Many of our projects are inspired by Earth science or natural hazards but a few focus on exploring the emotions associated with disaster and survival rather than rationally explaining the issues at hand. SHADOWS, Sudden Nature and GENESIS are three shorts that belong in this artistic category.

SHADOWS: Saving the Rain Forest is a contemporary tale of magical realism about preserving the world’s forests. The animated short is inspired by the fantasy of ancient legends and shadow puppets, particularly the wayang kulit Javanese and Balinese performances. The short also highlights the positive role that traditional legends and active communities can have in preserving the world’s natural resources. The story features no dialog, cutout villagers and a gang of invaders, and a computer-generated rain forest and fantastical creatures.

SHADOWS was awarded Best Animation awards at the Williamsburg International Film Festival, the Albany FilmFest, the Tenerife International Film Festival, and the Martinique International Film Festival, a Special Jury Award at Worldfest Houston, and a Best Director Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Film Review Independent Film Awards.

Sudden Nature is a film about the uneasy relationship between Man and Nature. It is also a reflection about an inescapable relationship, about nurturing and destroying, about life and death. The 24-minute film draws a parallel with the ups and downs of a relationship between a man and a woman. Watch the English subtitled version.

Life in GENESIS is created from light and motion. Man and Nature fall in love but their harmony is short lived. The 3-minute animated short was animated by Liu Yang and Nam Phuong, voiced by Oon Shu An and Lim Yu-Beng, and the music was composed by Sergio Moure.

Last but not least the Earth Girl Flooding Level demonstrates the mixture of serious and silly game play in the earliest Earth Girl game. This Flash casual game aims to create awareness of natural disasters in a pre-teen audience by using a combination of storytelling, gaming skill and humor.

A few of Isaac’s projects are not directly related to Earth science. TIME ROJAK, for example, is a fictional story about a young scientist who invents a device that reads the alpha waves of living creatures but struggles to launch his brilliant discovery. This invention holds the power to improve human life but corporate arrogance and the scientist’s naive idealism complicate things. A melancholic tale of duplicity and warped time.

A Southeast Asian Fantasy. Image courtesy of Isaac Kerlow.