FINAL RESULT
The final piece ended up being a total length of one minute and fifty seconds, and the project timeline, from ideation and pitch day to submission day, spanned a single spring semester! Enjoy the short film and check out below to see the process!
PROCESS
✧ . *
PROCESS ✧ . *
IN SEQUENCE
SENIOR THESIS SHORT FILM
01.
02.
THE OBJECTIVE
The objective was to end with a piece that presents a clear, refined sequence of events that is engaging to watch. It should tell a story that conveys a theme or moral that ‘evokes’ an emotion out of the audience. The work must also be non-commercial.
Although the narrative can be expressive, it still needs to communicate a clear idea to the audience. This was not meant to be a fine arts project where personal expression outweighs viewer understanding, and clarity of communication should remain essential.
BEAT 1 — BEFORE: SOFTNESS / FLEXIBILITY
Purpose: Establish contrast. Show what will be lost.
Visual language:
Warm light
Loose compositions
Open space
Time feels abundant
Scenario ideas:
Alarm snoozed multiple times while birds chirp in the window
An unmade bed at noon, sunlight drifting across the room, music playing
Shoes kicked off near the door, never placed neatly, front door left ajar
A view of a well-decorated fridge with the TV playing a sitcom in the background
This is not “childhood”, it’s pre-obligation adulthood.
A loose, warmly lit space shows time and responsibility as optional, establishing a state
of ease that will later be constrained.
IDEATION
SCENARIO:
Exploring the discomfort of transitioning into adulthood through everyday, realistic environments that visually contrast freedom, softness, and possibility with rigidity, responsibility, and constraint.
THE MESSAGE:
Adulthood isn’t a moment you “arrive” at, it’s a series of uncomfortable trades.
The world doesn’t change for us. We change inside it.
Not triumphant. Not tragic. Honest.
RENDER STYLE:
-2D
-Cel animation
-Tactile
ESTIMATED LENGTH: 2:00
CONCEPT/IT-FACTOR:
The piece evokes the feeling of becoming an adult by:
showing what is gained
showing what is sacrificed
never explaining it outright
The audience isn’t told what to feel; they recognize themselves in moments they’ve
already lived.
STRUCTURE:
Problem-focused → experiential → perspective shift → quiet victory
uncomfortable → uncomfortable → uncomfortable → perspective flip → victory
03.
PRE-PRODUCTION
Now that the scenario, concept, and general base of the idea have been established, we move into fleshing out the actual beats in the story structure. With a story like mine that heavily relies on what the audience perceives on screen, using visual metaphors, this part is especially crucial to give attention to.
This step preps us for the storyboarding phase, where we bring the beats to life to visualize our final scene in a rough format.
BEAT 2 — FIRST UNCOMFORTABLE POINT
Purpose: Introduce friction with adult systems.
Visuals tied to reality:
A cramped office desk with no personalization, a sterile and clean-cut environment
A packed subway car where bodies must compress, it arrives late
A kitchen sink filled, trash waiting to be taken out
The space doesn’t care about the person in it.
The environment tightens as rigid adult systems introduce friction, signaling that space and time no longer adapt to the individual.
BEAT 5 — PERSPECTIVE FLIP
Purpose: Reframe the same environments to show adaptation through structure
rather than escape.
Visual idea:
The same spaces from earlier, now framed differently
The desk is still small — but organized, aligned into a clear grid
The calendar is full — but intentional, time blocks become ordered and deliberate
The subway is crowded — but moving forward, arriving on time
The world has not loosened its constraints as it continues, as it always has.
The interpretation changed, not the world.
The environment reorganizes into visible structure and flow, reflecting how
Adaptation comes from working within constraints rather than waiting for them to disappear.
BEAT 3 — SECOND UNCOMFORTABLE POINT (ESCALATION)
Purpose: Show repetition and pressure.
Scenarios:
Calendar blocks are stacking tighter and tighter
A paycheck notification immediately followed by a rent request, leaving notification badges multiplying across a screen
TV playing the news with cars honking in the street outside, the fridge is no longer well decorated
The discomfort is not dramatic — it’s persistent.
Repetition builds pressure as obligations stack continuously, turning small moments into a persistent, inescapable weight.
Proof provided to show the ability to execute the desired render style
BEAT 4 — SACRIFICE (THE COST)
Purpose: Answer “What is sacrificed to get what you want?”
Visual metaphors grounded in reality:
A plant slowly wilting on a desk due to fluorescent lighting from a lamp bulb
A favorite jacket hung untouched in a closet
Takeout containers replacing home-cooked meals
This is the emotional center. No commentary. Just observation.
Subtle losses appear through everyday objects and routines, revealing what is quietly given up to function.
FINAL ANIMATIC
BEAT 6 — QUIET VICTORY
Purpose: Resolve without pretending adulthood feels good.
Victory ≠ comfort.
Victory = continuation.
Scenarios:
Setting an alarm and getting up immediately, while the room is set neatly. Not in chaos, seasoned and matured with order and care
Dishes stacked neatly and clean, new memories on the fridge
The plant moved into the windowsill filled with light again, and it’s grown bigger than before
Ending on motion, not stillness.
The sequence ends with continued motion through responsibility, defining success not as comfort, but as sustained forward movement.
STORYBOARDS FOR BEATS 5 + 6
At this point, the animatic is constructed to use as a base or a reference to work off of in the production phase. Most of the audio and sound effects used in this stage are not final, as are the visuals. The red arrows show what parts are moving or animating in each scene.
STORYBOARDS FOR BEATS 3 + 4
STORYBOARDS FOR BEATS 1 + 2
FINAL RESULT
The final result resembled something a lot more intimate than I had originally imagined. It unintentionally became more personal, which was widely well-received by the peers I received critique from through the process!