ROOTS
A conceptual visualization of a fragmented ego.
the film
This is an story about me, myself and I, about the path and journey that led me to this exact moment. A love letter to my past self and a reminder that even if my ego shattered in thousand pieces they’re always be a part of me.
inside the roots
trust the process
Started to develop this film with the idea of putting together abstract symbolism to represent the Ego, the Shadow and the Self; Rocks served as the main character for this.
Combining different techniques and looking for a dark and intriguing pace was the way to go for the story i wanted to tell on this, used blender for the majority of this film including sculpting.
inSIDE THE FREQUENCIES
Friedrich Gattermann
One of the aspects that caught my attention early on was Ignis' masterful use of contrasts, which I was determined to incorporate into my composition. I quickly sketched out some ideas and realized that a consistent motif ("Motif A") was essential for the soundtrack to provide a cohesive thread through the many fragments. I deliberately chose this short and concise motif, heavily influenced by Volker Bertelsmann's remarkable work for "All Quiet On The Western Front," because of its versatility. Depending on the harmonic context, it can convey a sense of threat and strength or evoke a restrained and calm atmosphere. To express the film's contrasts more effectively, I decided on a hybrid orchestration. For bright scenes, high strings and choir play a significant role, while for darker scenes, the focus shifts to brass, low strings, low synthesizers and low woodwinds (contrabass clarinet and contrabassoon).
As a composer, I found the transition between these two orchestral colors particularly exciting. I also emphasized this visual change by altering the acoustic instruments in the soundtrack with distortion effects or slight retuning. The human voice also plays a pivotal role in the soundtrack. There are recurring moments where various effects applied to the voice create a celestial sound, drawing a parallel to the film's theme. In essence, the soundtrack weaves together diverse elements and contrasts to mirror the film’s narrative journey, resulting in a rich and unified sonic tapestry.
“Upon watching the film for the first time, I immediately knew that the score should center around the concept of fragments merging into a greater whole.”
AN ORIGIN STORY
MY ROOTS
Year was 2015, I was passing through a major depression as I wasn’t in the place i wanted to be.
20 years old and lost, started my creative journey that same year involving myself into music composition as a way of escapism on my life problems which I won’t refer to in this essay unless they’re strictly necessary to understand the path of my creative journey.
My first song was called Interlude, an orchestral mock up that reflected the pain I was feeling in that moment, nothing fancy just a way to express something.
After a major relationship breakup that same year I decided to go by and start my creative journey in a more serious way as I felt so comfortable passing time with sounds and creating melodies.
This led me to start music composition first as a way to understand the process of writing music in a more relaxed way.
2020 was intense, as this was the year i started creating digital art in a more serious way.
I asked Fvckrender how much it will cost to create a music video for my composition and at that time was unreachable for me so I thought why don’t I learn to do it myself?
For those 3D artists reading this you can understand the complexity of creating photorealistic art in a digital medium, something i didn’t realize u til i was learning after effects the same year.
Did some edits that i could compose on top to create the style you can see today in all my compositions which every musical element is attached to something happening inside the screen.
The same year Labs community approach me because they liked a lot what I did with their vst’s combined with my free footage edit, this was ‘Twin Suns’, a dystopian edit about the appearance of a second sun in our solar system and erasing life on earth. This was the first time i won something with my art and were my manifestations became true, they gift me a few spitfire instruments to keep creating and i was so happy that finally someone was noticing what i was starting to build; huge shoutout to Labs community for being the first ones to ever get in touch with me relating to my art.
With that confidence at a 200% i started to going further and deeper.
Was around November and i wrote a short story called “Remembrance in the Abyss”, in the edit i realized how much I was needing to create my own videos for the things I wanted to put on this vision.
So, I downloaded Blender, a free 3D software with an insane potential but a pretty difficult learning curve, after a few months i started creating things that i‘ve been always dream off. At the same time NFT’s came along and also a way to make a living of my art if i could concrete a sale, SignArt was the first platform that i applied and got accepted, Retratos collection was my genesis, a collection of 7 sculptures that represent this 6 year journey of pain, healing and self sabotage.
Not even a day pass by and I had my first offer by a collector that will absolutely change my life and the one who accompanied me for the two next years I was creating with a purpose of purely and solely expression and skill development.
2021
December 2021, I bring to life ‘Transfiguration’ my first real short film and a basis for an style that until today I’ve been building upon, with Foundation as the main platform for publishing that time, this was my genesis and after a few minutes of minting a collector bid on it, I was extremely for it and i couldn’t believe it, was the first time that I published my work for a relatively expensive price but one that I thought it was the minimum I could accept for it.
As Transfiguration represents my metamorphosis into my artistic journey
2022, my brother told me about an Unreal engine worldwide competition, the goal, creating an animation under a minute made and rendered on the software, a software i didn’t touch before but I had some prior experience on blender so, why not?
A few weeks before the ending of the deadline, I started developing a trailer for an episode of the Remembrance in the Abyss saga called “The Artifact”, when I finish putting together some of the concepts I ask one of my favorite Artists and that now I have the honor to call them friends, Sombre lux and Triple null, they bring together their talents for the vision I had in mind and after a few reviews we finish it and we won.
This chapter of my story marks an start on my ongoing festival circuit, the international film festival of Guadalajara invited me to go and present the project on the big screen, was an unforgettable experience were I met talents from all around the globe, I remember I look at myself at the mirror of the hotel and say how proud of me I was, after all the pain, after all the sweet, the tears and the void I was living in, I figure it out, I was accomplishing one of my dreams
That catapulted me to keep digging into my art, keep learning new skills and developing more complex ideas of what I wanted to really do in my future and one of my solid foundations to the story I am still working on.
This story has let me to this moment, I began to develop all the skills necessary to fulfill this vision
And became a complex interconnected world that reflects on a message I want to pass on the moment I’m away from this realm of existence.
This are my Roots, this short film embodies my journey and in the most direct way is a part of me that I fragmented for you.
ROOTS
DIRECTOR/CGI/EDIT - Ignacio Santander.
SCORE/SFX - Friedrich Gattermann.