Private Project

The Space Between Us

An animated short film, painstakingly created in Photoshop using Timeline and many hundreds of layers. It tells the story of a forlorn astronaut heading into space after losing the great love of his life; on a journey in which nothing goes as ground control would have wished.

  • Tim Holmes
    Director
  • Tim Holmes
    Writer
  • Tim Holmes
    Producer
  • Tim Holmes
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Music Video, Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 3, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tim Holmes

Tim Holmes is an independent filmmaker, musician and graphic designer who grew up in Bristol, UK. He studied graphic design at Bristol Polytechnic, specializing in animation under the guidance of award winning director Joanna Quinn. In 1987 his final student film, ‘The Snake”, won the Sony Pop Video Award. Tim’s next film, “Beauty Pinkerton & The Spiny Legged Wart Groveller”, was one of the winners of the groundbreaking Kelloggs Magic Mirror contest. The film featured on British TV and at the British Animation Festival. During this time, Tim also worked for the renowned Aardman Animations, ‘A’ For Animation and Redwing Productions. In 1991 he moved to New York city where he continued to work in animation; making station ID’s for MTV, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and FX. Notably, he was the first person to animate the world famous Sesame Street Muppets. Tim then switched it up by art directing on music videos for Hip Hop artists such as LL Cool J, Wreckx-n-Effect and DasFX. He later found himself working in the fashion industry and has been head of graphic design at Ralph Lauren for the past 18 years. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

The Space Between Us is his first animated film in 25 years.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The Space Between Us is set to a song of the same title that I created during the 2020 New York pandemic lockdown as I was dealing with my own bout of Covid and prevailing atmosphere of fear and unease. It is ostensibly a story of lost love that reflects my mood at the time; one of feeling alienated from the rest of humanity even though all that stood between us was "air and inches". When I decided to make a film for the song I turned to my old craft of animation which I hadn't really practiced for 25 years, as my life had led me in different directions. Traditionally a cut out animator, I tried to take a version of what I knew and apply it to Photoshop. After a lot of learning and many mistakes I figured out a technique and style that suited the mood I wanted to convey. Taking the title "The Space Between Us" literally, the film uses the story of a desperate astronaut with nothing left to lose, to suggest that perhaps without meaningful relationships we are ultimately alone, hurtling through space.