A painter’s life, a symbolic tree, and an award-winning director: they all come together to capture our hearts in this inspiring short film Namoo.
Namoo, which translates to “tree” in Korean, is a narrative poem brought to life as an animated virtual reality experience. This 12-minute short film is directed by Erick Oh, a celebrated director who has won many prestigious awards including Annecy’s Cristal Award for TV in 2018. The short film Namoo is produced by Baobab Studios, nine-time Emmy award- winner and global leader in independent interactive animation.
What’s In the Story of Short Film Namoo?
Namoo is an ode inspired by the passing of Erick’s grandfather and shadows a man’s journey from his birth until the end of his life. It beautifully describes the course of time and the change of seasons in a person’s life through colors.
The entire story of the short film Namoo is set on a grassy knoll next to a seed that transforms into a tree with branches that hold the protagonist’s memories. Here, the tree is a symbol of your self-motivation that motivates you deep inside. In addition, it can also be interpreted as a metaphor for the man’s life, as it gathers his memories in its branches.
What’s Special About Short Film Namoo?
Although the storyline is quite simple, the short film Namoo holds greater meaning to what life truly means. If we take time to reflect, we begin to see the things and people that really matter to us, and we can appreciate it better.
As for the tree that signifies our inner self, we are constantly battling with our inner voices and making different decisions. But at the end of the day, that’s what life is and who we are.
the short film Namoo is Erick’s documented thoughts and a journey through life’s challenging questions. However, he also wanted to involve the audience and provide them space to ponder about themselves. Moreover, Erick integrated his emotions into this which is what makes the film heart-warming in every way.
Behind the Scenes Short Film Namoo
The animated virtual reality experience of this film was created with Oculus’s VR animation tool Quill. This hand-crafted short film is created by a brilliant team of Eusong Lee as Art Director, Nick Ladd as Lead Quill Artist, and Vanessa Rojas as Editor.
Quill software enables artists to draw and paint in a virtual space. All the layers for this short film Namoo, including modeling, rigging, animating, shading, and lighting, were done using Quill. So, in every aspect, this film has been hand-painted and animated with cutting-edge software and real-time technology.
Official Selections of Short Film Namoo
The short film Namoo has been officially selected by the following film festivals for its outstanding features
- SIGGRAPH, VR theatre
- SXSW 2021 Film Festival
- Sundance 2021 Film Festival
- Tribeca Festival 2021
- Hollyshorts Film Festival 2021
Meet the Director of Short Film Namoo
Erick Oh is an Oscar-nominated Korean filmmaker and artist based in California, USA. His background in Fine Arts at Seoul National University and film at UCLA equipped him for his journey as an Animator at Pixar Animation Studios from 2010 to 2016. Later, Erick joined Tonko House with former Pixar artists and directed the Crystal Award winner film ‘PIG: The Dam Keeper Poems’.
Many of his outstanding films have been awarded at numerous film festivals such as Academy Awards, Annie Awards, Annecy Animation Festival, and Zagreb Film Festival, to name a few.
Currently, Erick is using his expertise to work with his partners on diverse projects in the film, animation, VR/AR industries. He is also working on the contemporary art scene in the US and South Korea.
To wrap this up, make sure you watch this award-winning short film because this story will surely warm the cockles of your heart!
