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Long Doan,

a multi-disciplinary designer who specializes in fusing design, technology & creative concept to tell visual stories

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Speck of Time

“Speck of Time” is an animated short film exploring the acceptance journey of one’s self about life to appreciate the present moment by embracing their shadow self.

Type Short Film/ 3D Animation
Year 2022

Collaborator Vy Nguyen

Statement

Existential concerns are inevitable as we are moving to exist in this puzzling and hectic world. Some experience them as wandering thoughts passing through their mind. Some, on the other hand, dwell on them more than others. That is when “concern” escalates into a “crisis”, which is identified by intense reflection and anxiety about the meaning of life.

“Who am I?”, “What’s the point of my existence?” or “What do I contribute to the world?”, these questions surpass the meaning of themselves to become problems that need to be resolved. As the thoughts go on, people going through an existential crisis will likely experience a great deal of anxiety. However, existential concerns are a normal part of the human condition. While they can be upsetting, they can also be soothing, as long as you manage to turn negative thoughts into positivity.

With inspiration from Stoicism and Jungian philosophy, “Speck of time”, addresses these existential questions as the shadow of one’s self, which is not to be run away from but to be comprehended as an ineluctable factor in our lives and not necessarily needed to be resolved. “Speck of Time”, therefore, explores the acceptance journey of one’s self about life to appreciate the present moment by embracing their shadow self.

Three levels of the Mind

Moving on from Jung’s theory of the shadow archetype, as previously discussed, it is necessary to mention that Jung was originally a follower of Sigmund Freud. Accordingly, Jung's theories might be considered as an expanded view of Freud's, thus we must therefore mention Freud's theory of the three levels of consciousness.

Freud classified the mind into three levels, each with its own set of roles and functions (Boag 2017).

The Conscious

The conscious mind comprises all of our ideas, memories, feelings, and desires at any given time. This is the aspect of our mental processing that allows us to think and talk about it in a rational manner. This also includes our memories, which are not always conscious but can be easily retrieved and brought into awareness (ibid).

The Subconscious

Anything that could potentially be brought into the conscious mind is included in the preconscious (subconscious). The preconscious is also where many memories are preserved for easy retrieval - in which we can pay conscious attention if we wished to. Freud further defined the preconscious as thoughts that are unconscious at the time but are not repressed, making them available for recall and easily capable of becoming conscious (ibid).

The Unconscious

The unconscious is made up of things that exist outside of conscious awareness, including numerous memories, thoughts, and urges that we are unaware of. Much of what is stored in the unconscious is thought to be unpleasant or paradoxical, such as "unacceptable" sexual impulses. Although these elements are stored outside of our awareness, they are thought to influence our behavior (ibid).