“The Midnight Sun” By Connor Radding

Synopsis

A park ranger is disoriented by her internal desire to find a missing boy. An animated short film about isolation, loss, and the search for meaning.

Directors statement

This films follows Allison, an isolated park ranger struggling with an internal sense of loss while battling external conflicts in her environment. The topics this short film cover are quite personal to me, mainly when it comes to dealing with isolation. Creating this short was an incredibly isolating experience, yet that sense of longing always lingers thru the darkness and keeps you searching for the meaning of something you don't even know the outcome to. Quite existential in concept, but I strived to visually portray that sense of internal anxiety through the structure of the film. Aesthetically, this animated short is meant to capture a beauty through the environments, juxtaposed by the internal/external destruction from the main character.

This short film took about 2 years to make, while predominately being a solo project besides my composer and the voice actors. One of the biggest challenges was creating this short film while also working full-time. Luckily, I managed to get through that process and happy to finally have this film out for others to see!

Credits

Written, Directed, and Animated by Connor Radding
Composer: Michael Bryan Stein
Comp and Sound Mix: Connor Radding
Voices: Keaton Talmage, Dana Miller, Alaina Wis, Jay Shipman, and Christopher Nguyen

Made at UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television

“The Midnight Sun” was submitted to us by Connor Radding. Have a film of your own you’d like us to check out? Click here!