Passage
Animated Short - Writer, Director, Production Designer, Co-Producer
Trapped in a state of limbo, a young Indian immigrant confronts the fractured reality of the American Dream
In response to divisions within immigrant communities during Trump's presidency in 2016, we created Passage to offer an intimate, personal narrative that resonates beyond cultural boundaries. Like a visual essay, it weaves memory and emotion into a universal story of belonging, allowing viewers to see their own journeys reflected in its telling.
Character Design
We approached character design with careful consideration for authentic representation, especially of our Indian female protagonist. While keeping the designs simple and relatable, we avoided cultural stereotypes. The supporting characters are inspired by real people, their stories woven into our stylized world - reflecting the diverse yet universal immigrant experience of fear, loss, and hope.
Color Scripts
Passage is driven strongly by mood and color. Like each stanza of a poem, every vignette in the film has its own color scheme that blends seamlessly into the next.
Animation & Compositing
These segments were created using digital 2D frame-by-frame animation. During compositing, the dark line with the details and shadows were rendered separately and each color was placed in a separate layer, loosely inspired by the same process that is used in screen and woodcut printing.
