Experiencing Interruptions?

By Candlelight

A young musician named Edwin moves into his first apartment, excited to write music in his own space. He decorates the room with his trophies and pictures that inspire him to play. Once he actually sits to compose, he finds himself struggling to find inspiration. He spends the whole night trying to figure out a new piece to no avail. Over and over he plays but never has more than a simple melody. After one good try, he hears another piano coming through his apartment window. Could this new addition be the inspiration he needed?

  • Hunter Hoffman
    Director
  • Reid Robertson
    Director
  • Hunter Hoffman
    Writer
  • Reid Robertson
    Writer
  • Hunter Hoffman
    3D Animators
  • Reid Robertson
    2D Animators
  • Brandon Blanchard
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 14, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Middle Tennessee State University
Director Biography - Hunter Hoffman, Reid Robertson

Hunter Hoffman is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Animation. He wishes to one day work for Walt Disney Studios or Pixar Animation Studios as a character animator for major films. His aspirations for becoming an animator all began in the theaters when Frozen premiered worldwide. He recalls the specific moment that made him know this was his career path watching Elsa sing “Let It Go” and her graceful hand movements when she first used her powers. From then it was a permanent love to which he has invested researching all sorts of behind-the-scenes clips and documentaries. Hunter appreciates the little ways humans interact with each other, and he uses inspiration from the world to create animations that not only feel believable but real.

Hunter has always been a humorous person and always viewed as a comedian among peers, but he wanted to expand his horizons by trying a film that is more in touch with your emotions. From him to you, he hopes you enjoy the accumulation of hard work and dedication to craft.

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Reid Robertson graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in Animation, minoring in Art. He first discovered animation as a potential career goal after seeing Pixar’s Up and fell in love with the use of “cartoons” to tell incredible stories. Since then, he developed a new appreciation of anything animated and of visual storytelling. While studying for his degree, he narrowed down his dream aspirations to one day be a storyboard artist. Through storyboarding, Reid hopes to help storytellers share their visions with the world with clarity and emphasis on engaging every audience.

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Director Statement

A Note of Inspiration was a film idea I had about a year before truly conceptualizing it. The story came from a viral video I had seen of a man who played piano with his neighbor through the shared walls of his home. I began brainstorming different possibilities as to why the neighbor chose to respond. Maybe the person on the other side of the window helps the man through a tough time? From these ideas, a plot developed.

Neither of us write music, but we are painstakingly familiar with the struggles of artists’ block, so being able to convey the hardship of perseverance was one of the biggest challenges we could take up as storytellers. Inspiration is something that all artists can understand struggling to keep, and it is often we find new inspiration comes from sources we least expected. We ourselves were repeatedly finding new solutions when we weren’t even purposefully brainstorming.

This film is an accumulation of lots of extra hours, late nights, tears, laughter, pain, and hope but through it, the film has maintained its core ideas. Being heavily inspired by stories that touch our hearts, we hope we were able to show you a story that touches yours.