Satellites

The main idea I wanted to explore in this film is the concept of how the spiritual and emotional can affect the physical, past trauma can affect the present, lies can become true simply by believing them, and ultimately how one supernatural moment (even in a dream) can bring us inner healing, help us face our fears and change the outcome of our future.

This short film started out as a music video for a client and ended up spinning out of control into the short film / music video that it is today. We wanted to tell a story that had heart and meant something beyond entertainment. At the heart of it, the story is about overcoming bullies in our lives. In this case, the bully Fear prevented our protagonist from pursuing his dreams. From conception to completion it took a full year to create.

We were very intentional with the color pallet of this film. I wanted to color code the characters to help convey the story, emotion, and show the development of our protagonist. Blue and white are our hero colors. The less colorful tan uniform Mike wears symbolizes how he's given up on most of who he really is (yet he still has a little blue and white with his name badge). Tangerine is the color of our antagonist (the childhood bully and King Tangerine). And Mike's guitar is red, the color of passion.

This story has some roots in reality. I like a story about overcoming because that's been my journey. For me personally, I've faced fears and bullies, even in my adult life, that have tried to hold me back and keep me from being myself. For Mike Garrigan, it is personal as well. He was the frontman for the band Collapsis and had a song on the radio in 1999. He has since become a lawyer and this music video is the start of his musical come back.