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An animated short film by Alex Glawion

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Logline

Struck by a barrage of intrusive encounters on his weekly commute, a perceptive traveler struggles to uphold the positive mindset that wards against the ever-lurking grayness.

Film Tech Sheet

  • original title: PATTERNS
  • year of production: 2024
  • countries of origin: Germany
  • running time: 07:56
  • language: No Dialogue
  • animation technique: CG animation
  • used software: Cinema 4D, After Effects, Premiere Pro
  • genres: Comedy, Drama
  • format: DCP, MOV (ProRes), MP4
  • speed: 25 fps
  • video ratio: 2.35:1
  • color/black & white: Color
  • sound: Stereo, 5.1

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Synopsis

A passenger‘s optimistic train journey swiftly descends into a nightmare when he is struck by noise and rudeness, forcing him to don his headphones and escape into a vibrant, patterned world.

In this patterned world, an unexpected encounter with a lively woman lifts his spirits, and their playful interaction brightens the journey.

Despite a temporary return to the gray reality, a heartwarming reunion at the destination platform reveals a newfound appreciation for the often hidden but colorful moments in life, also positively impacting those who observed the exchange.

Director Alex Glawion

Alex Glawion - Director

Born in 1985 in Germany, Alex Glawion is a director, writer and 3D animator based in Frankfurt, Germany. He graduated top of his class from Freiburg's film school with a degree in Film & Animation and taught 3D Animation & Compositing in 2012.

His Diploma Film "The Risk not Taken (2011)" was selected at festivals world-wide, including Siggraph CAF, CINANIMA, Anibar, Motion Festival Cyprus and more. His animated shorts "Armor Man (2020)" and "Color to the Sunset Sky (2021)" garnered awards and selections including Hamburg Kurzfilm Festival, Istanbul Film Awards, Paris Film Festival, BAMkids, Copenhagen Film Festival, Children's Film Festival Seattle.

As a commercial director Alex has worked on projects for international brands including LEGO, Google and Sharp. He owns Alex Glawion 3D, an independent Animation Studio based in Frankfurt.

While he spends most of his time working on commercial projects that finance his personal shorts, his main career goal is to direct a commissioned, narrative, character-driven animated series or feature.

Filmography
Evolution(2009), In-Between Ends(2010), The Risk not Taken (2011), Armor Man (2020), Color to the Sunset Sky (2021), PATTERNS(2024)

End Title Credits

Written, Directed and a Film by
Alex Glawion

Music
Claire Kelly (Detour) Written by Claire Kelly & Trace Jory Produced & Arranged by Nick Stone
Jared Foldy (Wide Eyes)
Ian Post (Dusk, Beyond)

Additional Animation
Jose Mendoza

Director's Note

PATTERNS draws inspiration from the weekly 4-hour commute between Constance and Darmstadt, Germany, that my now-wife, Nastja, and I undertook to keep our long-distance relationship alive. We wanted to make it work, and we did—even when circumstances fought us every step of the way.

Trains can shrink distances all they want, but all the traveling requires a very healthy dose of perseverance and a trusty pair of noise-canceling headphones—And it certainly helps when you're focusing on who's waiting for you at your destination: the love of your life.

Navigating the intricacies of train travel became an art. From finding the perfect seat to discovering the "quiet" zones in train cars, we mastered the unspoken train etiquette and the unwritten rules of seasoned commuters. Along the way, we encountered fellow passengers who were either oblivious to these norms or simply indifferent—a fertile ground for potential misunderstandings.

Cooped up in a seat with nothing to do but wait, a nudge was all it took to tip the balance and throw you into the deep end, where the only way out was an ingrained pattern that made you don those headphones and escape. Escape into a world that wasn't always easy to leave.

Our routine commute spanned Friday to Sunday. Each trip taking 4 hours. Every week, for years—A lot of time to observe travelers, listen to music, and come up with a story for a short film.

Production Note

After moving in with my wife and being freed from the weekly commute, the rough story draft sat in my drawer for a couple of years. I was working on other short films and client projects, always postponing PATTERNS because of the character animation complexity and the many, many shots it would require — And because the commuting was still too fresh, too ordinary; it had to become more nostalgic in my mind before I could work on it again.

When I finally unleashed the draft from my drawer, I worked on storyboards and fine-tuning the story for several years on and off, always looking for music that would inspire me. Daily walks through Frankfurt, the Städel-Museum garden and along the Main river went by in a blur, my mind mulling over every aspect of the story until it was time for the first shot.

I tested a variety of different tools on how to tackle blending motion capture animations with hand animation to make working on all the train's and platform's passengers more streamlined, and did a lot of experimenting with the visual style of the film until I was satisfied it would hold up for over 100 shots.

Creating the look & feel of the different pattern-worlds, especially, was one of the most fulfilling and motivating things to keep me going.

Because this is a personal short film that I'm funding myself, I didn't have the budget to outsource the rendering of over 15.000 frames to an online renderfarm, and ended up rendering over 100 shots on my own computers that I've set up in our living room.

It certainly took a while and the heat from the GPUs kept us nice and warm during the winter, but I'm glad the noise is gone — for now.

Press & EPK

Please feel free to reach out to me by E-Mail:
contact@patterns-film.com

Download Electronic Press Kit (EPK) [PDF]
Download Poster & Stills [ZIP]