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A Void

Award winning short film inspired by the hypnotic qualities of the sea.

Fig.01. — A Void is vast, but never empty

i. Project Background
My multi award-winning second short film, A Void, is an audio-visual meditation inspired by the sea — not in its scenic calm, but in its hypnotic, overwhelming, and at times unsettling vastness.

The starting point was Charles Bukowski’s poem "As the spirit wanes the form appears", a line that captures the essence of reductionism with haunting precision. That concept — that as excess fades, raw form emerges — became the thematic anchor for the film.

Fig.02. — Soundwaves

Client:
Me, myself & I

Product:
Short Film, Self-initiated

Year:
2017

Design, direction, animation:

Joseph Hodgson

Music & Sound Design:
Franck Aubry

Designed @:
Racecar

Awards:
Gold winner in the Open Class category at Visuelt
Golden Gunnar for Best Short Film at Fredrikstad Animation Festival
Finalist at the European Design Awards: Motion Graphics category

ii. Process & Result
I set out to create something deliberately sparse: minimal in dialogue, limited in palette, and stripped of narrative structure. And yet, in that simplicity, I aimed to explore complex emotional terrain — a tension between claustrophobia and calm, loneliness and intrigue. A sensory experience that raises as many questions as it answers.

A Void plays in the space between conscious and subconscious — unsettling but not unkind, abstract but emotionally pointed. It hints at the sinister while never fully revealing it, allowing the viewer to project, interpret, and reconsider.

Despite its modest beginnings and minimalist approach, the film is built to linger — both visually and psychologically.

A Void went on to screen at multiple international film festivals, winning numerous awards and collecting praise, notably winning Gold at the Visuelt design competition with the jury noting that they were:

“...mesmerised by the film's beautiful movement which behaves like a living organism, with a symbiosis between image and music. Everything from the typography to the colour palette is implemented and executed with a masterful eye for detail. We wanted to watch it again and again, and the film became stronger with each viewing.”
— Visuelt Jury

Fig.03. — The calm before the storm

Fig.04. — As above, so below

Fig.05. — A vast ocean

Fig.06. — Message in a bottle

Fig.07. — A life line

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