Private Project

Belonging: FAREWELL

Belonging is a series of journeys into the emotional lives of MetaHumans.

In this epically reimagined excerpt from Shakespeare's "Richard II" (1595), King Richard II has returned to England from war in Ireland to discover that Henry IV has laid claim to his throne and home.

Directed, animated and edited by award-winning filmmaker, Lance Mungia. Starring Eric Bear. Produced under the SAG•AFTRA micro-budget project agreement.

BACKGROUND: Isolated during quarantine, tech entrepreneur and actor, Eric Bear, craved connection and creative collaboration. He assembled a team of animators and filmmakers from around the world to explore what might be possible using performance capture and Epic Games’ MetaHumans for Unreal Engine. They embarked on a fully-remote experiment aimed at answering the following questions: Can virtual people effectively express authentic emotions? Can audiences be touched, moved and inspired by performances captured using free software and off-the-shelf hardware? Can multiple artists direct, shoot and produce high-quality episodes from their home studios during a global pandemic?

10 episodes. 10 directors. 25 MetaHumans. 3 live actors. 3 voice actors. 1 engine. Lots of love.

  • Lance Mungia
    Director
    Six String Samurai, The Phenomenon
  • William Shakespeare
    Writer
    Richard II
  • Eric Bear
    Producer
    The HyperWatt Conspiracy
  • Nikki Levy
    Producer
    OMG!, Don't Tell My Mother
  • Rebecca Miller
    Producer
  • Eric Bear
    Key Cast
    "Richard II"
    Annie Hall, Yellowstone:1883
  • Carly Christopher
    Key Cast
    "Various Knights"
    The Price of Fame, Murder Made Me Famous
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short, Television, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Action, Adventure, Fantasy
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 14, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Motion Capture via Unreal Engine
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival 2022
    Providence, Rhode Island
    United States
    Semi-Finalist
  • Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival 2022
    Fort Lauderdale
    United States
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Lance Mungia

Lance Mungia grew up working in the fields of California's Central Valley. Inspired by his combination of Mexican, Spanish & Oakie heritage, he started documenting the immigrant experience in 16mm short films including “Garden For Rio,” featured at Sundance in 1996. Lance is the writer/producer/director of Dimension Films "The Crow: Wicked Prayer," Media 1091's "Third Eye Spies," and his debut 1998 feature "Six String Samurai," just re-released in 2021, called a "startlingly visual work by a tyro-talent" by Variety's Len Klady. Lance also wrote, edited, and produced "The Phenomenon," the highest grossing UFO documentary of all time. He has won awards at international festivals including Slamdance, Toronto, Chicago, The Hamptons, and South by Southwest. Alongside his partner, Cristina Mercardo, Lance co-founded the production company Waking Universe Films which focuses on real-time virtual production. He strongly believes real time animation technology is the most exciting thing to come along in his 26-year filmmaking history.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Eric Bear [EXECUTIVE PRODUCER & SERIES LEAD] is a classically-trained film actor known for a meme-generating role in “Annie Hall” and recurring on the Yellowstone prequel “1883” on Paramount+.

As a kinesthetic artist, Bear specializes in primate motion capture and authentic, grounded expression. Prior to returning to filmmaking, Bear was a tech entrepreneur known for creating award-winning interactive media (e.g., Best Animation at SXSW Interactive 1999).

Bear’s invention of seamless video expansion in 1994 was popularized by "The Matrix” – enabling DVD viewers to “follow the white rabbit” to access behind the scenes footage. This technology has been licensed to all major motion picture studios in the USA and top consumer electronics companies in the world. Bear’s 100+ hardware and software patents also include body-based solutions to motion sickness in virtual reality. Products based on Bear’s inventions are in use every day by millions of people and thousands of companies.

Bear is a partner at Capital Factory Ventures and the founder of HyperWatt® Productions.

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Additional episode screeners and details are also available.

https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-night
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-water
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-here
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-duck
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-partners
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-trust
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-rosaline
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-fiction
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-fire
https://filmfreeway.com/belonging-farewell