Brother’s Crossing
2022/2023 - 06:27
Lost in a mysterious forest, Jon desperately attempts to relive happy memories that they shared with their brother, Charlie. Yet, as they find these memories brutally interrupted by a horrific train, they are forced to reckon with the grim truth of the last moment they shared together. It’s only through facing this final memory that they have any hope of being able to start moving through their grief.
Made using a blend of medias, Brother’s Crossing combines charcoal-on-paper animation and live action backgrounds with digital 2D characters. Each technique denoting a different element to Jon’s perspective.
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Starring:
Jon: Clemente Lohr
Charlie: Jake McCallum
Director / Animator: Donovan Lenten
Writers: Alfie Flewitt, Jack Verhaeg, Donovan Lenten
Producer: Yumeng Zhang
Cinematographer: Toby Elwes
Production Designer: Dominika Rakoczy
Production Managers: Helena Hunt, Gemma Wilks, Sophie Foxley
Editor: Billy Morley
Sound Designer: Siim Skepast
Composer: Jack McKenzie
Online Editor / Colour Grader: Nathaniel Skeels
Additional Writer: Remy Madge
Behind The Scenes
Early concept art, depicting a bonfire in the forest. Focusing on lighting, vibe and depth.
Initial experiments testing the forced perspective of the trees.
Cinematographer Toby Elwes and production designer Dominika Rakoczy set dressing to camera.
Two sizes of model train - the larger for closeups and the smaller for deeper in the forest.
The train in the spinny sequence is a series of small lights, attached to some spare train track, which is taped to spare prop trees, which are in turn secured to a rotating cube.
Reference footage for the charcoal animation of the interior train.
Animating charcoal frames under a rostrum.
Animation assistant Louis Kuitton sitting ~on~ the charcoal frame.