Baton |Short film (READ DESCRIPTION FOR CONTEXT)

Growth in everything you do, it’s just exhaustion and mistakes, achievements, embarrassment and pride are all part of growth, so be kind to yourself (I say this calmly to people in my life and yell this my myself)
This took me 4-5 months to make and whenever people would ask me what my film was about, I would say it was about a girl having an extensional crisis in the woods, because I was embarrassed to say it out loud since this film hit kinda personally for me; I was never to say it out loud but I also wanted to express my thought, feelings and emotions. So if this somehow resonated with someone, that makes me really happy.
This film served as an allegory to creating art.
The reason this world is set in a forest is because I view the artist's journey as living in a forest.
When you start off living in a forest, there is no order or direction on how you learn to thrive, you just learn different techniques and go from there. You can be scared, you can be fascinated by the environment around you.
I’ve most often seen the artist's journey visualized with a mountain or a pillar because art seems to feel like a “hierarchy” depending on “how talented you are” . I am no exception, I feel that way too sometimes. But having a forest in my head instead, it always me to shift my point of view, telling me that the forest has no hierarchy because we are all in one environment.
I know personally that artists are the biggest perfectionists you will ever meet and sometimes we find ourselves staggered and not able to create anything quote on quote “good”
Mistakes are a part of growth so I added them in the end credits. For me personally, whenever I’d feel guilty for creating a random doodle and not a masterpiece, I think back to my sister telling me that that random doodle wasn’t a waste of time because I was inevitably going to draw it eventually; now it’s out of my system and I can think of other concepts. And maybe that doodle was just for me and no one else and it was created solely to make me happy, and that has just as much value as anything else I might create.
The train kinda served as a metaphor of a ticking time bomb of “missed opportunities” due to time passing you by. I know from experience that train stations are one of the most stressful places on earth, both metaphorically and physically because “once the train leaves, it’s never coming back”; or at least it’s not going to come back for a long while.
I originally struggled with coming up with a conclusion as I didn’t want it to end with my character ending wood carving all together because that wasn’t the message I was looking for. I didn’t want “conteness” as a conclusion but I also wanted to be kind to my character and truly make her breath before trying again.
(Art is very creative but very repetitive so that’s why I chose woodcarving)
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There’s this quote I heard about a month ago with this guy who sang for Hermès in Epic: The Musical. The songwriter for Epic was talking about how he got into music for joy and sometimes with his “Go go go!!” Mentality, he can’t feel it anymore. And Hermès response with,
“I have been running my entire life. And I don’t know if it helps or not but it doesn’t stop and there’s nothing bad about that cause there’s energy in it. And sometimes it’s nice to slow down and enjoy the view but there’s nothing like the wind in your hair.
So if you’re going to go fast, at least have fun with it.”
And of course the scene was scripted but it doesn’t make it any less real. Cause most people got into art through their own will. I’m just saying, statistically speaking, pursuing art is a common parent’s worst nightmare.
Creation can be expressive as much as it can be stressful so be kind to yourself (I’m saying that calming to you and yelling that to myself)
Thank you for watching, listening and observing. I hope you liked it.
______
Soundtrack:
[Lusinox OST - UNFATED ENCOUNTER/Sage 1] by Alex Hoang/lowercasenine
• Lusinox OST - UNFATED ...
[Empty World] by Martynas Lau (Whitesand)
• Whitesand - Empty Worl...
[Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Meditation/Return to Earth (From "Soul"/Audio Only)] by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (DisneyMusicVEVO
• Trent Reznor and Attic...
[Nimona's Theme] by Christophe Beck
• Nimona's Theme
Background music:
[Nothing Blooms] by Travis Saul
• Nothing Blooms
Unseelie:
[CLANN - Seelie [12" Vinyl Recording]] (Unseelie) by CLANN
• CLANN - Seelie [12" Vi...
[Us (2005 Remaster)] by Regina Spektor
• Us (2005 Remaster)

[@_mokk]

Que animação incrível! :0

[@carmenzaperdomo7806]

Great work! 👏

[@olivercalza1645]

Wow!

[@EliCastillo-lg9em]

Ok this has to win best picture at film fest

[@florahasche8563]

This was actually so perfect for my day. I had a berry frustrating day at my pottery class, where nothing I did worked. I actually ended up throwing my clay at the wall at the end. I think this was the universe telling me to not give up. Not just yet. Thank you🫶

[@Rin_Azurine]

I’m so happy my film was able to reach you and make you happy. Good luck with the pottery; art and creation thrive on fun and enjoyment

[@hananaro1987]

This is amazing!!!