The Lonely Orbit | Award-Winning Animated Sci-Fi Short Film
Leaving for his dream job, a satellite technician keeps solitude at bay by constantly texting with his old friends. After neglecting his duties a satellite leaves its orbit which causes the worlds network to collapse. A selection of Short of the Week, the web's leading curators of quality short films. SUBMIT A FILM: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/submit/ FULL REVIEW: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2021/01/28/the-lonely-orbit/ Subscribe to S/W on YouTube! Website: http://www.shortoftheweek.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ShortoftheWeek Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shortoftheweek Twitter: https://twitter.com/shortoftheweek The Lonely Orbit Directed by Frederic Siegel & Benjamin Morard https://www.teamtumult.ch/thelonelyorbit "Centred around themes of loneliness and isolation, subjects that have taken on extra significance over the past year or so, Benjamin Morard and Frederic Siegel’s The Lonely Orbit portrays a relatable, present-day situation, within an authentic futuristic world. Set in a “digital utopia”, this nine-minute animation tackles topical issues of how constant connectivity can lead us to feel disconnected with the real world with a fresh perspective and some stunning design work. The idea for The Lonely Orbit’s premise came to Siegel after he graduated from the Lucerne School of Art & Design and was struck with the reality of how “hard it is to keep friendships alive over a distance”. Moving their relationship into the digital realm, after years of spending every day together, the filmmaker explains how these changes led him to create the short’s celestial character. “Somehow this made me feel like a satellite; being constantly connected in a virtual sense, but actually separated over a huge distance”, Siegel reveals. Adding that he felt like we was “floating in an orbit” around his friends”, who were still holding him close with what he describes as “their gravitational pull”. “We live in a complex, global and digitalised society where our jobs and relationships determine our life choices and residency”, Siegel adds, as we discuss the motivations behind their short. “This can make people feel very lonely, but hyper-connected through digital media at the same time. So while we created a digital utopia, where you can connect to anyone in the world in the blink of an eye, everyone struggles with the balance of real and simulated connections and wishes himself/herself in a cozy bar from time to time”. Setting out to portray “the ambivalence of Social Media and technology in general”, though these are subjects well-probed in short film, Morard and Siegel inject a fresh perspective with a subtle Sci-fi setting, striking aesthetic and the inclusion of its orbiting satellite character. The futuristic twists to the world of The Lonely Orbit are unobtrusive, keeping the story grounded instead of delving into the realms of fantasy. While the visuals also to help to keep this balance, it would be churlish to talk about the style with mentioning just how stunning the design is – the attention to detail in their world is really impressive. However, it’s the aforementioned inclusion of the satellite, as a character, that truly won me over. Though our technician is front and centre of the story and he feels like the one we should really relate with (and we do), the directorial duo does a stellar job of assigning emotion to this communications tool. The eyes are often described as ‘the windows to the soul’ and Morard and Siegel tap into this by cleverly making the satellite’s camera feel as if it is allowing us a glimpse into its emotions. It’s reflective lens making it feel as if at times it is filling with tears as it gazes upon the world, listening to everyone else connect, while it drifts alone, desperate for contact of its own. We’ve felt an emotional connection to inanimate objects before, but by making us empathise with something designed to help others connect is an effective twist.."- S/W Curator Rob Munday Produced by Team Tumult Marwan Abdalla Eissa In coproduction with SRF Swiss Radio and Television Commisioning Editor Gabriela Bloch Steinmann Original Story by Frederic Siegel Layout and Backgrounds Nico Kast Frederic Siegel Animation and Clean-Up Frederic Siegel Benjamin Morard Justine Klaiber Nina Christen Estelle Gattlen Edit Benjamin Morard Compositing Marwan Abdalla Eissa Frederic Siegel Benjamin Morard Mentoring François Chalet Original Score by Luc Gut Sound Design & Mix Noisy Neighbours Kilian Vilim Thomas Gassmann Foley artist Dieter Hebben "Seabed Meditation" Written and performed by Norman Chambers "Coming Home" Written and performed by Geva Alon Voices Will Crook Estelle Gattlen Garrick James Lauterbach Galileo Disperati Tobias Fluck Eri Eitoku Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmakers.
