Living in the Dark

A dreamy story about the cherished gift of sight. Filmmaker, Thomas, reaches to the depths of his own childhood and pulls out this warming anecdote of a time when an eye wound threatened his lifelong ability to see. Unappreciative of his sight at the time, he soon became completely dependent on others to accomplish simple tasks like finding the toilet. His father, blinded from a childhood accident, serves as a warning for what lie ahead—a dark world without color, shape and definition. As Thomas’ wound miraculously heals, he learns to value all that he sees.

For a film about vision, the animation for Living in the Dark closely reflects its content. Thomas’ dreamlike animation style crafts the perfect world for childhood memories. As his vision grows worse we see the world through his young distorted eyes. Thomas’ careful combination of digital hand-drawn animation and 3D compositing bring incredible warmth and fluidity to a typically rigid technology. Watch the brief YouTube video of how he put it all together.

Thomas Leung, born in Hong Kong and schooled in Australia, created Living in the Dark as a school project at Swinburne. Both Living in the Dark and Sukki’s Story (his second film, not online… yet), have seen some heavy action on the international festival circuits. Check out his YouTube Channel for updates.