Mongoose (2016) |

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Synopsis: An old woman confronts her childhood imaginary friend, who has taken up residence in the walls of her home.

Mongoose was my Emily Carr graduation film, made with Stop-Motion and Digital 2D Animation.

As a kid who didn’t want to grow up, there was something tantalizing about ghost stories. Mongoose is inspired by some of those ghost stories, even if it’s not about a ghost persay. To be a ghost is to be trapped forever in one place in time and space and self, unable to change. There’s tragedy in that, as well as immortality. (Though ultimately being a ghost is bad for your health). Still, I think many people find the idea of ghosts comforting. They promise an afterlife of some kind, prove that our existence can leave a mark on the world. They make us feel less abandoned.

Voirrey is an old woman still holding on to the fears and comforts of her past, including her old ‘imaginary’ friend, the Mongoose. Holding on to these things long past the time they were due to fade corrupts them. Using 2D to suggest a simpler space against the darker, more harshly textured stop-motion, I hoped to contrast memory and imagination against our ongoing present and reality. I wanted to explore why we hold onto childhood things, even to our detriment, especially as it seems my generation is already consumed with nostalgia at such a young age.

The film is currently private as it is being submitted to film festivals. If you’d like to see or show the film, please email me and I’ll provide you with a private link.