Faculty of Art

Experimental Animation

Jesse Glanzmann

New Reality

An animated short film about a young adult protagonist enjoying the allure of early immersive gaming technology, until they are thrown back and forth between reality and the digital realm. They are faced with the decision of whether or not to pursue a life inside this digital realm with its excitement and companionship, though at the cost of treading into the unknowns of what is to come with such technologies.

“The film New Reality, is an exploration of the relationship between humanity and technology inthe early stage of immersive technology. The plot centers around a character exploring theirrelationship to immersive technology in the form of a video game as it brings both a sense ofallure but also terrors of the unknown. This film uses both 2D and 3D animation to jumpbetween the different realities, with the game world being a 3D environment while the real worldis digitally drawn. The character animation is in digital 2D, and the virtual world has an addedVHS texture. The film uses the synthwave style which often captures the sense of glamor ofearly video and game technology, yet the film engages with the aspects of fear and stresssurrounding the subject. Technology has evolved rapidly over the past few decades, and it isfascinating to consider the overall patterns in the choices humanity will make in the name oftechnological progress and immersion time and time again.”