BREATHE is a Surreal Space musical experience inspired by SciFi classics.
A stray astronaut with low oxygen is ready to die when a cosmic monolith drives him to a surreal journey.

Director’s Vision

I had this idea of showing the last moments of an astronaut who gets in contact with a cosmic entity and transports him to a surreal journey. I wanted to show the contrast that even in space where everything is open and massive, you would still feel as claustrophobic as in a small room. We would contrast the space with paradisiac and surreal landscapes but eventually the astronaut would have to face his own mortality in order to survive the trip. It was a mental journey where once he survived it, the cosmic entity would grant him a second chance to live.

I got the green light to shoot this project with total creative freedom. Everything was planned and ready to shoot but the pandemic just started and there was uncertainty everywhere. I contacted a couple of actors to play the main role but that’s when we hit a roadblock, we had to shoot it soon or if not the project would never happen. This dilema pushed me to take a hard choice: I had to play the main role and everything had to be CGI.

Because I was doing everything, I didn’t have to convince anyone about my vision. That’s why the storyboards don’t make much sense, but what matters is that I understand them. This made the whole pre production phase run way faster than what I’m used to. I still love to collaborate with other talented people but this was an unique experience.

Fortunately, there were no dialogs but I felt that the astronaut needed a big beard to show he has been in precarious conditions for a long time. This led to creating a fake beard for my face during the whole length. The result I think it’s pretty convincing if we take in mind how everything was shot: me and my wife with a small camera in my room.

Every shot was carefully planned. I used pre-visualizations to calculate the number of frames we required and what assets. Always taking in mind what was possible within the limited time. Once I got that, I started working in the lighting and textures. It was an arduous process but it shows how to use your creativity during these hard times of confinement.

Watch the storyboard breakdown