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Distance

Credits

Styleframes & Process

Originally published in The Memory Palace by Nate DiMeo, Distance is a short-animated film that tells the story of Samuel Finley Breese Morse. His years as a painter, his personal story, and the path that led him to help shape one of the most important inventions in modern communication.

This project began as one of Ordinary Folk’s earliest passion pieces in 2020. It went through multiple visual explorations and experiments, guided by a long list of talented collaborators. The final film contains more than 900 hand-painted frames moving together to “create illusions of space and distance, to learn how to conjure the ineffable through the mere aggregation of lines and dots and stretch canvas.”

Credits

Directed by

Ordinary Folk

Script and Story

Nate DiMeo
(Originally published in The Memory Palace on March 23, 2012)

Executive Producer

Nate DiMeo

Creative Direction

Jorge R. Canedo E.,
Avikali Lomavatu

Production

Stefan Green,
Mona Fani

Visual Development

Grace Pedersen,
Avikali Lomavatu,
Lorena G.,
Josh Edwards,
Grace Choi,
Gabriel Silveira,
Haewon Shin,
Mariia Khrystenko,
Sophia Spanos McGill

Storyboard

Avikali Lomavatu,
Grace Pedersen

Animation

Greg Stewart,
Manuel Neto,
Ricardo Drehmer,
Victor Silva,
Jorge R. Canedo E.

Painting

Avikali Lomavatu

Compositing

Jorge R. Canedo E.,
Victor Silva

Music & Sound

Ambrose Yu

Special Thanks

Jay Preston

Styleframes & Process

Distance: hand-painted frame, torn ink shapes on paper
Distance: hand-painted frame, a black sun with brushed rays
Distance: hand-painted frame, two hands reaching across the dark
Distance: hand-painted frame, a face built from paper shapes
Distance: hand-painted frame, an envelope in a beam of light
Distance: hand-painted frame, city windows at night
Distance process: the painted hands frame on the light table
Distance: hand-painted frame, a figure walking through scattered shapes
Distance: hand-painted frame, a folded face in grey washes
Distance: hand-painted frame, a telegraph line in the dark
Distance process: the copy stand used to photograph every painted frame
Distance process: hundreds of painted frames laid out on the studio floor
Distance: hand-painted frame, small ink squares on white
Distance process: painted frames drying on the studio floor
Distance process: painted frames stacked at a desk
Distance process: photographing a painted frame
Distance process: painting a frame at the desk
Distance: hand-painted frame, a hand writing with a pen
Distance: hand-painted frame, a window of light in black blocks
Distance process: a wall of painted frames
Distance process: the team at work in the Ordinary Folk studio
Distance process: painted frames and ink tests
Distance: hand-painted frame, a line of Morse code

Timeline

  1. Feb

    Jorge R. Canedo E. casually drops the idea.

  2. Mar

    Grace Pedersen sketches the first sparks of a concept.

  3. Jan

    Avikali Lomavatu explores storyboard ideas.

  4. Jul

    Josh Edwards dives in, exploring story beats and thumbnail storyboards.

  5. Dec

    Grace Pedersen returns with a new mood board and storyboard notes.

  6. Apr

    Grace Pedersen thumbnails a full storyboard pass.

  7. May

    Visual chaos month arrives.

    • Haewon Shin joins with visual explorations.
    • Grace Choi and Lorena G. help push concepts further.
    • Josh Edwards experiments with brush effects.
    • Avikali Lomavatu reworks the boards into a first animatic.
    • Animators try some AI experiments.
  8. May–Jul

    Greg Stewart, Manuel Neto, Ricardo Drehmer, and Victor Silva begin animating.

  9. Jun

    Gabriel Silveira delivers Photoshop styleframes.

    • Avikali Lomavatu boards a strong new sequence.
  10. Jul

    Avikali Lomavatu suggests we paint every single frame by hand. (Sanity questioned.)

  11. Jan

    We commit to painting every frame by hand.

    • Mariia Khrystenko jumps in to paint and concept additional frames.
  12. Feb

    The first paint tests roll in.

    • Avikali Lomavatu paints key frames.
    • Lorena G. joins the painting.
    • The first public test goes up.
  13. Mar

    The animatic is officially complete.

  14. Apr

    Jay Preston and Ambrose Yu record a fresh round of VO.

  15. May–Jun

    Avikali Lomavatu's painting crusade continues.

  16. Sep 2024–Jun 2025

    An endless painting and photography marathon follows.

    • Sophia Spanos McGill helps tape and paint.
  17. Jun

    The first rough cut comes together, fully painted, with Ambrose Yu's first music pass.

  18. Oct

    The fine cut lands.

  19. Feb

    Distance screens for the first time.

  20. Mar

    Nate DiMeo comes on board as executive producer.

Style Exploration

Distance style exploration: a painted eye in greys
Distance style exploration: a painted eye in colour
Distance styleframe by Gabriel Silveira: an envelope in the dark
Distance style exploration: two faces
Distance style exploration: an eye in cut-paper collage
Distance style exploration: a figure on the horizon
Distance styleframe by Gabriel Silveira: lit windows at night
Distance style exploration: character designs
Distance styleframe by Gabriel Silveira: a wheel in motion
Distance style exploration by Grace Choi: two hands in brush strokes
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