This short film was presented at the Electronic Theater at Siggraph this year in San Diego. A troubled young woman finds an unexpected surprise in this highly emotional and beautiful tale. This short film features some of the most advanced and complex facial expressions I have ever seen Truly impressive both technically and artistically. Armed with nothing but his trusty Athlon 1.4 Ghz, 3ds max and a lot of patience, created this true little masterpiece. Bravo!

Interview by Jean-Eric Hénault

CGC: This is obviously not your first project like this, what’s your professional background?

LK: After teaching myself how to use 3DS Max around 4 years ago, I produced an animated short that got me my first job at the video game company, Team17. I spent a couple of years animating for the 'Worms' games before moving to Core Design where I worked as a character modeler and texturer. Last month I left Core Design to be a part of a new video game company called Circle Studio.

click image above to watch video (26.1 mb)

CGC: Could you tell us where the inspiration came to create this short film?

LK: A few years ago, while traveling by train, I noticed a young mother and her baby sitting across from me, and found myself observing the way this mother and child were communicating with one another. Without any need for words, they were simply 'reading' each other's faces, picking up on body language and each deriving meaning from these signals. It was this innate bond that a woman has with a child that I wanted to capture, using my CG and observational skills I had acquired over the years; and through the movie, allowing the viewer care and believe in this inseparable relationship between the two. It took a couple of years before I felt the moment was right to take this challenge on.