Eutropia
year
2024
type
Short Film
software
After Effect, Photoshop
project details
Using rhetoric devices, we were tasked with creating a short film that highlights the city's moral:
You should focus on internal change of self because that joy will last longer than relying on change of external circumstances.
"Invisible Cities"
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is framed as a fictional conversation between the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, as he details the cities he has visited. Each city is a commentary on time, life, memory, and the overall human experience. This film focuses on the city of Eutropia
"Eutropia is not one city but all these cities,
Only one inhabited at a time, the others are empty,
When inhabitants can no longer bear life,
the whole citizenry decides to move to the next city,
Inhabitants repeat the same scenes, with actors changed,
Among the empire, Eutropia remains the same,
Eutropia."
Thought Process
I analyzed each line of text thoroughly. Breaking down what it means and how the composition, design and scenario could suppot the line. Below is a conceptual breakdown of one of the shots.
"Eutropia is not one city but all these cities"
the idea
Scenario: The citizens of Eutropia are stuck in a rut. They seek change, make changes to their life, but don't change on the inside, keeping their lives stagnant and unfulfilled.
Moral: Focus on internal change of self because that joy will last longer than relying on change of external situations.
To convey the scenario and moral, a flower vase symbolizes Eutropia, with the flower representing its people–an apt metaphor for city's restless pursuit of renewal and identify.
word to picture
design
composition
A flower vase symbolizes Eutropia, with the flowers representing its people. The shot begins with a single vase filled with flowers, then pans down to reveal multiple empty vases–visually expressing that Eutropia is not one, but many.
The citizens seek change, make changes, but don't really change on the inside. While this keeps their lives structures, it also keeps it stagnant. Using a grid to convey this along with a sense of figure ground with the little people throughout the animation. The citizens are empty on the inside even though they go places. A moving paper texture is used in large empty, graphic spaces to highlight that it is empty.
The repeating pattern of vases creates a structured complexity that mirrors the intricate nature of Eutropia. The enclosed composition, with vases confined at all sides, evokes a sense of entrapment–reflecting how the city's citizens are bound by their own cyclical way of thinking.
Styleframes
