freeing when what's done has been set in stone. Past me started using pretty generic character designs and sets, but that part can't be changed any more! Present me is absolved of responsibility! I just followed my 2014 storyboards, executing what my past self wanted to the best of my present self's abilities.

Given how 2020 has been going so far, I hope this resonates with a few people. At least making it has been a welcome distraction. It's probably the most I've enjoyed working on an animation in a long time, so maybe I'll keep this quarantine momentum going and start something else soon.