Found

Sometime in September, Sunday, 7am.  Manhattan.

Sitting on a park bench in front of a Korean deli, locked out of my building.  It was a gorgeous cool morning typical of early September and it was hard for me to be grumpy about my predicament.  The sun was coming up later and lower.  A piece of paper blew up against my foot.   I picked it up.  This is what it said:

“You found me,
I was not lost.

You tethered me,
I could not drift.

You anchored me,
I could not float.

There was pressure.”

A powerful moment.  Immediately I started relating this poem to myself.  Was this about my relationships to family and work?  Is this how I feel about God?  As time went on, and the words etched themselves in my daily life, I began to only think about the anonymous author.  I tried an obligatory Google search to no avail.  The author is, and probably forever will be, unknown to me.

I began to conceive of a film based on a speculation of this unknowable author. There was an intrinsic tension to the abstract verses, one line implied gratitude while the next deferred it. I felt like the visuals needed to follow this structure, abstract enough to allow the viewer to project their own meaning onto the film while providing a visual tension as a context for the words themselves.

As a challenge, we decided to shoot and finish in 3D stereo. Technical workflows aside, we really wanted to see if stereo could enhance a visceral experience. Could it engage the viewer at a deeper level by allowing for a more immersive connection to the visual? We completed the film in progressive, full color fidelity 3D, for easiness of viewing an anaglyph version is provided below.

Credits

Produced by Nice Shoes
Director: Brian Levi Bowman
Producers: Christos Mountzouros, Barry Gilbert
Director of Photography: Rod Lamborn
Music: Cliff Martinez

Cast
Woman - Stef van der Laan
Child - Kayla Bowman

Design and Animation
Senior Compositor: Joe Lawrence
Compositor: Danny Princz
Compositor: Josh Laurence
Compositor: Daniel Pernikoff
Compositor: Kristin Koch
CG Artist: Andy Mai
CG Artist: Ryan DeCarlo
Designer: Kit Lam
Typography: Eve Weinberg
Colorist: Ron Sudul
Editor: Brian Bowman
Assistant Editor: Tony Dolezal

Live Action
Line Producer: Barry Gilbert
Visual Effects Supervisor: Mark Read
1st Assistant Camera: Jim Hair
2nd Assistant Camera: Mike Indursky
Stereographer: Eric Robertson
3D Rig Tech: Ben Schwartz
DIT: Bennett Cain
3D Video Utility: Kyle Blackman
Gaffer: Hector Vasquez
2nd Electrician: Fernando Vazquez
Key Grip: Rick Carmona
2nd Grip: Sam Katz
Art Director: Adrina Garibian
Foot Model: Rachel Tant
VTR Operator: Lee Hopp
Wardrobe Designer: Alexander Koutny
Makeup Artist: Mara Palumbo
Hairstylist: Charles Edwards
Production Assistants: James Carter, Nico Kuhn, Lamar Williams

Special Thanks: Gloss59 and Pier 59