It’s finally finished! The short film that I began work on nearly a year ago having NEVER animated anything before. Other than messing with the software, this animation became a commitment of mine that I had to completely self teach to even start. It seems crazy in hindsight, and whilst I could say I did it for the sake of learning, or accountability, or as a challenge, really I simply just wanted to play Outer Wilds again.
I wanted to have this large, unknowable story to slowly piece together through storyboards and animatics. I wanted to slowly learn rules and methods that allowed me to progress further and faster than I ever had before. I wanted to hit barriers that forced me to use curiosity and what I’ve learned to find a way through. I wanted a reason to revisit the vistas, caves, and glades I once explored. I wanted to connect with the characters I came to cry over in a new way. I wanted to finish something, and be able to sit back and lament on everything it took to get there. In all those ways, working on this project was the closest I could ever come to a second playthrough of Outer Wilds.
And boy did I learn a lot. Every frame was a new series of prompts and challenges to overcome. It was extremely gratifying to work on, especially as someone who usually struggles to finish pieces of art. And even though on the day of it's release I was crawling, tiredly grinding out the final few shots to reach my deadline, I can't say I ever lost passion for this project.
Outer Wilds is a game that, in many ways, unlocked me emotionally, and I hope to release a video on exactly why at some point in the future. But throughout the last tumultuous years it has remained a constant in my life, and this film is a response to that.
So thank you Mobius Digital. Thank you for making me curious, for making me cry, for creating this platform to learn, and especially for making all the stars in the sky seem that little bit closer.