> cat ./story.txt

Behind the Scenes

Glitch was a two-year endeavor. The actual shoot spanned only six days, split between a summer and a winter shoot while I was in college. The VFX work is what consumed the remaining time — every shot was painstakingly composed, often from scratch in 3D.

Adapting Plato's Cave

The film is a direct adaptation of Plato's Cave Allegory, which I studied deeply during an intro to philosophy course in college. By the end of that semester, I felt a strong command of the material and knew I wanted to translate it to the screen. What drives the film beyond a straightforward retelling is the twist at the end — an extension of the conversation Plato himself was trying to have.

Non-Linear by Necessity

My first draft told the story linearly, and it felt predictable. Splicing the narrative into sections, jumping between them, created mystery. It demanded more from the audience, and that was the point. This film is what sparked my lasting interest in non-linear storytelling.

The Mise-en-Scène

Every frame in Glitch carries deliberate visual references. I studied paintings — classical compositions, religious iconography — and recreated them inside the film's world to serve the story. The result is a kind of visual poetry layered beneath the surface. You could call it mise-en-scène, but it's closer to painting with light and bodies.

Genre as a Tool

Glitch refuses a single genre: it is, at once, a melodrama, a science fiction film, a silent film, and a philosophical allegory. The silent-film constraint was intentional — telling a story without a single spoken word, relying entirely on image and sound design, was the challenge I wanted to take on.

BTS Reels

VFX Breakdown

The visual effects were the bulk of the two-year timeline. Every environment, every floating island, every capsule chamber — all built and rendered from scratch in Blender (Cycles + Eevee), then composited in After Effects. Additional compositing tests include green screen plates, peeking shots, and foreground passes.

The Island — Work in Progress

The floating utopian island, the film's defining location, went through multiple iterations — from blockout to final composite.

The Capsule Chamber

Where humanity sleeps. Multiple render passes were needed to achieve the sterile, liminal atmosphere.

Environment Tests

Concept renders, lighting studies, and composition explorations that shaped the film's visual language.

VFX Reels