Struggling to fit in to a new community a lonely doll goes on a journey of discovery.

A 7 minute family film, shot on a smartphone during lockdown in our home in Sunshine, Melbourne.

Shot on a Samsung Galaxy S10+.

Director's Statement

This film was an unexpected benefit of our Covid19 lockdown here in Melbourne Australia.

I loved the challenge of creating something not only within the boundaries of our home, but also shot entirely on the mantlepiece. Because of the tight spaces, odd angles and limited shooting times (the room is also our main living and TV room!), it was the perfect opportunity to shoot on my smartphone.

I'd been playing around with our collection of Russian nesting dolls for a while and thinking about how I could use them to tell a story building on the themes of social exclusion, discrimination, “otherness” and even gender stereotyping.

One of the biggest challenges was making the dolls move. I wanted to use realistic real-time movement rather than stop-motion. I made most of the film on my own, so I had to come up with a number of mechanical ways to assist the movement. I shot the multi-movement scenes by assembling a number of composite parts.

Another challenge was finding ways to give the lead doll a personality, given its expression was almost completely fixed, and it did not have any limbs with which to help show emotion. I found that varying camera angles and the soundscape really helped.

I built the score using a series of compositions from New York composer Kevin MacLeod. I was able to use individual instrument tracks to tailor the tracks as needed and also help build tension or comic effect.

Director's Bio

Andrew is an award winning short film maker based in Sunshine, Melbourne Australia.