THE CORRIDOR is an experimental animation – an endless corridor of locked doors holds a man prisoner as his mind begins to disintegrate.

A psychological descent into a bleak nightmare, the film is inspired by such tales of gothic horror as Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’. It is at once a glimpse into the dark corner of desperation and a visual exploration into the experimental and the abstract.

Director’s Vision

After illustrator and animator Hakim Ismail saw a film I made called ‘Ruptured’, he expressed an interest in working together. We talked at length about what we could and I told him about a concept I had where a man is trapped in an endless corridor of locked doors. We decided to begin experimenting with how we could execute the idea. I’m very keen on discovering new ways to visualise a story or idea, and Hakim’s abstract noir-illustrative approach was perfect for this project.

The film, while it does move forwards and have a sense of closure by the end, was far more a piece concentrating on mood and atmosphere than the beats of a story or narrative. I’m a huge fan of films which immerse the viewer in a world and let them live there with the characters, instead of moving the film forwards as if a slave to the plot and the beats of the story. This felt very freeing for me to spend time just seeing where things took us and letting go of pre-determined ideas of what a short film should be.

As we progressed through the animation process, the story developed and began to feel very pertinent in the situation the world is in today with COVID-19. The desperate feeling of trying to move forwards but not knowing where or when the journey will end is something we can all relate to.