Project #1 - Rest in Peace

The recent death of a friend inspired this project. Eighteen years old and a high school senior, the young man had already made his mark on the world. He was in the national rankings in two sports and an Eagle Scout. Yet one night, he was involved in a one-car rollover accident.

A dream on the night after I learned of his death is one I will remember. I decided to change my project to a hand-drawn animation of what I dreamt. I have never drawn an animation before. This was a difficult project to present. The observation by one of my classmates was so true: this project was a form of therapy for me.

I decided to be as true to the dream as possible, yet leave it as simple as possible: a narrow Texas farm-to-market road, straight but with sharp turns, few details of what was alongside the road or what was ahead. It was very dark. Perhaps, boring. I wanted to leave room for imagination and personal experiences.

The scene of the car interior is significant. The two passengers were wearing a seatbelt, the driver was not. Weather he would have survived had he been restrained is not known. Fortunately, the two passengers lived, but were treated and kept overnight in the hospital for observation.

The curve in the road was the first image I drew. It appears when time begins to loose perspective. Every frame before and after this image had to see that image as its anchor. And this image had to stimulate the viewer that things were about to change, and fast. It also is the same curve, less the foliage, on which the solitary highway patrol car blocks the road. To me, it said, "Go no further. We don't need to see more. We know what happened." Rest in Peace, my friend.